St. Maurice and Companions

Today we commemorate St. Maurice and companions.

Returning from Gaul, Emperor Maximian (286-305) led his soldiers to Sitten, Switzerland, and there arranged a victory sacrifice to the gods. The Christian legion from the Egyptian Thebaid refused to participate in the idolatrous service. Their leader Maurice exhorted them to perseverance. As a consequence the Theban legion was decimated, then massacred (about 300), ordered by Emperor Maximian. The Roman Martyrology mentions Exuperius, Candidus, Victor, Innocent and Vitalis by name. These martyrs were later referred to as Agaunum's glorious legion. Their relics are venerated at Saint-Maurice-en-Valais, Switzerland, in a famous Augustinian abbey.
~Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch.
 
Patron: Against gout; against cramping; against arthritis; Alpine troops; armies; Austria; clothmakers; dyers; infantrymen; Piedmont, Italy; Sardinia; soldiers; swordsmiths; weavers.

Symbols: Armour; banner with lion rampant; sword; seven stars; eagle on a shield; red cross; Often Portrayed As: soldier; soldier being executed with other soldiers; knight (sometimes a Moor) in full armour, bearing a standard and a palm; knight in armour with a red cross on his breast, which is the badge of the Sardinian Order of Saint Maurice.
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