Adrian of Nicomedia

St. Adrianus and his wife St. Natalia

Adrian of Nicomedia or (Saint) Adrianus ( Hadrian of Nicomedia; † 306 ) was a Roman officer and Christian martyr who, according to legend, died in Nicomedia on March 4, 306 under the Roman Emperor Galerius Valerius Maximianus , a bitter opponent of Christianity the chopping off of the hands, the smashing of the legs on an anvil, and subsequent decapitation was fatal.

martyrdom

St. Adrianus was an officer in the Roman army and lived at the time of the emperors Diocletian and Maximian (284–305) with his wife Nathalia in Nicomedia. Around the year 300 Maximian had 23 Christians arrested who had withdrawn into a cave and subjected them to various kinds of torture. Adrianus witnessed these events and asked the martyrs why they endured such unbearable torture. They answered him: “We endure all this in order to win the ineffable bliss that God has prepared for those who suffer for His sake.” The soul enlightened by divine grace, Adrianus demanded of the writer, he would like to add his name to those of the martyrs . He was immediately arrested and handcuffed to prison. When Nathalia heard that her husband had been incarcerated, she thought he had done something bad and wept bitter tears. But when she was told that he had been captured for the confession of Christ, she rejoiced, put on festive robes, and hurried to prison. She kissed his bonds and praised his resolve and encouraged him to persevere in the trials that awaited him. The next day, he was given the date of the trial and given permission to notify his wife. When she saw him coming, she believed that he had betrayed the Savior, bolted the door and called out the words of the Lord to him: "Whoever denies me before men, I will deny him before my Father who is in heaven." ( Mt 10.33  EU ) But when Adrianus told her the real reason for his coming, she opened the door wide, hugged him and decided to go to judgment with him.

A few days later, Adrianus was brought before the emperor and, on his courageous confession, was beaten so badly that his entrails came out. Then he was carried back to prison because he could no longer walk. Nathalia cut her hair and put on men's clothes, so that she managed to smuggle herself into prison to care for her husband and the other martyrs, although the emperor had ordered them to be denied any care. When Maximian heard that his order had been bypassed, he became so angry that he crushed the legs of the 23 martyrs in a vice, St. Adrianus had his hand chopped off. They all gave up under the torture. A Christian managed to bring the bodies to Argyroupolis near Byzantium, where they were buried with honors. Nathalia lived by the grave for a while, then fell ill easily and moved out to find Adrianus and his companions in the kingdom of heaven.

When asked what reward they expected from God during the torture of Christians. They replied: "What no eye has seen, no ear has heard and what God has prepared for those who love him, has not come into any man's heart." ( 1 Cor 2 : 9  EU ) He was so above their courage and steadfastness amazed that he joined them and henceforth called himself a Christian without being baptized. He was immediately thrown in prison. His wife Natalia could come to him disguised as a boy to give him consolation and to pray for him. The next day, his limbs were chopped off on an anvil, beheaded, and died in his wife's arms. After that, he was to be burned with 23 other martyrs. When the executioners began to set fire to their bodies, a huge thunderstorm arose which extinguished the fire and killed the executioners with lightning. Christians recovered Adrian's body and buried him on the outskirts of Byzantium ( Constantinople ). Natalia was supposed to be married again, but fled to Byzantium near Adrian’s grave and took a hand Adrian’s found. When she died, she was also buried with the martyrs.

history

The tradition is questioned because some sources know two martyrs from Nicomedia with the name Adrian, one during the reign of Diocletian (284-305) and one under Licinius (308-324).

holiday

In the Greek Orthodox Church, Saint Adrianus is celebrated on August 26th together with Saint Natalia and her 23 companions. In the Roman Catholic Church he is honored on September 8th without his wife. In Byzantium Adrian was worshiped by Nicomedia as early as the 7th century. A cult of veneration for this martyr also arose in France and the Netherlands from the 12th century .

Memorials

In the 7th century the meeting building of the Roman Senate ( Curia ) was consecrated to the church of Sant'Adriano al Foro . Relics are in the Abbey of St. Adrian in Geraardsbergen ( Belgium ). The parish church of St. Gertraud (Würzburg) are also Adrianus relics, the 1803 from the deconsecrated church of St. Mark (the church of how St. Gertraud also in town district Pleich were spent lying former Dominika Remember monastery) of Würzburg citizens to where the new bone taken, a new shrine was laid and from 1806 again, from 1828 also supported by an Adrianus brotherhood , were publicly venerated. Remains of the reliquary with the "Holy Body" of the martyr are still kept there.

Patron saint

St. Adrianus is the patron saint of soldiers, arms dealers, guards and blacksmiths, but also of butchers and brewers. He is invoked against epidemics like the plague and against epilepsy .

iconography

St. Adrianus in St. Michael's Church in Ghent (Belgium)

Adrian of Nicomedia is occasionally depicted in French, Lower Rhine, Flemish and Dutch paintings from the late Middle Ages. He is mostly depicted as an armed soldier with an anvil in his hand or at his feet. One of the most important paintings in which he can be discovered is an altar wing by Hans Memling . It can also be found on the Hedwig's altar from around 1480 in the Katharinenkirche in Brandenburg , Havel . There he appears as the plague patron together with St. Rochus . A statue is located in St. Michael's Church in Ghent (Belgium).

Web links

Commons : Adrian von Nicomedia  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Sabine Schmolinksy: Maria Magdalena or Katharina as patrons of Dominican convents. and Klaus-Bernward Springer: Paulus, Maria, Johannes, Maria Magdalena and Katharina von Alexandrien. Models for Comtemplation and Apostolate. In: Sabine von Heusinger, Elias H. Füllenbach, Walter Senner, Klaus-Bernward Springer (eds.): The German Dominicans in the Middle Ages. De Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2016, ISBN 978-3-11-046867-0 , p. 429 ff. And 443 ff., Here: p. 431 and p. 456.
2. ↑ Wolfgang Weiss : The Catholic Church in the 19th Century. In: Ulrich Wagner (Hrsg.): History of the city of Würzburg. 4 volumes, Volume I-III / 2, Theiss, Stuttgart 2001-2007; III / 1–2: From the transition to Bavaria to the 21st century. 2007, ISBN 978-3-8062-1478-9 , pp. 430-449 and 1303, here: pp. 433 f.