Having learned that he was about to be arrested, he presented himself to the governor of Camerino, Antiochus, at the city gates, and said to him that the lives of the gods were filled with every kind of crime, that there was only one God, whose unique Son had become a man to deliver his fellow humans from the tyranny of sin. When it was found impossible to shake his constancy either by threats or promises, he was condemned to be scourged, but was miraculously saved by an Angel. He was then burnt with torches and suspended over a low fire that he might be suffocated by the smoke.

The judge’s secretary, while admiring the steadfastness of the Saint, saw an Angel robed in white, who stamped out the fire and again set free the youthful martyr. This man proclaimed his faith in Christ and was baptized with his whole family. Shortly afterwards he won the martyr’s crown.

Venantius was summoned to appear before Antiochus. Unable to make him renounce his faith, the governor cast him into prison with an apostate soldier, who strove in vain to tempt him. Antiochus, furious, then ordered his teeth and jaws to be broken and had him thrown into a furnace, from which the Angel once more delivered him. The Saint was sent to a city magistrate to be condemned, but this judge after hearing his defense of Christianity, fell headlong from his seat and expired, saying, “The God of Venantius is the true God; let us destroy our idols.”

When this circumstance was told to Antiochus, he ordered Venantius to be thrown to the lions. These brutes, however, forgetting their natural ferocity, crouched at the feet of the Saint. Then, by order of the tyrant, the young martyr was dragged through a heap of brambles and thorns and retired half-dead, but the next day he was cured; God had manifested the glory of His servant once more. On behalf of soldiers who had dragged him outside the city over stones and rocks, and were suffering from thirst, the Saint knelt on a rock and signed it with a cross; immediately a jet of clear, cool water welled up from the spot. This miracle converted many of those who beheld it. The rock remained imprinted by his knees and was placed in a church in Camerino, where it still remains.

The governor finally had Venantius and his converts beheaded on the same day, in the year 250. The bodies of these martyrs are kept in the same church at Camerino. The Acts of Saint Venantius’ martyrdom have been carefully studied and declared authentic by the Church.

Collect

Latin:

Deus, qui hunc diem beáti Venántii Mártyris tui triúmpho consecrásti: exáudi preces pópuli tui, et praesta; ut, qui ejus mérita venerámur, fídei constántiam imitémur. Per Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum Fílium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti, Deus, Per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

Translation:

O God, Who hast consecrated this day to the triumph of blessed Venantius, Thy martyr, harken to the prayers of Thy people, and grant that we, who venerate his merits, may imitate the constancy of his faith. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who livest and reignest with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God Forever and ever. Amen.

Collect

Latin:

Deus, qui beátum Paschálem Confessórem tuum mirífica erga córporis et sánguinis tui sacra mystéria dilectióne decorásti: concéde propítius; ut,quam ille ex hoc divino convívio spíritus percépit pinguédinem, eámdem et nos percípere mereámur: Qui vivis et regnas, cum Deo Patre in unitáte Spíritu Sancti, Deus, Per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

Translation:

O God, Who didst adorn blessed Paschal, Thy confessor, with a wonderful love for the sacred mysteries of Thy body and blood, mercifully grant that we, too, may be worthy to feel the same unction of the spirit which he received from this divine banquet. Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, Forever and ever. Amen.

Deus, qui ad errórum insídias repelléndas et Apostólicæ Sedis jura propugnánda beátum Robértum, Pontificem tuum atque Doctórem,mira eruditióne et virtúte decorásti: ejus méritis et intercessióne concéde; ut nos in veritátis amóre crescámus, et errántium corda ad Ecclésiæ Tuæ rédeant unitátem. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum: Qui Tecum vivit et regnat.

Oremus. Semper nos, Dómine, Mártyrum tuórum Nérei, Achíllei, Domítíllæ atque Pancrátii fóveat, quæsumus, beáta solémnitas: et tuo dignos reddat obséquio. Per Dominum Jesum Christum, Filium Tuum, Qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus, Per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.   

Oremus. Sancti Antoníni, Dómine, Confessóris tui atque Pontíficis, méritis adjuvémur: ut, sicut te in illo mirábilem prædicámus, ita in nos misericórdem fuísse gloriémur. Per Dominum Jesum Christum, Filium Tuum, Qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus, Per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.