Quirinus of Sescia

Who was Quirinus of Sescia?

'Quirinus is venerated as an early bishop of Sescia, now Sisak in Croatia. He is mentioned by Eusebius of Caesarea.

A Passio, considered unreliable, states that Quirinus was killed during the persecutions of Diocletian after being arrested in 309. Quirinus had attempted to flee but was imprisoned. He managed to convert his jailer, named Marcellus, to Christianity. After three days, the governor of Pannonia Prima, Amantius, ordered him taken to Sabaria, where after attempting to make Quirinus abjure his faith, threw the bishop into the local Gyöngyös River with a millstone around his neck.

A variant of the legend states that he was almost killed during Diocletian's persecution of Christians: the authorities tied him to a millstone and threw him into a river, but he freed himself from the weight, escaped and continued to preach his faith. Saint Florian, another saint associated with Pannonia, was also said to have been executed by drowning with a stone tied around his neck.

The Acts of the martyrdom of the saint were collected in writing, and a hymn was written in his honour by Prudentius.