Saints Hermagoras and Fortunatus of Aquileia

Hermagoras and Fortunatus are the two protomartyrs of Aquileia, and they stand at the origin of one of the oldest Churches in Italy. Tradition says that in the year 50 Hermagoras was chosen by Saint Mark as the first bishop of the community of Aquileia, and consecrated in Rome by Peter; a later version says he was a pagan converted by Mark himself. Fortunatus was his deacon. They were martyred together in Aquileia in the year 70. How much of this is historical is debated: the sources are late, and the idea that Mark founded that Church also served, over the centuries, to back the claims of the patriarchate of Aquileia against those of Grado and Venice. What is certain is how old the cult is: their names already appear in the Hieronymian Martyrology, from the fifth century. And in 1031 Patriarch Poppo dedicated to them the patriarchal basilica of Aquileia, which is still there with its fourth-century mosaic floor — the largest in the Christian West. In Friulian they are Macôr and Fortunât, in Slovene Mohor in Fortunat: two names that live in three languages, like that whole land. If your name is Ermagora or Fortunato, today is your name day.