Eutychian

Who they were

In the 4th century, Eutychius was condemned to martyrdom by prolonged deprivation of food and sleep, and finally thrown into a ravine; what is known of him comes from the epitaph Pope Damasus placed on his tomb in the cemetery of San Sebastiano on the Appian Way in Rome. The epitaph tells that, having overcome the tyrant's commands and the torturers' many torments, Eutychius was shut for twelve days without any food in a squalid prison floored with sharp potsherds so that he could not sleep, and was then thrown into a ravine, ending his cruel martyrdom by loss of blood.

It is not known under which persecution he suffered. He revealed the place of his burial in a dream and, restored to the veneration of the faithful, became an effective intercessor; his body is said to have later been moved to the basilica of San Lorenzo in Damaso, where in 1577 it was placed together with the body of Pope Damasus beneath the high altar, and there it continues to be venerated.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.

Why that counted as sanctity

Roman martyr starved and sleep-deprived for twelve days before being thrown into a ravine, remembered through the epitaph Pope Damasus placed on his tomb; feast 4 February.