MASSIMO, Saint, Martyr. — A soldier in Antioch with Juventinus, he was martyred with him at the beginning of 363 by order of the Emperor Julian, whose apostasy and harsh struggle against the Christian religion he had disapproved of.
St. John Chrysostom delivered an oration in their honor (BHG, 975) before a large audience, composed of many eyewitnesses of the martyrdom, and Theodorus reports (Hist. eccl., III, 15) the trial and execution of the death sentence. Their feast is celebrated on January 25.
BIBL.: T. Ruinart, Acta Martyrum sincera, Verona 1731, pp. 523-24; Acta SS. Iannarii, III, Paris 1863, pp. 232-35;
P. P., La date de la fête des sts Iuventin et Maximin, in Anal. Bolland., 42 (1924), pp. 77-82; Martyrologium Romanum, pp. 34-35. Emanuele Romanelli