Editing Adrian and Natalia of Nicomedia

{{Short description|Guard of Roman emperor Galerius (died 306)}}
{{Infobox saint
| honorific_prefix= [[Saint]]s
| name            = Adrian and Natalia of Nicomedia
| birth_date      = 
| death_date      = 4 March 306
| feast_day       = 8 September <br />1 December<ref name="Holweck">{{cite book | last=Holweck | first=F. G. |author-link=Frederick George Holweck| title=A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints | publisher=B. Herder Book Co. | year=1924 | location=St. Louis}}</ref>
| venerated_in    = [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic Church]]<br />[[Coptic Orthodox Church]]<br/>[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]
| image           = Agnatalia.jpg
| imagesize       = 150px
| caption         = Saint Adrian and his wife, Saint Natalia
| birth_place     = 
| death_place     = Nicomedia<ref name="patron">{{cite web | last=Jones | first=Terry | title=Adrian of Nicomedia| work=Patron Saints Index | url=http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/sainta43.htm | access-date=2007-12-29| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080101163125/http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/sainta43.htm| archive-date=1 January 2008 | url-status=dead}}</ref><br />(modern-day [[İzmit]], [[Turkey]])
| titles          = [[Martyr]]s
| beatified_date  = 
| beatified_place = 
| beatified_by    = 
| canonized_date  = 
| canonized_place = 
| canonized_by    = 
| attributes      = depicted [[weapon|armed]], with an [[anvil]] in his hands or at his feet
| patronage       = [[pandemic|plague]], [[epilepsy]], [[Arms industry|arms dealers]], [[butcher]]s, [[Royal Guard|guards]], [[soldier]]s, [[peacekeeping|peacekeeping missions]]
| major_shrine    = [[Argyropolis (Thrace)]] near [[Constantinople]];<br />[[Geraardsbergen]], [[Belgium]];<br />Church of [[Sant'Adriano al Foro]], [[Rome]]<ref name="cathen">{{cite encyclopedia | last=Kirsch| first=J.P. | title=Hadrian | encyclopedia=The Catholic Encyclopedia | volume=7 | publisher=Robert Appleton Company | year=1910 | url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07105a.htm | access-date=2007-12-29}}</ref>
| suppressed_date = 
| issues          = 
| prayer          = 
| prayer_attrib   = 
}}

'''Adrian of Nicomedia''' (also known as Hadrian) or '''Saint Adrian''' ({{langx|el|Ἁδριανὸς Νικομηδείας|Adrianos Nikomēdeias}}, died 4 March 306)<ref name="cathen" /> was a [[Jovians and Herculians|Herculian Guard]] of the [[Roman emperor|Roman Emperor]] [[Galerius |Galerius Maximian]]. After becoming a convert to [[Christianity]] with his wife '''Natalia''' (Ναταλία), Adrian was [[martyr]]ed at [[Nicomedia]] in [[Asia-Minor]]             ([[Turkey]]).<ref name="cathen" /> Adrian was the chief [[military saint]] of Northern Europe for many ages, second only to [[Saint George]], and is much revered in [[Flanders]], [[Germany]] and the north of [[France]].

==Martyrdom==
[[Image:Adrien.jpg|thumb|150px|left|French statue of Saint Adrian]]
Adrian and Natalia lived in Nicomedia during the time of Emperor Maximian in the early fourth century.<ref name=aoca>[http://www.antiochian.org/node/19333 "St. Natalia, Martyr", Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese]</ref> The twenty-eight-year-old Adrian was head of the [[praetorium]].

