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Icon of the Holy Martyr
Florian of Lorch (+304)
Feast: May 4
Florian
martyr was an officer in the army who suffered in the persecution of
Diocletian when he was stationed in Noricum (now part of Austria). When
news arrived that the emperor commanded all military officers to offer
sacrifice, Florian went immediately to Lorch (now St.-Lorenz) in
Noricum and confessed he was a Christian and could not possibly offer
the required sacrifice to the demons known as "the gods." For this he
was arrested. To force Florian to renounce Christ, the pagans scourged
him severely, which removed much of his skin. Finding his faith
immoveable, they attached a millstone to his neck and cast him into the
river Enns, a tributary of the Danube, where his body perished. His
soul flew to meet Christ our all-merciful Saviour in the heavens,
whereas his body was taken by a pious woman and given a proper burial.
In due time, his relics were elevated and enshrined at the abbey of St.
Florian near Linz, Austria. He became patron of Upper Austria and was
much beloved on the eastern borders of Western Europe. St. Florian is
the patron saint of firefighters. Holy Martyr Florian, pray to God for
us!
Icon:
fresco in the convent of Nonnberg in Austria.
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