Pancras M (RM)(also known as Pancratius) |
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| Born in Syria or Phrygia; died in Rome, Italy, c. 304. All that is known of Saint Pancras is that he was buried in the cemetery of Calepodius on the Aurelian Way, which was later named after him. According to unreliable tradition recorded in Cardinal Wiseman's Fabiola, St Pancras was orphaned and brought to Rome by an uncle, where both were converted to Christianity. As a boy of fourteen, he was beheaded in Rome for his faith during the reign of Diocletian. Pope Saint Symmachus, c. 500, built a church to mark his grave. As in the church of Saint Felix of Nola, oaths taken in Saint Pancras's church at Rome, were esteemed to have a special sacredness. In the 7th century, Pope Saint Vitalian sent some of his relics to England, where they are enshrined in his titular church in London, which gave his name to the borough and the railway station. Another church in Canterbury was dedicated in his honor by Saint Augustine of Canterbury (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Hoagland). When Saint Pancras is not pictured with SS. Achilleus and Nereus (today), he is portrayed as a very young knight with a palm and pennant and having a cross on his lance. He may also be shown as a young, unarmed Christian martyr or with a Saracen under his feet. Pancras is invoked against cramp, false witness, headache, and perjury (Roeder). |