Callinicus Kallinikos (Καλλίνικος) The Holy Martyr, a native of Cilicia, was raised from childhood in the Christian Faith. Grieving that many misguided people would perish for eternity because they worshiped idols, he went through the cities and villages to proclaim Jesus Christ and His teachings to the pagans, and with the Word of God he converted many to Christianity; God caused a miraculous spring of water to gush forth from a stone.
In the Galatian city of Ancyra the holy confessor was arrested and brought to trial before a governor named Sacerdonus, a fierce persecutor of Christians. The governor, threatening tortures and death, ordered the saint to offer sacrifice to the idols. The saint fearlessly declared that he was not afraid of martyrdom, since every believer in Christ receives from Him strength in ordeals, and through death inherits an eternal blessed life.

They cruelly beat the saint with ox thongs and tore at his body with iron hooks, but he endured everything with patience and calm. This aroused still greater fury in Sacerdonus, and he ordered that sandals with sharp nails be placed on the saint's feet, and that they should drive the martyr with whips to the city of Gangra to be burned.

The pathway was arduous, and the soldiers who accompanied the condemned man were weak from thirst. In despair they began to implore the saint to pray the Lord for water. The saint, taking pity on his tormentors, with the help of God caused a miraculous spring of water to gush forth from a stone. The astonished soldiers were filled with sympathy for their rescuer, and they wanted even to set him free. Fear of execution, however, compelled them to bring the martyr farther. In Gangra, St Callinicus joyfully offered thanks to the Lord, Who had vouchsafed him the crown of martyrdom. He went into the blazing fire and gave up his soul to God. His body, remaining unharmed, was reverently buried by believers.

Saint_Porphyrius soldier  Seeing the Elder's endurance and his complete lack of malice  openly confessed Christ
202 Hieromartyr Charalampus, Bishop of Magnesia Many miracles worked through his prayer raised a dead youth healed a man tormented by devils 35 years so that many people began to believe in Christ the Savior the Martyrs Porphyrius and Baptus and Three Women Martyrs
St Charalampus, Bishop of Magnesia (Asia Minor), successfully spread faith in Christ the Savior, guiding people on the way to salvation. News of his preaching reached Lucian, the governor of the district, and the military commander Lucius. The saint was arrested and brought to trial, where he confessed his faith in Christ and refused to offer sacrifice to idols.

They lacerated his body with iron hooks, and scraped all the skin from his body. During this the saint turned to his tormentors,

Seeing the Elder's endurance and his complete lack of malice, two soldiers (Porphyrius and Baptus) openly confessed Christ, for which they were immediately beheaded with a sword. Three women who were watching the sufferings of St Charalampus also began to glorify Christ, and were quickly martyred.

Lucian reported these events to the emperor Septimus Severus (193-211), who was then at Pisidian Antioch (western Asia Minor). The emperor ordered St Charlampos to be brought to him in Antioch. Soldiers twisted the saint's beard into a rope, wound it around his neck, and used it to drag him along. They also drove an iron nail into his body. The emperor then ordered them to torture the bishop more intensely, and they began to burn him with fire, a little at a time.

But God protected the saint, and he remained unharmed.

Many miracles were worked through his prayer: he raised a dead youth, and healed a man tormented by devils for thirty-five years, so that many people began to believe in Christ the Savior. Even Galina, the daughter of the emperor, began to believe in Christ, and twice smashed the idols in a pagan temple.

Full of wickedness, Septimus Severus and an official named Crispus hurled blasphemy at the Lord, mockingly summoning Him to come down to the earth, and boasting of their own power and might.

The dazed emperor was shaken in his former impiety, but again quickly fell into error and gave orders to torture the saint.
And finally, he sentenced St Charalampus to beheading with a sword. During his final prayer, the heavens opened and the saint saw the Savior and a multitude of angels. The holy martyr asked Him to grant that the place where his relics would repose would never suffer famine or disease. He also begged that there would be peace, prosperity, and an abundance of fruit, grain, and wine in that place, and that the souls of these people would be saved. The Lord promised to fulfill his request and ascended to heaven, and the soul of the hieromartyr Charalampus followed after Him. By the mercy of God, the saint died before he could be executed. Galina buried the martyr's body with great honor.

