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As we deepen our relationship with the Eternal Word, Jesus Christ, we grow in grace and are transformed by His love and mercy.
Died c. 286
Patron Saint of shepherds, persecuted Christians, those facing injustice, and secret workers for the Faith; invoked against the bacterial infection erysipelas, lightning, horse theft, wildfires, and drowning
St. Castulus was an early Christian martyr whose faith and courage sustained the Church during one of its most dangerous periods. Although few details of his life have survived, tradition identifies St. Castulus as a trusted servant in the imperial court of Emperor Diocletian, a ruler infamous for initiating one of the fiercest persecutions of Christians in Roman history.
Despite the risks of his position, St. Castulus remained steadfast in his devotion to Christ. Using his access and influence, he secretly assisted persecuted Christians in Rome. He provided safe locations for prayer and worship and helped priests minister to the faithful who were forced underground. St. Castulus’s discreet acts of charity and protection allowed Christian life to continue quietly even amid violent oppression.
An apostate to the Faith reported St. Castulus’s Christian activities, and he was arrested. Refusing to abandon his Faith, he endured imprisonment and severe torture. According to ancient tradition, St. Castulus died of suffocation after being buried alive in a sand pit along the Via Labicana outside Rome, a brutal death that underscored the cruelty of the persecutions of the era.
The faithful soon honored St. Castulus as a martyr, and devotion to him spread among early Christian communities. His burial site became a place of veneration, and his name was preserved in the Roman Martyrology.
The Roman Martyrology commemorates St. Castulus on March 26th, describing him as a palace chamberlain who was martyred under Emperor Diocletian for harboring Christians and promoting the Christian Faith. He was tortured by being suspended by his hands three times and brought before tribunals multiple times. The Martyrology highlights his courage, noting his charges included arranging religious services within the palace itself and converting many individuals, including St. Sebastian and St. Tiburtius, whom he brought to Pope Caius for Baptism. St. Castulus persevered in confessing Christ during his interrogation and was thrown into a pit, buried under sand, thus achieving martyrdom.
By the seventh century, a church was built on St. Castulus’s burial site near Rome. Veneration of St. Castulus grew in Bavaria when his relics were taken to a Benedictine monastery there in 768. Later, his relics were placed in the prominent Kastulus Minster, a church in Moosburg, Germany, started by Duke Henry the Lion in 1171. Other churches in Landshut and Prague received some of St. Castulus’s relics in the 17th century, pointing to a long history of devotion to him in Germany and beyond.
St. Castulus was married to St. Irene. She was a devout Roman Christian who became a pivotal figure in early Church history. After her husband’s martyrdom, she is best known for rescuing and tending to the wounded St. Sebastian after he was shot with arrows by Roman soldiers and left for dead. St. Sebastian had been converted to Christianity by St. Castulus. St. Irene removed the arrows and nursed him back to health. After losing her husband, St. Irene remained active in the Christian community in Rome. She was martyred for her Faith two years after her husband.
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