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Pontius
Deacon and witness to the execution of Cyprian of Carthage, died in 260.
A deacon of the congregation at Carthage, Pontius followed Cyprian into the exile imposed upon him during the persecution of the church under Emperor Valerian. After attending Cyprian’s trial and execution, he wrote an account of the event. This appeared in his work, Vita Cæcilii Cypriani (Life of Cæcilius Cyprianus), which was not so much a biography of the bishop as a touching and vivid panegyric. Nevertheless, it is considered the earliest Christian biography.
Apollonius
Deacon and martyr of Antinoe (also called Antinopolis) in Egypt, with the actor Philemon, cast into the sea at Alexandria, c. 305.
Antinoe was on the east bank of the Nile in central Egypt. Philemon was converted to Christianity by deacon Apollonius. Roman authorities arrested them during the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian. Taken to Alexandria, they were wrapped in chains and hurled into the sea.
12
Peter the Deacon Disciple, secretary, and companion of Gregory the Great, died at Rome on 12 March 605.
A Benedictine monk and one of the seven deacons of Rome, Peter wrote the four books of the Dialogues as dictated by Gregory. He is responsible for the statement that the Holy Spirit sometimes hovered in the form of a dove over the great pope’s head. Peter died a year to the day after Gregory. He is revered as the patron saint of Salassola in the diocese of Biella, near Venice.
14
Diaconus
Deacon of the church of the Marsi (who lived at Marsica in central Italy), martyred with two monks by the Lombards, 6th c. Gregory the Great recorded Diaconus’ death in his Dialogues.
16
Tatian
Deacon and martyr, with bishop Hilary of Aquileia and others, killed by beheading, in 284.
The others, all baptized Christians, were Denis, Felix, and Largus. Hilary, also called Dionysius, was the bishop of Aquileia, at the head of the Adriatic in northeastern Italy.
19
Amantius
Deacon and evangelist in Belgium and northeastern France, died c. 668. The pope sent Landoald, a Roman priest, and Amantius his deacon to evangelize what is now the Maestricht region of Belgium and northeastern France. Landoald founded a church at Wintershoven.
22
Octavian
Archdeacon and martyr at Carthage, with several thousand of his flock, executed by Arian Vandals at the command of King Huneric, in 484.
26
Irenaeus
Deacon and martyr, with bishop Theodore of Pentapolis in Libya and others, had his tongue cut out but survived and died in peace, in 310. Theodore, Irenaeus, and readers Serapion and Ammonius suffered under Gallienus by having their tongues cut out. They are venerated as martyrs, although they survived.
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Pelagius
Deacon, venerated at Treviso (near Venice in northern Italy), date of death unknown.
29
Cyril
Deacon and martyr, killed at Heliopolis, and companions, who suffered under Julian the Apostate, in 362.
Cyril was a prominent deacon in Heliopolis, a suburb of Athens in Greece. He opposed idol worship and destroyed many of the city’s idols. Emperor Julian the Apostate sentenced him to torture and death. Tradition holds that God punished Cyril’s torturers with blindness, boils, and terrible illness.
31
Benjamin of Susa
Deacon and martyr, with bishop Audos, martyred by torture for refusing to cease preaching Christianity, in 421.
Audas, bishop of the city of Susa (east of the Tigris River in Persia), was beheaded for Christ in the year 418 by Emperor Yezdegird. His deacon, Benjamin, was released by the tormentors with the understanding that he would never preach the gospel again. In the beginning he agreed, but Benjamin could not sustain this in his heart and continued to spread the truth of Christ among the people. For this Benjamin was captured and killed three years after Audas.
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