Description
Pancratius of Rome was born around the year 289-290, in Rome, into a noble Phrygian family and died on May 12, 304, at about 14 years of age. Converted to Christianity, he became a martyr when he was beheaded on the Via Aurelia for his faith, during the persecution of Diocletian.
Pancratius was the son of Christian parents, nobles, rich and friends of the Emperor Diocletian. Orphaned at a very young age, he went to live with an uncle named Dionísio. With his support, he was able to study in Rome, going to live in the same house where Pope Marcellin was taking a retreat. In the early years of the persecution, Pancratius, then 14 years old, and his uncle Dionysus were denounced and brought to a jury. The uncle was immediately killed but Pancratius still deserved some consideration from the emperor, as he was young and the son of someone who had been his friend. Diocletian tried to envelop Pancratius with promises, trickery, and finally threats. Nothing worked. As the teenager responded to everything by saying that he did not fear death, as this would lead him to God, the emperor lost his patience and immediately ordered him to be beheaded on May 12, 304.
In the place of his tomb, in the cemetery of Ottavilla, Pope Symachus had a church built in his honor in the 6th century,which still exists. There are numerous churches in praise of Saint Pancratius in Italy, France, England and Spain, where his worship was most widespread. A monastery in Rome, founded by St. Gregory the Great and one in London founded by St. Augustine of Canterbury, was also dedicated to him.
He is the patron of the sick in Italy; patron of workers in Spain and patron of the Catholic Action Youth in Latin America.
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