St. Quadratus of Athens

Quadratus was a disciple of the apostles.

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May 26 · Bishop

St. Quadratus of Athens

St. Quadratus of Athens

Quadratus was a disciple of the apostles.

Traditional feast

May 26
1914 / pre-1969 calendar, per Baring-Gould (1897)

Current feast

September 21
Secondary source · Wikipedia

Represents

Bishop

Their story

Adapted in modern English from Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints · little is known

Quadratus was a disciple of the apostles. Eusebius (bishop of Caesarea, d. c. 339, the first historian of the Church) calls him a man known for the gift of prophecy and for miracles like those of the apostles. When St Publius, bishop of Athens, was martyred under the emperor Hadrian (Roman emperor 117–138), Quadratus took his place. He gathered the scattered faithful and, St Jerome says, rekindled their faith.

Hadrian spent a winter at Athens and was initiated into the Eleusinian mysteries, and persecution grew sharper. Quadratus wrote a defence of the Christian faith and presented it to the emperor. According to Jerome, this apology moved Hadrian to restore peace to the Church. Butler links it to Hadrian's rescript to Minucius Fundanus, proconsul of Asia, which was favourable to Christians but worded ambiguously.

Early life

The book says little or nothing about early life. This is how the account begins.

Thin entry · the 1897 book gives only 0 words. We have not filled the gap with invented detail.

What they represent

How they teach us to live

Drawn from themes in the original account

Keep their day. Remember them on May 26 with a short prayer, and ask for their help.

Read more

The full original · 0 words

Read Baring-Gould’s full account

Baring-Gould’s sources: Roman Martyrology. In the Greek Mensea, on Sept. 22nd, he is venerated as a martyr; but probably this is a mistake, Quadratus, bishop of Magnesia, and the menology of the Emperor Basil so styles him. There is no evidence that he was a martyr. Authority: — Eusebius, AINT QUADRATUS, disciple of the apostles, succeeded Publius in the bishopric of Athens, about the year 125. He composed a defence of the Christian religion, or an “Apology/' which he presented to the Emperor Hadrian, and this work induced the emperor to abate the persecution of the Church. S. Jerome speaks highly of this apology. 1 Greek Mencea. Nothing known of him except his name as mentioned in the Gospels,

Feast days

Feast: September 21
Traditional: May 26

Nine days · Free

Pray the novena
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One short email a day for nine days. The day's prayer, a line from St. Quadratus of Athens's story, and a nudge to keep going.

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← All 1726 saints in the library
Sources & notes

Feast-day sources

Story sources

Sources

Credits

Image: Quadratus of Athens (Menologion of Basil II).jpg · Authors of Menologion of Basil II (circa 985 AC, Constantinople), Byzantine manuscript illuminators[1]: Pantoleon with G · Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897–98); text from the Internet Archive scan (OCR, lightly cleaned; errors possible). Public domain.

Image: Authors of Menologion of Basil II (circa 985 AC, Constantinople), Byzantine manuscript illuminators[1]: Pantoleon with G, Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897–98); text from the Internet Archive scan (OCR, lightly cleaned; errors possible). Public domain in the United States. Reproduced unedited, except for short bracketed notes in grey that we added to explain names and terms (“S.” is the old abbreviation for Saint). Some history and judgments reflect 19th-century scholarship.