Martyrs of Lyon

The Holy Martyrs of Lyon (Lugdunum) are the company of Christians put to death at Lyon in Gaul in the year 177, in the persecution in the time of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, together with their bishop, Saint Pothinus. Pothinus, nearly ninety years old, died in prison after being tortured. The company of martyrs includes, among others, the deacon Sanctus of Vienne, Maturus, Attalus of Pergamum, the young slave girl Blandina, Alexander, Ponticus and Alcibiades. Their sufferings have come down to us in a letter of the Churches of Vienne and Lyon, preserved by Eusebius of Caesarea in the Ecclesiastical History (these facts are known from general tradition, not from the sources consulted for this entry).

They are commemorated on 2 June, by the Western calendar (new style). They are honored as saints of the undivided Church.