In Greek hagiography and iconography St Charalampus is regarded as a priest, while Russian sources to regard him as bishop.

Egypt. Named to this post in 188, he ruled as patriarch there for forty-three years. Demetrius promoted the famous Catechetical School of Alexandria, appointing Origen director of the school in 203. Later he expelled Origen for being ordained without his permission.

St Demetrius is said to have set up the first three suffragan sees of Alexandria and is often credited, on the authority of St Jerome, with having sent St Pantaenus on his mission to Yemen and Ethiopia. But this probably took place before St Demetrius was bishop. He governed the see of Alexandria for forty-two years and died in the year 231, at the age of 105, revered by his people and also feared, on account of the gift, which was his of reading men’s secret sins and thoughts.

(Benedictines).

250 St. Alexander & Martyrs  companion of St. Epimachus  divine revelation condemned to be eaten by wild beasts, but they did not harm him
Alexander and Epimachus lived in Alexandria, Egypt. They were taken prisoner during the reign of Emperor Decius, then tortured and burned to death.  4 women shared their martyrdom: Ammonaria, Mercuria, Dionisia, a mother, and another woman, thought by some to have been named Ammonaria.
The Hieromartyr Alexander, Bishop of Jerusalem, was a disciple of the great teacher and writer of the Church, Clement of Alexandria. At the beginning of the third century he was chosen bishop of Flavia, Cappadocia. He was arrested during the reign of the emperor Septimus Severus (193-211) and spent three years in prison.
After his release from prison he went to Jerusalem to venerate the holy places, and was told to remain there through a divine revelation. In 212 he was chosen as coadministrator with the elderly Patriarch Narcissus, an unusually rare occurrence in the ancient Church. Following the death of St Narcissus (August 7), St Alexander succeeded him and governed the Church of Jerusalem for thirty-eight years, working for the enlightenment of Christians. He also established the first library of Christian theological works at Jerusalem.
St Alexander was arrested during the persecution of the Church under the emperor Decius (249-251). The holy martyr was sent to Cappadocia, where he suffered many tortures. He was condemned to be eaten by wild beasts, but they did not harm him. St Alexander was cast into prison, where he surrendered his soul to God.

251 Saint Andrew Martyr Companions Peter and Nichomachus in Lampsacus Mysia w/Dionysia a young man, appeared glittering with light diffusing itself over the whole house protected her
Andrew and his fellow Christians were arrested during the persecutions conducted by Emperor Trajanus Decius. Nichomachus is recorded as having denied Christ under torture. Andrew and Peter stood firm in the faith. Nichomachus was scolded by a sixteen year-old woman named Dionysia, and she suffered martyrdom as well. Andrew and Peter were stoned to death.
Peter of Lampsacus, Paul, Andrew, Dionysia & Decius MM (RM). Peter was a young man of Lampsacus on the Hellespont, who was martyred at Troas together with SS. Paul, Andrew, Dionysia, and Decius. Peter was remarkable for his physical beauty and the natural endowments of his mind, as well as his faith and virtue. He was captured and brought before Proconsul Optimus who said, "You have before your eyes the edicts of our invincible princes: sacrifice to the goddess Venus, as they command."
Peter answered: "I am surprised that you should endeavor to persuade me to sacrifice to an infamous lewd woman, whose actions modesty forbids me to mention, and are such as are punishable by your own laws."
Optimus ordered him to be extended on a wheel, with pieces of wood so disposed and bound on his body with iron chains, that the wheel being put in motion it might gradually occasion the breaking of his bones. The martyr, turning his eyes towards the heavens, said, with a cheerful countenance: "I praise and thank you, O Lord Jesus Christ, for vouchsafing me patience to overcome this cruel tyrant." Optimus, seeing his unshaken resolution, ordered his head to be struck off.
After this execution, three other Christians, Andrew, Paul, and Nicomachus, were brought before him. He asked their origin and religion Nicomachus answered loudly with impatience, "I am a Christian." When ordered to sacrifice to the gods, Nicomachus answered: A Christian must not sacrifice to devils." The proconsul gave orders that he should be hung on the rack and tortured. When he was just ready to expire under his torments, he unhappily lost his crown, and cried out: "I never was a Christian, and am ready to sacrifice to the gods."
The proconsul immediately caused him to be taken off the rack, but no sooner had the miserable man offered sacrifice than he was seized by the devil, fell on the ground, and beat it with his head in violent agonies, in which he expired. God afforded his other two servants a comfort under their affliction for this loss.

