Faustino

Who they were

Almost nothing is known of the life of Faustino beyond that he was a young man, as shown by the structure of his bones, who lived as a Christian probably in the 3rd century, when that meant risking one's life; a small phial of what was taken for his blood was found with his remains, the traditional sign of a martyr.

His relics were taken from the Roman catacomb of San Ciriaco and given in 1660 to the confraternity of Saints Sebastian and Rocco at Pontedera, where they arrived amid great popular devotion; in 1801 the people and clergy of Pontedera, with the archbishop of Pisa's consent, chose him as patron of the town. His feast, moved in 1968 to keep it apart from Sunday and closer to the town's autumn activities, is now kept the second Thursday of October.

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

Young martyr whose relics were brought from the Roman catacomb of San Ciriaco to Pontedera in 1660 and who was declared patron of the town in 1801; feast the second Thursday of October.