Venustian
4th century Christian martyr
Feast: 30 December (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Venustian appears in the legend of St Sabinus as the governor of Etruria under Diocletian. He had Sabinus's hands cut off when the bishop broke a statue of Jupiter, and had two of his deacons tortured to death.
According to the same legend, Venustian, who suffered from a disease of the eyes, was later converted through Sabinus and gave his life for Christ with his wife and children. Butler says the story depends on a worthless passio made up in the fifth or sixth century.
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
Named in the legend of St Sabinus as a converted governor martyred with his family.
- Butler's Lives of the Saints, ed. Thurston and Attwater (1956), vol. IV - 30 December
- Wikidata Q109423848 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.