Dionysia, a tender virgin about sixteen years old, who was standing by, was struck at this misfortune, and said: "Unfortunate wretch! Why did you bring upon yourself eternal torments for the sake of a moment's ease?" Optimus, hearing these words, asked if she was a Christian: she confessed she was. He then required her to sacrifice, and threatened to expose her to prostitution, and burn her alive in case of refusal.
Finding his threats made no impression on her constancy, he ordered her to be put into the hands of two young men to be deflowered. They took her with them to their lodgings, but she resisted so strenuously that she tired them out. About midnight they were surprised at the appearance of a young man, glittering with light, which diffused itself over the whole house. Seized with fear, they threw themselves at the feet of the holy virgin. She raised them up, and told them not to be afraid, saying: "This is my guardian and protector." They asked her to intercede for them that they would not be harmed.
The next morning, the mob, stirred up by the priests of Diana, beset the house of the proconsul, demanding in a tumultuous manner to have Andrew and Paul delivered up to them. The proconsul, to humor them, had them brought forth and commanded them to sacrifice to Diana. Upon their refusal, Optimus had them scourged and then threw them to the rabble who stoned them to death.
When Dionysia heard the raucous noise surrounding their execution, she began to weep and wail bitterly. She escaped her guards and ran to the place where they were. Upon seeing her fellows, she cried out: "That I may live with you eternally in heaven, I will die with you on earth." The proconsul being informed of the wonderful preservation of her chastity, her escape, and desire to die with the martyrs, ordered her to be taken away from Andrew and Paul, and to be beheaded at a distance (Benedictines, Husenbeth).

As already stated, the poems of St Paulinus constitute our main authority for the life of St Felix. Of these poems Bede wrote a summary in prose, which is printed, with other documents, in the Acta Sanctorum for January 14. In the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xvi (1897), pp. 22 seq., may be found a curious illustration of the confusion introduced by the martyrologist Ado, and other hagiographers, through their invention of a “St Felix in Pincis”. This confusion was probably due to the existence of a church on the Pincio at Rome dedicated to St Felix of Nola. Pope St Damasus pays a tribute in verse to Felix for a cure he himself had received. Cf. Quentin, Les Martyrologes historiques, pp. 518—522

258 The Holy Martyrs Quadratus of Nicomedia, Saturinus, Rufinus and others suffered during the persecutions of the emperor Decius (249-251) and his successor Valerian (253-259).   St Quadratus was descended from an illustrious family. Possessing considerable wealth, the saint did not spare his means in helping fellow Christians, languishing in prison for the faith.  When the envoy of the impious Decius, the proconsul Perennius, arrived in Nicomedia, St Quadratus voluntarily appeared before him, in order to strengthen the courage of the imprisoned brethren by his self-sacrificing decision. At first Perennius attempted to lure Quadratus from Christ, promising him rewards and honors.

Setting out for Nicea, the proconsul commanded that all the imprisoned Christians be brought after him. In that number was St Quadratus. Upon arriving in the city, St Quadratus implored that they be led to the pagan temple. As soon as they untied his hands and feet, he began to overturn and destroy the idols. By order of the proconsul, they gave Quadratus over to torture.

Quadratus_Anastasia_Michael_the_new

During the suffering of the martyrs, suddenly there shone a brilliant cloud, but the pagans found themselves in total darkness. In the ensuing silence was heard the singing of angels glorifying God. Many of those present confessed themselves Christians. Perennius ascribed the miracle to sorcery, and gave orders to take them to prison.

