CatholicSaints.Info

Also known as

• Hadrian

Memorial

• 4 March
• 8 September (translation of relics)
• 26 August (Greek calendar)
• 1 December on some calendars

Profile

Pagan officer and body guard at the imperial court of Nicomedia. Adrian was so impressed by the strength and faith shown by persecuted Christians that he declared himself a Christian, though he had not even been baptized. He was immediately arrested and tortured. He and fellow prisoners were tended by his wife, Saint Natalia until they were executed.

Died

• thrown to a lion, which refused to touch him
• legs broken with an anvil, and then hacked to pieces with a sword on 4 March 304
• body burned, but when a storm extinguished the fire his wife salvaged his dismembered hand as a relic, and took it to Argyropolis near Constantinople
• other relics at Grammont (Geertsbergen), Belgium

Canonized

• Pre-Congregation

Patronage

• against epilepsy
• against plague
• arms dealers
• butchers
• epileptics
• prison guards
• soldiers
• —
• Flanders, Belgium
• Germany

Representation

• anvil at his feet
• anvil in his hand
• in armour
• lion
• anvil
• sword
• axe

MLA Citation

• “Saint Adrian of Nicomedia“. CatholicSaints.Info. 21 October 2020. Web. 24 November 2020. <>