Hadrian, an officer in the bodyguard of Emperor Galerius Maximian, may have been executed on this day 1707 years ago, after having been a Christian for a short period of time. According to some accounts, Hadrian had been given the job of torturing a group of 21 Christians to get them to recant their faith. When they persisted with their faith, he asked them what reward God would give them, and they responded by quoting 1 Corinthians 2:9:
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
the things God has prepared for those who love him
Awestruck by the courage and witness of the Christians, Hadrian joined them and publicly stated that he too believed in Jesus Christ. He was immediately imprisoned with them and condemned to share their fate; after a brief time in prison, he was executed. His wife Natalia also became a Christian. Hadrian, sometimes called Adrian, is remembered by the Catholic church as the patron saint of old soldiers, arms dealers and butchers.