St. Caesarius of Terracina
Who was St. Caesarius of Terracina?
What is St. Caesarius of Terracina the patron saint of?
What miracle is associated with St. Caesarius of Terracina?
When was St. Caesarius of Terracina canonized?
What led to St. Caesarius of Terracina’s martyrdom?
St. Caesarius of Terracina (born c. 85 ce, Carthage, North Africa [now in Tunisia]—died November 1, 107 ce, Terracina [now in Italy]; feast day November 1) was a 1st-century Christian deacon and martyr who is celebrated as the patron saint of Roman emperors. Caesarius is often invoked for protection against drowning and floods, and because of the similarity to his name he is also sometimes considered the patron saint of cesarean sections. Caesarius is mentioned in the 5th-century Martyrologium Hieronymianum (a list of early Christian martyrs), but many details of his life, especially his martyrdom, are based on legend and hagiographies.
Early life
Caesarius (Latin for “devoted to Caesar”) was named in honor of Roman general and statesman Julius Caesar. He was born to parents who had converted to the Christian faith from paganism—his father was a mercenary, and his mother was a noblewoman; they are believed to have descended from the celebrated Julius clan, a patrician family that traced its lineage to the goddess Venus. Caesarius was brought up in an atmosphere that nurtured his devout character, and his pious inclinations inspired him to give up a significant inheritance and comfortable life, choosing instead to be ordained to the diaconate.
To spread the Gospel of Jesus, and possibly to escape the persecution of Christians in the Carthage region of North Africa (now in Tunisia), Caesarius is believed to have set out for Rome in his late teens. During the voyage he was shipwrecked by a storm off the coast of Terracina, a town in south-central Italy on the Gulf of Gaeta (an inlet of the Tyrrhenian Sea) at the foot of the Ausoni Mountains, southeast of Rome. There he witnessed a great disparity between the rich and the poor, and he thereby dedicated himself to helping the sick, infirm, and oppressed citizens. Caesarius teamed up with a local presbyter, Giuliano (Julian), and they began evangelization, which focused on converting and baptizing the pagan population, and formed Christian communities.
Human sacrifice in Terracina
During his time in Terracina, Caesarius encountered an annual festival that was celebrated on January 1 to appease the god Apollo for the prosperity of the city. To invoke the god’s favor, the noblest and most handsome young man was chosen to be offered as a human sacrifice. At the time that Caesarius witnessed this custom, a young man named Luciano was selected as the offering. He was lavishly pampered for several months before surrendering his life in honor of Apollo. On the day of his sacrifice, Luciano, richly adorned with impressive weaponry and mounted on a magnificently harnessed horse, paraded throughout the city, making his way to the summit of a high mountain called Pisco Montano from which he hurled himself and his horse into the sea to their deaths. After Luciano’s body was recovered, it was burned, and his ashes were given a place of honor in the temple of Apollo.
Persecution and martyrdom
After witnessing the death of Luciano, Caesarius was outraged and publicly denounced the sacrifice as a form of idolatry. In return, Firmino, a temple priest, accused Caesarius of high treason, contempt for the state religion, and interruption of a sacred ceremony, and he imprisoned him. After several days in jail, Caesarius was brought before Leontius, the Roman consul of Campania, for interrogation. Under Leontius’s orders, Caesarius was tied to the consul’s chariot and taken to the temple of Apollo to offer incense to the gods and renounce his Christian faith. As he neared the temple, Caesarius prayed to Christ for deliverance; by the end of his prayer, the temple had collapsed, burying a number of priests, including Firmino, under the rubble.
Caesarius was returned to prison, where he remained for more than a year awaiting his sentence. When the fateful day came, he was brought, bound in chains, before Leontius. Falling to the ground in a moment of deep prayer, Caesarius was enveloped in a divine light. According to legend, this event inspired Leontius to implore the deacon to baptize him on the spot. Immediately after receiving the body and blood of Christ in Holy Communion from Giuliano, he died a Christian.
On November 1 Lussurio, the First Citizen of Terracina, infuriated by Caesarius’s unwavering resolve in his beliefs, ordered the deacon and Giuliano to be cast into the sea from the heights of Pisco Montano. According to Roman custom, their heads were covered with wolfskin hoods, and they were confined in a large sack. It is said that the sack was weighted with sand and contained a viper, a rooster, a dog, a monkey, and a scorpion. On the day the two holy men were martyred, Lussurio, as prophesied by Caesarius, suffered a fatal venomous snakebite.
Veneration
According to legend, Caesarius’s relics were relocated to San Cesareo in Palatio (also known as the Church of San Cesareo de Appia) on the Palatine Hill in Rome by Emperor Valentinian I after his daughter was miraculously healed of an illness shortly following a visit to the shrine to seek the saint’s intercession. Other accounts claim that it was Valentinian who was healed by Caesarius.
After the bodies of Caesarius and Giuliano were retrieved from the sea, they were given a Christian burial by the monk Eusebius. Word spread of the miracles that occurred through the prayers and intercessions of Caesarius, and the faithful began flocking to venerate him at San Cesareo de Appia (also known as San Cesareo in Palatio), a shrine named in his honor along the Appian Way. Centuries later the shrine would also serve as the titular church of Cardinal Karol Józef Wojtyła—the future Pope John Paul II (reigned 1978–2005).
St. Caesarius’s feast day is celebrated in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches on November 1.