Castulus

The Holy Martyr Castulus was, according to tradition, an officer of the palace of the emperor Diocletian at Rome and the husband of Saint Irene. He received a martyr's death in the year 286, buried alive in a sand pit.

It is said that Castulus was a secret Christian and that he sheltered Christians in his house and even in the emperor's palace, where he held services, since that was the last place the authorities would look. Among those sheltered were the brothers Mark and Marcellian, their father Tranquillinus, and Saint Sebastian. Castulus is one of the saints associated with the life and legend of Sebastian. With his friend Tiburtius he brought many men and women to the faith and led them to Pope Caius to be baptised. A false Christian, Torquatus, betrayed him, and Castulus was seized and brought before the prefect Fabian, tortured and condemned. The story says that he was examined three times and tortured as often, after which he was thrown into a sand pit on the Via Labicana and covered alive. His wife Irene, who shared his faith and had cared for Sebastian after his tortures, buried the body, and later received the crown of martyrdom herself, around 288.

A church dedicated to Castulus existed at Rome, on the site of his martyrdom, as early as the seventh century. He was venerated in Bavaria after his relics were brought to Moosburg, where Duke Henry the Lion began the construction of the Kastulus Minster in 1171. In 1604 some relics were taken to Landshut, where they rest in the church of Saint Martin, and other relics are kept in the church of Saint Castulus in Prague. He is commemorated on 26 March in the West; the Slavic calendars have him on 18 December.