They tied St Quadratus into a sack filled with poisonous serpents, and threw it into a deep pit. On the following morning, everyone was astonished to see the martyr whole and unharmed. When they began to beat him mercilessly, two noblemen, Saturinus and Rufinus, were moved with pity for the martyr. This was observed, and Saturinus and Rufinus were beheaded.
Perennius subjected the martyr to even more fierce and refined tortures, but was not able to break his spirit. The saint lost his strength and was hardly able to move. For the last time the proconsul urged the martyr to abjure Christ. Marshalling his strength, the saint firmly replied,

"Since childhood I have acknowledged Christ as the one and only God, and I know no other."

258 The holy Virgin Martyr Agnes Many miracles occurred at the grave relics rest in the church built in her honor, along the Via Nomentana born at Rome during the third century. Romæ pássio sanctæ Agnétis, Vírginis et Mártyris; quæ, sub Præfécto Urbis Symphrónio, ígnibus injécta, sed iis per oratiónem ejus exstínctis, gládio percússa est.  De ea beátus Hierónymus hæc scribit: « Omnium géntium lítteris atque linguis, præcípue in Ecclésiis, Agnétis vita laudáta est; quæ et ætátem vicit et tyránnum, et títulum castitátis martyrio consecrávit ».
       At Rome, the passion of St. Agnes, virgin, who under Symphronius, governor of the city, was thrown into the fire, but after it was extinguished by her prayers, she was slain with the sword.  Of her, St. Jerome writes: "Agnes is praised in the writings and by the tongues of all nations, especially in the churches.  She overcame the weakness of her age, conquered the cruelty of the tyrant, and consecrated her chastity by martyrdom."

304 ST AGNES, VIRGIN AND MARTYR   
ST AGNES has always been looked upon in the Church as a special patroness of bodily purity. She is one of the most popular of Christian saints, and her name is commemorated every day in the canon of the Mass. Rome was the scene of her triumph, and Prudentius says that her tomb was shown within sight of that city. She suffered perhaps not long after the beginning of the persecution of Diocletian, whose cruel edicts were published in March in the year 303. We learn from St Ambrose and St Augustine that she was only thirteen years of age at the time of her glorious death. Her riches and beauty excited the young noblemen of the first families in Rome to contend as rivals for her hand. Agnes answered them all that she had consecrated her virginity to a heavenly husband, who could not be beheld by mortal eyes. Her suitors, finding her resolution unshakable, accused her to the governor as a Christian, not doubting that threats and torments would prove more effective with one of her tender years on whom allurements could make no impression. The judge at first employed the mildest expressions and most seductive promises, to which Agnes paid no regard, repeating always that she could have no other spouse but Jesus Christ. He then made use of threats, but found her endowed with a masculine courage, and even eager to suffer torment and death. At last terrible fires were made., and iron hooks, racks and other instruments of torture displayed before her, with threats of immediate execution. The heroic child surveyed them undismayed, and made good cheer in the presence of the fierce and cruel executioners. She was so far from betraying the least symptom of terror that she even expressed her joy at the sight, and offered herself to the rack. She was then dragged before the idols and commanded to offer incense, but could, St Ambrose tells us, by no means be compelled to move her hand, except to make the sign of the cross.

The governor, seeing his measures ineffectual, said he would send her to a house of prostitution, where what she prized so highly should be exposed to the insults of the brutal and licentious youth of Rome.* {* On such vile methods of breaking down the constancy of Christian maidenhood Ter­tullian in his Apologia comments as follows “By condemning the Christian maid rather to the lewd youth than to the lion, you have acknowledged that a stain of purity is more dreaded by us than any torments or death. Yet your cruel cunning avails you not, but rather serves to gain men over to our holy religion.”} Agnes answered that Jesus Christ was too jealous of the purity of His chosen ones to suffer it to be violated in such a manner, for He was their defender and protector. “You may”, said she, “stain your sword with my blood, but you will never be able to profane my body, conse­crated to Christ.”

