Saint Adrio

Nothing is known about Adrio, and this page explains why we talk about him anyway. His name is in the Hieronymian Martyrology, which dates from the fifth century and is the oldest list of martyrs we have: there he appears on May 17 as a martyr of Alexandria in Egypt. When he died isn’t clear — either under Decius, between 249 and 251, or under Diocletian, between 284 and 305. His cult, though, spread throughout the Byzantine Empire, and in Constantinople there was a church dedicated to him: a sign that someone, in those centuries, knew perfectly well who he was. Then something happened that often happens in this line of work. Caesar Baronius, compiling the Roman Martyrology, misread the Hieronymian and lumped Adrio together with two other martyrs, Victor and Basilla. In reality Victor was a martyr of Rome, buried in the catacomb of Saint Hermes — also called the catacomb of Bassilla — and that place name had mistakenly become the name of a person. The Martyrology revised after the Second Vatican Council separated the memorials. Adrio stands alone again, with the few words that are his due. If your name is Adrio, today is your name day.