Saints Crispin and Crispinian.
Unreliable legend had Crispin and Crispinian, noble Roman brothers who with St. Quintinus, went to Gaul to preach the gospel and settled at Soissons. They were most successful in convert work during the day and worked as shoemakers at night. By order of Emperor Maximian, who was visiting in Gaul, they were haled before Rictiovarus (whose position is unknown and even his existence is doubted by scholars), a hater of Christians, who subjected them to torture; when unsuccessful in trying to kill them, he committed suicide whereupon Maximian had the two brothers beheaded. They are the patrons of shoemakers, cobblers, and leatherworkers. Their feast day is October 25th. Saints Crispin and Crispinian are the Christian patron saints of cobblers, curriers, tanners, and leather workers. They were beheaded during the reign of Diocletian; the date of their execution is given as 25 October 285 or 286.
Born to a noble Roman family in the 3rd century AD, Crispin and Crispinian fled persecution for their faith, ending up at Soissons (modern-day France), where they preached Christianity to the Gauls while making shoes by night. It is stated that they were twin brothers. They earned enough by their trade to support themselves and aid people experiencing poverty. Their success attracted the ire of Rictus Varus, Roman governor of Belgic Gaul, who had them tortured and thrown into the river with millstones around their necks. Though they survived, they were beheaded by the emperor c. 286. The feast day of Saints Crispin and Crispinian is 25 October. Although this feast was removed from the Roman Catholic Church's universal liturgical calendar following the Second Vatican Council, the two saints are still commemorated on that day in the most recent edition of the Roman Church's martyrology.
In the sixth century, a stately basilica was erected over these saints' graves at Soissons, and St. Eligius, a famous goldsmith, made a costly shrine for the head of St. Crispinian. Their remains were afterwards removed, partly by Charlemagne to Osnabrück, and partly to the church of San Lorenzo in Panisperna in Rome.
They are the patron saints of cobblers, glove makers, lace makers, lace workers, leather workers, saddle makers, saddlers, shoemakers, tanners, and weavers. Especially in France, but also in England and other parts of Europe, the festival of St Crispin was for centuries the occasion of solemn processions and merry-making, in which guilds of shoemakers took the chief part. Crispin and Crispinian are remembered in the Church of England with a commemoration on 25 October.
Saints Crispin and Crispinian, venerated as the patron saints of shoemakers, were devout Christians who lived during the late 3rd century during the reign of Diocletian. They dedicated their lives to spreading the Gospel, following the example of St. Paul. By day, they preached the Gospel; by night, they toiled diligently, crafting shoes to support themselves and provide for the needy. They gave the perfect testimony to their faith by enduring various fearful torments and were finally beheaded.
Saints Crispin and Crispinian, pray that we may persevere in preaching the Gospel, both in word and deed.
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