Primo martire

Who they were

Of Primus almost nothing is known for certain beyond his name and his age at death, four years and eight months, recorded on the tombstone found with his relics. He was martyred at Rome in the time of Diocletian, apparently to induce his family to renounce their faith; later devotional tradition, not historically confirmed, made him the son of Saints Claudius and Prepedigna.

His relics, with a vessel believed to hold his blood, were rediscovered on 28 December 1831 in the catacomb of Sant'Ippolito near Rome, and in 1833 were translated to Casabasciana in the Val di Lima, near Lucca, where they are still venerated in the parish church. Pope Gregory XVI fixed his feast on the second Sunday of August.

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

Child martyr, aged four years and eight months, martyred at Rome; his relics were rediscovered in 1831 and later translated to Casabasciana; feast the second Sunday of August.