Veneration
Apollonius was not mentioned in the earliest Christian martyrologies, not being at first the object of individual commemoration. In the Middle Ages he was confused with two other saints, Apollo of Alexandria and the Apollonius who was martyred with Saint Valentine and whose feast is on 18 April. As a result, this date was attributed also to Saint Apollonius of Rome, even in editions of the Roman Martyrology, the latest editions of which have, however, restored the date of 21 April.
The account in the Roman Martyrology (21 April) is as follows:
- At Rome, commemoration of Saint Apollonius, philosopher and martyr. Under the Emperor Commodus, he defended, before the Prefect Perennius and the Senate, the cause of the Christian faith in a finely argued address, and then, after being condemned to death, confirmed it by the witness of his blood.
Read more about this topic: Apollonius The Apologist
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“Erasmus was the light of his century; others were its strength: he lighted the way; others knew how to walk on it while he himself remained in the shadow as the source of light always does. But he who points the way into a new era is no less worthy of veneration than he who is the first to enter it; those who work invisibly have also accomplished a feat.”
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