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| Image: Saint Florian by Francesco del Cossa, 1473 |
Saint Florian was a commander in the Roman army that was serving in the modern day Austria. The Emperor Diocletian persecuted Christians during reign which was the same time that Saint Florian served in the army. Saint Florian was part of the firefighting brigade and a Christian in secret. He became well known for saving a town from fire by praying to God and extinguishing the fire with a single throw of a bucket of water. The Emperor was told that Saint Florian did not enforce the ban against Christianity in his territory and was put under investigation. He was then discovered to be Christian. According to one account, his Christianity was discovered after he refused to offer sacrifice to the gods. In another account, he refused to execute a group of Christians. He was then ordered to be put to death. He did not recant his Christian faith and was flayed, scourged and thrown into the river with a millstone attached to his body. His body was retrieved from the water and his relics are now in a church named after him in Krakow, Poland.
