SAINT OF THE DAY (May 4)
Life as a Soldier and Firefighter
Florian was born in Aelium Cetium (present-day Sankt Pölten, Austria) around 250.
He joined the Roman Army as a youth.
Through hard work and determination, he advanced in the ranks and occupied a high administrative post in Noricum, now part of Austria.
In addition to his military duties, he was also responsible for organizing and leading firefighting brigades.
Florian organized and trained an elite group of soldiers whose sole duty was to fight fires.
In fact, Florian is claimed to have put out a house fire with a single bucket of water and is depicted this way in many images.
Officer in the Roman Army
Emperor Diocletian and his assistant Maximian liked Florian because of his abilities to solve problems and work with people.
They saw Florian as a man capable of handling heavy responsibilities.
In 303, the Diocletianic persecution of Christians ensued.
The Emperors of Rome — Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius — issued a decree prohibiting any religion other than Rome’s paganistic tradition.
This tradition involves offering sacrifices to God.
Although Florian became an officer of the Roman Army, he didn’t observe a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and confessed to his Christianity in anti-Christian times.
His Martyrdom
The Emperor sent an assistant named Aquilius to the area controlled by Florian to kill all the Christians in the area and to find out why Florian was not following orders.
When he finally met up with Florian, he asked him why he refused to persecute the Christians to which Florian replied:
“Tell the Emperor that I am a Christian and will suffer the same fate as the Christians.”
Aquilius then offered him a raise and promotion if he would change his mind. Florian refused.
Aquilius was outraged and had his soldiers beat him with whips, yet Florian stood steadfast.
He told Aquilius that he had suffered many wounds for the Emperor – why not a few scratches for his own beliefs?
His courage scared Aquilius who feared that Florian would lead others to rebel.
Did Not Follow Orders
It was for these reasons that the Emperor was shocked to learn that Florian was not following his order to punish all Christians in his area.
This punishment included burning Christian churches and books, firing all Christians from their jobs, putting them in prison without good reason, and finally forcing them to sacrifice to the Roman gods.
Florian did not carry out his orders to persecute all Christians in the area, and thus, was sentenced to death by fire.
Legendary Final Acts
His legendary “Acts” state that he gave himself up at Lorch to the soldiers of Aquilinus and the governor of Lorch when they were rounding up the Christians.
Standing on the funeral pyre, Florian is reputed to have challenged the Roman soldiers to light the fire, saying:
“If you do, I will climb to heaven on the flames.”
Apprehensive to his words, instead of burning Florian, he was flogged and flayed after making the bold confession.
Not willing to take a chance, Aquilius decided to drown Florian by tying a giant stone around his neck and throwing him into the river Enns.
He was twice scourged, half-flayed alive, set on fire, and finally thrown into the river Enns with a stone around his neck.
His body was later recovered by a pious woman, and he was buried honorably.
Because of his stand and resistance to death by fire, Florian became the protector of firefighters all over the world.
