Florian

🗓️Feast Day: May 4th

Saint Florian was an officer in the Vigiles, or “watchmen,” a unit that patrolled Rome at night to deter crime and scan for fires that could destroy the city. Under the persecution of Diocletian, soldiers were expected to detain and prosecute Christians. A believer himself, Florian refused. He was put on trial, found guilty, and was sentenced to death by burning. Known as a brave and effective fire fighter, the executioners were afraid to set the blaze. Instead, they threw a millstone around his neck and drowned him in the Enns River. His body was retrieved in nearby Lorch, where he was buried.

He is the patron saint of fire fighters, a role he fulfilled as a Roman soldier before there was a separation between the military, police forces, and emergency services. In Germany, his name is so synonymous with fire fighting that his name is yelled to call for firemen. The St Florian Cross also forms the basis for most fire companies around the world.

Further Reading:

 * David Woods has translated two early sources of interest, BHL 3058 and BHL 3054.
 * The First Fire Fighter by Aaron Brachfeld

Podcast:
https://share.transistor.fm/e/3c4f1546