PANCRAZIO, saint, martyr. — He is commemorated in the Hieronymian Martyrology on 12 May, and his tomb is indicated at the second mile of the Via Aurelia. The Gelasian and Gregorian Sacramentaries likewise commemorate him on the same date.
Information concerning the personality and martyrdom of P. has been handed down in a very legendary Passio, probably composed in the sixth century by one of the priests responsible for the martyr’s cult in the basilica on the Via Aurelia, with the aim of making him better known to pilgrims. The son of pagan parents, he is said to have been born in a city of Phrygia; having been orphaned, he was entrusted to the care of his uncle Dionisio, who took him to Rome. There, on hearing of the marvellous conversions brought about by Pope Cornelio, uncle and nephew are said to have gone to the Pontiff to be instructed in the Christian religion; thirty days later they are said to have received Baptism, and shortly afterwards Dionisio is said to have died. P., however, is said to have been arrested following a decree of persecution against Christians issued by Diocletian. Because of his young age (he is said to have been fifteen) and his family circumstances, he was brought before the Emperor’s tribunal, where the latter is said to have tried every means to induce him to apostatize and spare his life. But P. is said to have remained steadfast in the faith, indeed reviling and mocking the gods, until he aroused Diocletian’s anger, and the Emperor is said to have condemned him to decapitation.
in Arch. soc. rom. di st. patria, 24 [1901], p. 450 n. 8). Onorio I (625-38) la riedificò (Lib. Pont., I, p. 324) costruendo la confessione semianulare in modo che l'altare stesse sopra il corpo del martire (G. B. De Rossi, Inser. Christ. Urbis Romae, II, Roma 1888, pp. 24, 156). Nella basilica di S. P. si chiude la serie delle stazioni pasquali.
Il cimitero sotterraneo, molto devastato, si sviluppò sotto e intorno all'area all'aperto. In un arcosolio è dipinta in nero un'iscrizione greca con la data dell'anno 454 (G. B. De Rossi, Inser. Christ., I, Roma 1857-61, p. 527). Tra le iscrizioni si ricordano quelle di un gruppo di Galati in greco, come l'altra di un BOTPYC XPICTIANOC. Il cimitero e la Basilica alla quale era a capo un praepositus furono alle dipendenze del titolo di S. Crisogono, come risulta da due iscrizioni degli anni 521 e 522 (G. B. De Rossi, Inser. Christ., I, Roma 1857-61, pp. 440 e 442). Nel cimitero i pellegrini del sec. VII venerarono i sepolcri dei martiri Artemio, Paolino, Sofia con le figlie, Agape, Elpis e Pistis (G. B. De Rossi, Roma sotterr., I, Roma 1864, pp. 140-41, 183.)