St Hadrian of Nicomedia’s Day
As the bodyguard of Eastern Roman emperor Galerius, Adrian was so impressed by the fortitude of Christians undergoing persecution in 306 that he decided to become one himself. This naturally led to his own martyrdom, a gruesome process that involved being broken by an anvil, thrown to the lions and chopped into pieces. Adrian may be invoked by believers suffering from epilepsy or the plague and he is the patron of arms dealers, butchers, prison guards and soldiers.
St Casimir’s Day
Casimir (1461-84) was not your usual late-medieval prince. The son of King Casimir IV, he was uncomfortable with worldly power and, growing up, got a reputation for prayer, asceticism and all-round saintliness. When ordered by his father to lead what he felt was an unjust invasion of Hungary, Prince Casimir turned the army around and came home, resulting in his banishment to a remote castle. He also refused to fight any Christian country when the Turks were posing such a danger to Europe. Preferring celibacy, he rejected the political marriage planned for him by his father and concentrated on acts of charity. He died of a lung disease at the age of 23.
Casimir is the patron saint of Poland and Lithuania.