Saint Cyriacus of Jerusalem

Cyriacus’s story begins with another name. According to the account handed down in the Catholic tradition, he was born in Jerusalem, his name was Judas, son of Simeon and Anna, and he was the rabbi of the local synagogue. In 326 the empress Helena, mother of Constantine, came to the city looking for the cross of Christ. She searched and found nothing; in the end, the legend says, it was that rabbi who showed her the place. That meeting brought his conversion, his new name — Cyriacus, “of the Lord” — and later his time as bishop. From here on the traditions split, and it’s best to say so. One makes him bishop of Jerusalem and a martyr under Julian the Apostate, in 363. Another makes him a bishop of Ancona killed during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Scholars debate whether this is one person or two, and there is also a third Judas Cyriacus, who died in a revolt in 133, with whom he gets confused. What is not in question is the cult. Cyriacus is the patron saint of Ancona, where the cathedral bears his name and people call him Ceriàgo in dialect. And he is deeply venerated in Sardinia, under the name Quirico. Catholics remember him on May 4, the Orthodox on April 14. If your name is Cyriacus or Quirico, today is your name day.