Heb 10, 11-18; Ps.109; Mk 4, 1-20.
According to the four redactions of his passio, Constantius suffered martyrdom during the persecution of Marcus Aurelius: brought before the consul Lucius, he was barbarously flagellated, then locked up with other companions in a lit stove from which he emerged unharmed. Taken back to prison, he converted his guardians who helped him escape. Having taken refuge in the house of a certain Anastasio, a Christian, he was arrested again together with him. After various vicissitudes in the prisons of Assisi and Spello, he was beheaded near Foligno. In fact, in this city, near Porta Romana, there was a church dedicated to him, which was then demolished in 1527, when this location was still called the “campagna of San Costanzo”. After his martyrdom, the saint’s remains were taken to Perugia and buried not far from the city, in a place where the first Perugian cathedral was built. And in that same area the current church of San Costanzo was then built, consecrated, according to an inscription existing in the ancient altar, in 1205 by bishop Viviano. It was restored in 1888. An ancient and serious tradition makes it very probable that Costanzo was the first bishop of Perugia, where he is venerated as one of the protectors of the city. Two miracles were attributed to him: the healing of a woman suffering from complete blindness and of a nobleman from Perugia named Crescenzio, who had suffered from incurable paralysis of the lower limbs for many years. Both, after being blessed by Constantius, were suddenly healed. The cult of the saint also spread outside Umbria. In 1781, a survey of his relics was carried out which, in 1825, with great solemnity were transferred from the old to the new altar, still in the current church of San Costanzo: here, at today’s celebration, unmarried girls come to ask if they will get married within the year, looking at the play of lights reflected on the image of the saint: if one gets the impression that he has winkedit means that the wedding will take place.
