Felix of Massa Martana

Who they were

The Paschal Prologue records the martyrdom of Bishop Felix at Salona (modern Split) during the persecution of Diocletian and Maximian; his veneration continues at Split, where his relics are kept, with a feast on 18 May. Because a ninth-century Martyrology entry for a Bishop Felix of Spello, martyred under Maximian and kept on the same 18 May, closely resembles this account, scholars concluded the two were the same person, the confusion likely arising from the similarity of the place names Spalato and Spello.

The same Felix was also, through further confusion of place names, credited as bishop of Epetium, of Spoleto, and of a diocese called Martana, which never actually existed. The legend used for 'Felix of Martana' is identical to that used for Felix of Spello except for the place names, and there he is kept with a feast on 30 October; because Martana lay in the territory of Todi, local historians there went on to assign him a see at Todi as well.

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

Bishop and martyr of Salona (Split) whose story, through confusion of place names, was also attached to a non-existent see of Martana, kept there on 30 October.