Abundius and Abundantius

The Holy Martyrs Abundius and Abundantius suffered martyrdom at Rome, on the Flaminian Way, in the time of the Emperor Diocletian, around 303 or 304. Abundius was a priest, and Abundantius his deacon.

According to tradition, they were seized because they refused to worship the statue of Hercules, were tortured in the Mamertine prison and condemned to death. On the way to the place of execution Abundius raised to life, by prayer, John, the son of the senator Marcian. Seeing the wonder, father and son believed in Christ, and the emperor ordered them beheaded together with the two clerics.

Their veneration was fostered by a woman named Theodora at Rignano Flaminio. In the tenth century, in the time of the Emperor Otto III, the relics were brought to Rome, to the church of Saints Cosmas and Damian, and in 1583 they were moved to the church of Il Gesù. At Rignano Flaminio a church bears their names. They are commemorated on 16 September, as saints of the undivided Church, by the New Calendar.