The governor was so incensed at this that he ordered her to be immediately led to the place of shame with liberty to all to abuse her person at pleasure. Many young profligates ran thither, full of wicked desires, but were seized with such awe at the sight of the saint that they durst not approach her; one only excepted, who, attempting to be rude to her, was that very instant, by a flash, as it were of lightning from Heaven, struck blind, and fell trembling to the ground. His companions, terrified, took him up and carried him to Agnes, who was singing hymns of praise to Christ, her protector. The virgin by prayer restored his sight and his health.

The chief accuser of the saint, who had at first sought to gratify his lust and avarice, now, in a spirit of vindictiveness, incited the judge against her, his passion­ate fondness being changed into fury. The governor needed no encouragement, for he was highly exasperated to see himself set at defiance by one of her tender age and sex. Being resolved therefore upon her death, he condemned her to be beheaded. Agnes, filled with joy on hearing this sentence, “went to the place of execution more cheerfully”, says St Ambrose, “than others go to their wedding”. The executioner had instructions to use all means to induce her to give way, but Agnes remained constant; and having made a short prayer, bowed down her neck to receive the death stroke. The spectators shed tears to see this beautiful child loaded with fetters, and offering herself fearlessly to the sword of the executioner, who with trembling hand cut off her head at one stroke. Her body was buried at a short distance from Rome, beside the Nomentan road.

It is necessary to add to the account (based mainly on Prudentius), which is given above by Alban Butler, that modern authorities incline to the view that little reliance can be placed on the details of the story. They point out that the “acts of St Agnes, attributed unwarrantably to St Ambrose, can hardly be older than A.D. 415, and that these seem to represent an attempt to harmonize and embroider the discordant data found in the then surviving traditions. St Ambrose, as just quoted, in his quite genuine sermon De virginibus (A.D. 377), says of St Agnes’s martyrdom cervicem inflexit, “she bent her neck”, from which it is commonly inferred that she was decapitated. *{* A. S. Walpole, Early Latin Hymns (1922), p. 6g. urges that inflexit “may mean bent aside in order to admit the point of the sword”, and quotes parallel passages from the classics in support of this view. This is also the view of Father Jubaru. There can be no question that stabbing in the throat was a common way of despatching the condemned, and was regarded as the most merciful form of coup de grace. St Ambrose calls the execu­tioner “percussor”. This view is supported by Prudentius’s explicit statement that her head was struck off at one blow. On the other hand, the epitaph written by Pope St Damasus speaks of “flames”, and beyond this says nothing as to the manner of her death; while from the beautiful hymn, Agnes beatae virginis (which Walpole, Dreves and others now recognize as a genuine work of St Ambrose), it clearly follows that she was not beheaded, otherwise she could not after the blow was struck (percussa) have drawn her cloak modestly around her and have covered her face with her hand. It seems plain that in the writer’s view she was stabbed in the throat or breast. From these apparent contradictions many critics conclude that already in the second half of the fourth century all memory of the exact circum­stances of the martyrdom had been forgotten, and that only a vague tradition survived.

In any case, however, there can be no possible doubt of the fact that St Agnes was martyred, and that she was buried beside the Via Nomentana in the cemetery afterwards called by her name. Here a basilica was erected in her honour before 354 by Constantina, daughter of Constantine and wife of Gallus; and the terms of the acrostic inscription set up in the apse are still preserved, but it tells us nothing about St Agnes except that she was “a virgin” and “victorious”. Again, the name of St Agnes is entered in the Depositio martyrum of A.D. 354, under the date January 21, together with the place of her burial. There is also abundant sub­sidiary evidence of early cultus in the frequent occurrence of representations of the child martyr in “gold glasses”, etc., and in the prominence given to her name in all kinds of Christian literature. “Agnes, Thecla and Mary were with me”, said St Martin to Sulpicius Severus, where he seems to assign precedence to Agnes even above our Blessed Lady. St Agnes is, as remarked above, one of the saints named in the canon of the Mass.

