Roman Martyrology

The reading

August 13

At Rome, blessed Hippolytus, martyr, who glorious- -" ly confessed the faith, under the emperor Valerian After enduring other torments, he was tied by the feet to the necks of wild horses, and being cruelly dragged through briars and brambles, and having all his body lacerated, he yielded up his spirit. On the same day, suffered also blessed Concordia, his nurse, who being scourged in his presence with leaded whips, went to our Lord; and nineteen others of his house, who were beheaded beyond the Tiburtine gate, and buried with him in the Veran field. — At Imola, the birthday of St. Cassian, martyr. As he refused to worship idols, the persecutor called the boys whom the saint taught and who hated him, giving them leave to kill him. The torment suffered by the martyr was the more grievous, as the hand which inflicted it, by reason of its weakness, rendered death more tardy. — At Todi, St. Cassian, bishop and martyr, under the emperor Diocletian. — At Burgos, in Spain, the Saints Centolla and Helena, martyrs. — At Constantinople, St. Maximus, a monk, distinguished for learning and for zeal for Catholic truth. Combating valiantly the Monothelites, he had his hands and tongue torn from him by the heretical emperor Constans, and was banished to Chersonesus, where he breathed his last. At this time, two of his disciples, both called Anastasius, and many others endured diverse torments and the hardships of exile. — In Germany, St. Wigbert, priest and confessor. — At Rome, St. John Berchinans, a scholastic of the Society of Jesus, illustrious for his innocence and for his fidelity to the rules of the religious life. He was canonized by Leo XIII. — At Poitiers, St. Radegundes, queen, whose life was renowned for miracles and virtues.

Source: The Roman Martyrology, Baltimore, 1916, John Murphy Company; local raw text lines 8319-8361.