Saint of the Day – 9 August – Saint Numidicus of Carthage

Saint Numidicus was a seminarian and martyr, and one of a group of Christians persecuted in the persecutions of Decius. The persecutions of Emperor Decius in the year 251 were fierce. Some of the clergy lapsed, others fled; Saint Cyprian of Carthage encouraged the confessors and wrote eloquent panegyrics on the martyrs. On the arrival of the proconsul in April the severity of the persecution increased. Women and children were tortured. Numidicus, who had encouraged many, saw his wife burnt alive. Arrested, he was brought before the authorities and sentenced to be burnt at the stake.

Just before his death, Numidicus was miraculously saved by Saint Cyprian. As he was about to be burnt, Cyprian, who was hiding nearby, intervened and dragged him from the flames. Cyprian, who would himself die a martyr in their shared city, recognised the sanctity of Numidicus, and immediately ordained him a priest, ensuring that he died as a clergyman.

These doings of his were such, and so great, and so admirable, that I am deterred by the contemplation of their greatness, and confess myself incompetent to discourse in a way that shall be worthy of the honour of his deserts, and unable to relate such noble deeds in such a way that they may appear as great as in fact they are, except that the multitude of his glories is itself sufficient for itself, and needs no other heraldry.

Pontius the Deacon