De sancto Gordiano
The Meaning of the Saints
The names Gordianus and Epymachus are interpreted through their spiritual virtues and heavenly callings.
Gordianus comes from 'geos,' meaning 'teaching' or 'house,' and 'dyan,' meaning 'clear'—as if to say 'a clear house' where God dwelt, just as Augustine writes in The City of God: 'A good house is one arranged with balanced parts, spacious and bright.' In the same way, this saint was balanced through his imitation of harmony, spacious through his charity, and bright through... ...his truth. Epymachus comes from 'epy,' meaning 'above,' and 'machin,' meaning 'king'—as if to say 'heavenly king'—or from 'epy,' meaning 'above,' and 'machos,' meaning 'battle'—as if to say 'one who fights for heavenly things.'
Faith and Martyrdom
Gordianus is converted to the faith, suffers martyrdom under Julian, and is laid to rest alongside Epymachus.
Gordianus, a deputy of the Emperor Julian, was forcing a Christian named Januarius to offer sacrifice, but through Januarius's own preaching, he was brought to the faith along with his wife, whose name was... ...Mariria, and fifty-three other men were converted. When Julian heard this, he ordered Januarius to be sent into exile, and Gordianus to be beheaded if he refused to offer sacrifice. The blessed Gordianus was then beheaded, and his body was left exposed to the dogs for eight days. But when it remained entirely untouched, his family finally took it and buried it near the blessed Epymachus—whom the aforementioned Julian had long ago ordered to be killed—about one mile from the city, around the year of our Lord 360.
Read the original Latin
Gordianus a geos, quod est dogma sive domus, et dyan, quod est clarum, quasi clara domus, in qua habitabat Deus: sicut dicit Augustinus in libro de civitate Dei: bona domus est paribus membris disposita, ampla et lucida. Sic ille sanctus fuit pariter dispositus per concordiae imitationem, amplus per caritatem, lucidus per. veritatem. Epymachus ab epy,quod est supra et machin, quod est rex, quasi supernus rex, vel ab epy, quod est supra, et machos, quod est pugna, quasi pro supernis pugnans. — Gordianus vicarius Juliani imperatoris cum quemdam christianum nomine Januarium ad sacrificandum compelleret, ad praedicationem tamen ipsius Januarii ad fidem cum uxore sua, nomine ! )Mariria, et LIII viris conversus est. Quod audiens Julianus jussit Januarium in exsilium mitti, Gordianum vero, si sacrificare nollet, capite truncari. Decollatus est igitur bealus Gordianus et corpus ejus ad canes per VIII dies projectum est.
Sed cum omnino remansisset intactum, tandem a familia sua rapitur et eum beato Epymacho, quem dudum praedictus Julianus occidi fecerat, mon longe ab urbe milliario fere uno circa annum domini CCCLX sepelitur.
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