Saint Babylas

Memorial: 24 January in the Latin Church; 4 September in the Greek Church
Profile: Bishop of Antioch in 240. In 244 he refused entrance to liturgical services to emperor Philip the Arabian, due to the emperor having murdered his predecessor; he ordered him to take his place among the penitents by the church door, which the emperor did. During the Decian persecution (260) he made an unwavering confession of faith in public; thrown into prison where he died a martyr. He asked to be buried in his chains to symbolize his love and loyalty to God.

Caesar Gallus built a church at Daphne near Antioch in honor of Babylas, and the saint's bones were transferred to it. Julian the Apostate later consulted the nearby oracle of Apollo; when he received no answer, he blamed it on the proximity of the saint, and had the martyr's sarcophagus returned to its original site. In the middle ages the bones of Babylas were carried to Cremona.
Died: of abuse and mistreatment in prisons c.260
Canonized: Pre-Congregation
Additional Information: Catholic Encyclopedia
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