Saint Venantius, Martyr
S. Venantii Martyris
Saint Venantius is venerated as a young martyr of Camerino in central Italy, who gave his life for Christ in the early persecutions and has long been the patron of that city.
Saint Venantius has been honoured from ancient times as a martyr of Camerino in the Marches of Italy, where he is venerated as the city’s patron. The Church keeps his feast on the eighteenth of May, numbering him among the youthful witnesses who bore the cross of Christ in the age of persecution.
What is reliably known
Tradition holds that Venantius was a young man — the accounts call him a boy of fifteen — who suffered martyrdom at Camerino during the persecutions of the early Church. The detailed Acts that bear his name, recounting many torments and wonders, are of a later date and of the legendary kind, and their particulars cannot be relied upon as history. What is certain and worthy of honour is the constant veneration of Camerino for its martyr, and the witness, common to all the martyrs, of fidelity to Christ unto death.
The Church does not pretend to know more than has been handed down. She venerates Saint Venantius not for the marvels of a later legend but for that one thing the martyrs share: that, however young, he was found faithful, and gave to Christ the whole of the life he had received.
His witness today
His feast falls in the joyful season of Eastertide, when the Church rejoices in the victory of the Risen Lord over death — the very victory in which the martyrs share. In Saint Venantius, the faithful are reminded that no one is too young to belong wholly to Christ, and that the communion of saints binds the Church of today to the youthful witnesses of long ago, whose prayers she still asks.
The Collect
O God, who hast hallowed this day by the triumph of blessed Venantius, Thy Martyr: graciously hear the prayers of Thy people, and grant that we who venerate his merits may imitate his constancy in the faith.
Deus, qui hunc diem beáti Venantíi Mártyris tui triúmpho consecrásti: exáudi preces pópuli tui, et præsta; ut, qui ejus mérita venerámur, fídei constántiam imitémur.
Patronage
He is the patron of Camerino in the Marches of Italy, where he has been venerated as a martyr from ancient times.
In the Modern Calendar
This feast does not appear in the universal calendar of the modern Roman rite, though he is still venerated locally at Camerino.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saint Venantius?
His feast is kept on 18 May in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Third Class feast.
Who was Saint Venantius?
He is venerated as a young martyr of Camerino in central Italy, traditionally said to have died in the early persecutions. He is the patron of that city. Beyond the fact of his martyrdom and his ancient veneration, the surviving account of his life is legendary rather than strictly historical.
Why is so little certain about his life?
He belongs to the early centuries of the Church, from which few reliable records survive, and the later Acts written in his honour mingle history with legend. The Church venerates him for the certainty of his witness to Christ, without claiming details that cannot be confirmed.
See where this feast falls in the Church’s year on the liturgical calendar, or find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.
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