Pancratius, martyr

Pancratius (1), (St. Pancras), martyr at Rome on the Via Aurelia, a.d. 304; a Phrygian by birth, but baptized at Rome by the pope himself. He suffered when only 14 years of age with his uncle Dionysius. His martyrdom was very celebrated in the early ages. His church still gives a title to a cardinal, and to a well-known parish church in London. Gregory of Tours (de Glor. Martt. i. 39) tells us that his tomb outside the walls of Rome was so sacred that the devil at once seized those who swore falsely before it. Gregory the Great mentions the martyr in his Epp. (iv. 18 and vi. 49), and in Homily (xxvii.) on St. John (Ceill. iii. 29; Tillem. Mém. v. 260; AA. SS. Boll. Mai. ii. 17; Ruinart. AA. Sinc. p. 407; Mart. Rom. Vet., Usuard.).

[G.T.S.]