Profile
Wealthy and prominent citizen, and a closet Christian. During a persecution in Mauritania, he withdrew to live as a hidden hermit, prayerful and out of harm’s way. The authorities wanted to use him as an example, and arrested a relative, threatening him with harm unless Arcadius turned himself in. Arcadius came in from the forests and went straight to court to trade himself for his kinsman. The judge said he would release the prisoners only if Arcadius would publicly sacrfice to a pagan god. Arcadius declined; martyr. As he was mutilated to death, he continued to preach Jesus to the watching pagans.
- slowly hacked to death one joint, appendage and limb at a time c.302 at Caesarea, Mauritania (near modern Algiers)
- early Christian martyr with a club in his hand
- early Christian with a lighted taper
- man on a rack
- man with his limbs chopped off
Additional Information
- Abbé Stéphane Ansart
- Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
- Kirken i Norge
- Lives of the Saints, by Father Alban Butler
- Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
- Roman Martyrology
- Santi e Beati
- Wikipedia
Readings
Lord, teach me thy wisdom. - Arcadius’s dying words, repeated over and over as he was hacked apart
MLA Citation
- “Saint Arcadius of Mauretania“. Saints.SQPN.com. 12 January 2013. Web. 22 May 2013. <>