A layman of Corinth martyred in 251 under Decius, one of seven Corinthian martyrs who died together for their faith.

Saint Serapion of Corinth was a layman martyred in the Greek city of Corinth in the year 251, during the persecution of the emperor Decius, together with six named companions. Their shared death represents a substantial local action against the Christian community founded there two centuries earlier by Saint Paul.

Quick Facts

• Died: 251 (Corinth, Greece)
• Venerated as: Layman and martyr
• Companion of: Saint Victorinus, Saint Victor, Saint Nicephorus, Saint Claudius, Saint Diodorus, and Saint Papias

Who Was Saint Serapion of Corinth?

Saint Serapion was a layman of Corinth martyred in the year 251, during the persecution of the emperor Decius, together with a substantial group of six named companions, reflecting a large-scale local action against the Christian community of that ancient Greek city.

Historical Setting

Corinth, a major Roman colony and commercial hub in Greece with a Christian community dating back to Saint Paul’s own missionary founding in the first century, was not spared the effects of Decius’s empire-wide demand for sacrifice to the gods. A group martyrdom of this size, seven named men, suggests a coordinated local crackdown on a portion of the city’s Christian population.

Why the Church Remembers Saint Serapion of Corinth

Serapion is remembered as part of this substantial group of Corinthian martyrs, a witness to the persistence of the church Paul had founded two centuries earlier, still standing firm under one of the empire’s harshest persecutions to that point.

Canonization and Feast Day

No formal canonization process for Serapion is recorded, as expected for a martyr of this era. His veneration is ancient, part of Corinth’s own memory of its Decian-era martyrs.

What Catholics Can Learn Today

Serapion’s martyrdom, one of seven Corinthians who died together, is a reminder that the churches founded by the apostles did not simply persist automatically, they were sustained generation after generation by believers willing to pay a real price for their faith.

A Prayer to Saint Serapion of Corinth

Saint Serapion of Corinth, who with six companions gave your life in the city Paul once evangelized, help the Church today to remain as steadfast as you were, wherever the faith first took root among us.

Sources

• Roman Martyrology
• Butler’s Lives of the Saints
• New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia
• Acta Sanctorum