August 5 + Saint Emygdius

Emygdius was a pagan in Trier, Germany who became a Christian. He traveled to Rome and cured the paralytic daughter of his host Gratianus, who had let him stay with him at his house on Tiber Island. Gratianus’ family then converted to Christianity.

Emygdius also cured a blind man. The people of Rome believed him to be the son of Apollo and carried him off by force to the Temple of Aesculapius on the island in the Tiber, where he cured many of the sick. Emygdius declared himself a Christian, however, and tore down the pagan altars and smashed into pieces a statue of Aesculapius. He also converted many to Christianity; this enraged the prefect of the city.

He was made a bishop by Pope Marcellus I and sent to Ascoli Piceno. On his way to Ascoli, Emydgius made more conversions, and performed a miracle where he made water gush out of a mountain after striking a cliff. Polymius, the local governor, attempted to convince Emygdius to worship Jupiter and the goddess Angaria. Polymius also offered him the hand of his daughter Polisia. Instead Emygdius baptized her as a Christian in the waters of the Tronto, along with many others.

He was beheaded in the year 303 by pagans before he could convert anyone else. In 1703, a violent earthquake occurred in the Marche but did not affect the city of Ascoli Piceno. The city's salvation was attributed to Emygdius and he was thenceforth invoked against earthquakes.