Saint Flavian of Carthage

Saint Flavian was an eminent master of classical rhetoric in the schools of Carthage. So beloved was he by his pagan and Christian students that when his comrades Montanus and Lucius were led to execution, his students appealed to the judge, producing false witnesses stating Flavian was merely a layman.

Deeply grieved at being separated from his friends, Flavian produced his deacon's certificate and publicly declared his clerical orders. Three days later, granted his wish, he spoke from the scaffold on the beauty of brotherly love before being beheaded.