MAPPALICO, saint, martyr. - An African, who perished during the persecution of Decius, he is commemorated in the Calendario cartaginese on 19 April, and in the Martirologio geronimiano on the 17th and 18th of the same month together with others.
There is no Passio of M.; however, St Cyprian speaks of him in a letter, holding him up to the admiration of the confessors confined in prison. From the letter written by Luciano to Celerino, it is learned that M. died under torture during interrogation; and finally, in the letter written to the clergy of Rome, St Cyprian, contrasting his own upright conduct with Luciano’s rash behaviour, relates that he never dared to grant any certificate of peace to the lapsi, not even to his own mother, limiting himself to asking the brethren to show her mercy.