Decentius and Germanus of Pesaro

Decentius and Germanus of Pesaro are two martyrs, a bishop and a deacon, honoured in both the Catholic and the Orthodox Church. They were half-⁠brothers on their mother's side and came from Britain.

They were converted to Christianity at Rome in the year 296. On the way to their homeland they were imprisoned and freed in a miraculous way, and then went to Pesaro. There Decentius was ordained bishop and Germanus his deacon. They preached Christianity in the region with such fruit that they stirred up the hatred of the pagans, who beat them to death on the night of 28 October 312. Their remains were thrown into the sea, but the waves brought them to the shore near the river Genica, where Christians buried them and began to venerate them.

Over the tomb the first church dedicated to them was raised, which became the basilica of San Decenzio, today the church of the city's central cemetery. The basilica was abandoned and fell into ruin, and the relics disappeared. In 1625 their ancient marble sarcophagus, of the seventh century, was found in the crypt of the basilica, with the relics in a silk-⁠covered box. When it was opened in 1913 the lid was broken and the box was gone; only small boxes with unlabelled bone fragments remained. It seems that in 1808 Abbot Monatti tried to put the relics in a safe place by taking them to Cremona, but the boat capsized while crossing the Po and they were lost. Since 2003 the sarcophagus has been kept in the Diocesan Museum of Pesaro.

The saints are remembered on 28 October.