It is said that while presiding over the torture of a band of Christians, he asked them what reward they expected to receive from God. They replied, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."<ref>{{Bibleverse|1|Corinthians|2:9|63}}</ref> He was so amazed at their courage that he publicly confessed his faith, though he had not yet been [[baptism|baptized]]. He was then immediately imprisoned. He was forbidden visitors, but accounts state that his wife Natalia came to visit him, dressed as a boy, to ask for his prayers when he entered [[Heaven]].<ref name=catholic>{{cite web | title=St. Adrian | work=Catholic Online Saints & Angels | url=http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=253 | access-date=2008-03-04| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080303124352/http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=253| archive-date= 3 March 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref>

After his execution, the executioners wanted to burn the bodies of the dead, but a storm arose and quenched the fire.<ref>[http://oca.org/saints/all-lives/2013/08/26 "Martyr Adrian of Nicomedia", Orthodox Church in America]</ref> Natalia recovered one of Adrian's hands.

==Historicity==
The accuracy of the recorded story has been questioned. A second Hadrian is said to have been a son of the [[Probus (emperor)|Emperor Probus]], and, having embraced Christianity, to have been put to death (A.D. 320), at Nicomedia in Asia Minor, by Emperor [[Licinius]]. But no reliable information concerning him is extant. He is commemorated on August 26.<ref>[https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-hadrian/ Monks of Ramsgate. “Hadrian”. ''Book of Saints'', 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 22 May 2017]{{PD-notice}}</ref>

==Feast day and patronage==
[[Image:Adrian and Natalia.jpg|thumb|[[Russian Orthodox Church|Russian Orthodox]] [[icon]] of the [[martyr]]s Adrian and Natalia.]]
In the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], Saint Adrian shares a [[Calendar of saints|feast day]] with his wife on 26 August in the Church Calendar, which for the majority of Orthodox Christians remains on the Julian Calendar, is on 8 September in the Gregorian and global civil calendars; he also has feast days alone on 4 March. In the [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic Church]], he is venerated alone, without his wife, on September 8.<ref>'' Martyrologium Romanum'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2001 {{ISBN|88-209-7210-7}})</ref> The Coptic Orthodox Church likewise venerates St. Adrian and his companions on the third day of the Coptic month known as Nesi (corresponding to September 8), mentioning his wife's role during the Synaxarion reading of that day.

Saint Hadrian was the chief [[military saint]] of Northern Europe for many ages, second only to [[Saint George]], and is much revered in [[Flanders]], [[Germany]] and the north of [[France]]. He is usually represented armed, with an anvil in his hands or at his feet.{{cn|date=March 2022}}

[[Sant'Adriano al Foro]], a church in the [[Roman Forum]] (founded AD 630), was named in his honour. The name was later transferred to [[Santa Maria della Mercede e Sant'Adriano a Villa Albani]] (1958) when the old church was demolished.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.parrocchiadellamercede.it/la-parrocchia/storia/|title=Storia - Parrocchia Santa Maria della Mercede}}</ref>

{{Commons category|Saint Adrian}}

==See also==
* [[Portal:Catholicism/Patron Archive/September 8|Saint Adrian or Hadrian of Nicomedia, patron saint archive]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book | last =Attwater | first =Donald and Catherine Rachel John | edition = 3rd | title =The Penguin Dictionary of Saints | publisher =Penguin Books | year =1993 | location =New York | isbn =0-14-051312-4}}
* {{cite book |first1=E. A. |last1=Greene |year=1908 |chapter=S. Adrian |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mo0xAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA32 |page=32 |title=Saints and Their Symbols: A Companion in the Churches and Picture Galleries of Europe |oclc=16907745}}

{{Authority control|additional=Q374822,Q1869249}}

[[Category:Members and leaders of the Praetorian Guard]]
[[Category:Saints from Roman Anatolia]]
[[Category:Saints duos]]
[[Category:Married couples]]
[[Category:Converts to Christianity from ancient Roman religions]]
[[Category:4th-century Christian martyrs]]
[[Category:4th-century Romans]]
[[Category:Ancient Christian female saints]]
[[Category:3rd-century births]]
[[Category:306 deaths]]
[[Category:4th-century Roman women]]
[[Category:Groups of ancient Romans]]