Saint Adrian of Nicomedia (†304) was a pagan officer and bodyguard at the imperial court of Nicomedia. He was so impressed by the strength and faith shown by persecuted Christians that he declared himself a Christian, though he had not even been baptized. He was immediately arrested and tortured. He and fellow prisoners were tended by his wife, Saint Natalia until they were executed. He was thrown to a lion, but the beast refused to touch him, then his legs broken with an anvil, and his body was hacked to pieces with a sword . His body was burned, but when a storm extinguished the fire his wife salvaged his dismembered hand as a relic and took it to Argyropolis near Constantinople . His feast day is commemorated on March 4 and September 8 (translation of relics). His assistance is invoked against epilepsy and against plague and he is a holy patron of arms dealers , butchers, epileptics, prison guards and soldiers as well as Flanders ( Belgium ) and Germany.