Blandina, Saint Pothinus and 46 martyrs of Lyon

Biography

There it reads: "It is impossible to describe to you the hatred of the pagans towards us and the torments they inflict on us. We are persecuted in the forum, in the public baths and in our own homes. Then come the beatings, the stoning, the robberies and the prison. Next come the interrogations in the forum. And finally, the tortures that the populace attend in the two amphitheaters of the city. Our brothers have endured with good spirit the greatest sufferings. unbearable. Some, unfortunately, have apostatized: about a dozen have presented us as monsters who practice incest and eat children's flesh.” The circular cites many confessors of the faith: Attalius, Epagatus, Saint, Biblius, Alexander, Alcibiades and Maturus. But Blandina and Potino are mentioned in a special way. Potinus was “the holy bishop of Lyon” who was then ninety years old. He was brought to court on a stretcher. The judge asked him who the God of the Christians was and he responded as follows: “You will know Him when you are worthy of Him.” Those present were invited to kick and stone him with whatever they had at hand. Taken to prison, he soon breathed his last. As for Blandina, she was a young slave about whom we know little information. But we know that she overwhelmed the executioners who tormented her by repeating over and over again: “I am a Christian and nothing bad is done between us!” They hung her from a tree to feed the wild animals, but they respected her. They returned her to the prison with the idea of ​​saving her for the next day's games. When the time came, they flogged her, tore her flesh and burned some parts of her body. Then they wrapped her in a net and put her in front of a wild bull that gored her to death.