Saint Cyriacus the Martyr

Also known as

• Cyriac
• Cyriaci
• Cyriacus of the Baths

Memorial

• 8 August

Profile

Member of the Roman patrician nobility. Adult convert who gave away his wealth to the poor. Deacon. Ministered to the Christian slaves who worked to build and staff the baths of Diocletian. Legend says that Cyriacus exorcised devils from Diocletian‘s daughter, Artemisia, who along with her mother, Saint Serena, converted to Christianity, and from Jobias the daughter of Shapur, King of Persia, which led to the conversion of the king‘s family and household. Tortured and martyred with twenty others during the persecutions of Diocletian and Maximian Herculeus. One of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.

Died

• excoriated and beheaded in 303 on the Salarian Way, Rome, Italy
• buried near the Salarian Way
• relics translated to Santa Maria in Via Lata, Rome, at Neuhausen, and the Saint Cyricus Abbey, Altorf, Alsace, France

Canonized

• Pre-Congregation

Patronage

• against diabolical possession
• against eye disease
• against temptations (especially at time of death)
• Altidona, Italy
• eyes
• Saint-Cierges, Vaud, Switzerland

Additional Information

• Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
• Golden Legend
• Heiligen Lexikon
• New Catholic Dictionary
• Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
• Stadler’s Holy Lexicon

MLA Citation

• “Saint Cyriacus the Martyr“. Saints.SQPN.com. 15 March 2013. Web. 24 May 2013. <>