Commemoration (1954 Calendar): May 10
Besides the feast day of St. Antonius, May 10th is the Commemoration of Saints Gordon and Epimachus. Both suffered under Julian the Apostate in 362.
The Catholic Encyclopedia edited by Charles George Herbermann states:
"Gordanius was a judge but was so moved by the sanctity and sufferings of the saintly priest, Januarius, that he embraced Christianity with many of his household. Being accused before his successor, or some say before the prefect of the city, Apronaianus, he was cruelly tortured and finally beheaded. His body was carried off by the Christians and laid in a crypt on the Latin Way beside the body of St. Epimachus, who had been recently interred there. The two saints gave their name to the cemetery, and have ever since been joined together in the veneration of the Church. There is another Gordanius who suffered martyrdom with two companions (place uncertain) and is commemorated on September 17, and a third, commemorated on September 13, who with several companions was martyred in Pontus or Galatia."
Collect:
O Almighty God, may the intercessory power of Your blessed martyrs Gordian and Epimachus aid us who celebrate their feast today. Through Our Lord . . .
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