Today, May 18, is the memorial of Saint Venantius of Camerino.
Tradition says Venantius was 15 years old when he was tortured and beheaded upon the orders of the anti-Christian emperor Trajan Decius. The emperor’s soldiers arrested Venantius only because he was a Christian who refused to give up his faith.
Venantius went through various means of torture: scourging, burning with live torches, hanging upside down over a fire, knocking out of his teeth, breaking of his jaws, throwing into the lions, and being thrown off a high cliff. All these Venantius miraculously survived.
His incredible trust in God, his patience, and his humility caused great admiration among the bystanders, so much so that they were converted and became followers of Jesus.
After Venantius and his converts were decapitated in the year 250, thunder, lightning, and earthquakes took place. The then-governor Antiochus was so afraid, believing that those were signs of God’s anger over the executions. The governor tried to run away, but he died tragically.