Nicomedes is allegedly a martyr before the 7th century. Nothing is known of the circumstances of Nicomedes death. The legend of the martyrdom of Saints Nereus and Achilleus introduces him as a presbyter and places his death at the end of the first century. Other recensions of the martyrdom of Nicomedes ascribe the sentence of death to the Emperor Maximianus (beginning of the fourth century).
Veneration[]
Feast of Nicomedes is observed 15 September by the Catholic Church. The Roman Martyrologium and the historical Martyrologies of Bede and his imitators place the feast on this date. The Gregorian Sacramentary contains under the same date the orations for his Mass. The name does not appear in the three oldest and most important Manuscripts of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum, but was inserted in later recensions ("Martyrol. Hieronymianum", ed. G. B. de Rossi-L. Duchesne, in Acta SS., November II, 121). According to the Catholic Church, Nicomedes is "without doubt a martyr of the Roman Church" and is venerated as a Saint.
Burial[]
Nicomedes was buried in a catacomb on the Via Nomentana near the gate of that name. Three seventh century Itineraries make explicit reference to his grave, and Pope Adrian I restored the church built over it (De Rossi, Roma Sotterranea, I, 178-79). A titular church of Rome, mentioned in the fifth century, was dedicated to him (titulus S. Nicomedis). The feast of the dedication of his church on 1 June alongside the 15 September feast of his martyrdom were included in the Sarum Rite calendars, but only the 1 June feast day was carried over into the Anglican Book of Common Prayer as a 'lesser holy day' or 'black-letter day'.[1]