It is quite possible that Father Jubaru is right in his attempt to reconcile the data supplied by Pope Damasus and St Ambrose, but it would not follow as a necessary consequence that he is also right in his theory that in the Greek “acts” we have an amalgamation of the story of two different St Agneses. With regard to the great St Agnes, he contends that she was a child in Rome, that she con­secrated to God her virginity, that she turned away from all suitors, and when persecution came that she deliberately left her parents’ house and offered herself to martyrdom, that she was threatened with death by fire in an attempt to shake her constancy, but that, as she gave no sign of yielding, she was in fact stabbed in the throat. Father Jubaru in his elaborate monograph further claims to have discovered the reliquary, containing the greater portion of the skull of the youthful martyr, in the treasury of the Sancta sanctorum at the Lateran. This treasury was opened in 1903 after it had been hidden from view for many hundred years, permission to do so having been obtained from Pope Leo XIII. The relic is considered by Father Grisar, s.j., and by many other archaeologists to be in all probability authentic, since a regular custom had grown up in the ninth century of separating the head from the rest of the bones when entire bodies of saints were enshrined in the churches. It also seems certain that the body of St Agnes was at that date preserved under the altar of her basilica, and further that on opening the case in 1605 it was found without a head. From a medical examination of the fragments of the skull in the Sancta sanctorum, Dr Lapponi pronounced that the teeth showed conclusively that the head was that of a child about thirteen years of age. The more extravagant miracles which occur in the so-called “acts” are now admitted by all to be a fiction of the biographer. The case of St Agnes is, therefore, typical, and affords conclusive proof that the preposterous legends so often invented by later writers who wish to glorify the memory of a favourite saint cannot in themselves be accepted as proof that the martyrdom is fabulous and that the saint never existed.

In art St Agnes is commonly represented with a lamb and a palm, the lamb, no doubt, being originally suggested by the resemblance of the word agnus (a lamb) to the name Agnes. In Rome on the feast of St Agnes each year, while the choir in her church on the Via Nomentana are singing the antiphon Stans a dextris ejus agnus nive candidior (On her right hand a lamb whiter than snow), two white lambs are offered at the sanctuary rails. They are blessed and then cared for until the time comes for shearing them. Out of their wool are woven the pallia which, on the vigil of SS. Peter and Paul, are laid upon the altar in the Confessio at St Peter’s immediately over the body of the Apostle. These pallia are sent to archbishops throughout the Western church, “from the body of Blessed Peter”, in token of the jurisdiction which they derive ultimately from the Holy See, the centre of religious authority.

Until the feast of St Peter Nolasco, displaced by that of St John Bosco, was fixed for January 28, there was in the general Western calendar on that day a “second feast” of St Agnes (she still has a commemoration in the Mass and Office of the 28th). This observance can be traced back to the Gelasian and Gregorian Sacramentaries, and is not altogether easy to explain. The addition of the words de nativitate or in genuinum, which meets us in certain liturgical texts of the seventh or eighth centuries, would seem to suggest that January 28 was the day on which St Agnes actually died, while the feast of January 21—de passione, as it is sometimes described—marks the day when the martyr was brought to trial and threatened with torture. In view, however, of the prominence which the “octave” has in later times acquired in our Christian liturgy, it is curious that the one feast should occur exactly a week after the other. We have evidence that the Circumcision was called “Octavas Domini” already in the sixth century, and it must be remembered that our present Missal, following usages still more ancient, which were in fact pre­ Christian in their origin, provides a special commemoration for the departed in die septimo, trigesimo et anniversario—in other words, the week day, the month day and the year day. It does not, therefore, seem by any means impossible that we have here a vestige of some primitive form of octave. Dom Baumer has called atten­tion to the fact that the primitive octave implied no more than a commemoration of the feast at the week-end without any reference to it upon the intermediate days.

Her parents were Christians and they raised her in the Christian Faith. From her youth she devoted herself to God, and dedicated herself to a life of virginity, refusing all other suitors.

When she refused to enter into marriage with the son of the city official Symphronius, one of his associates revealed to him that Agnes was a Christian. The wicked Eparch decided to subject the holy virgin to shame and he ordered that she be stripped and and sent to a brothel for disdaining the pagan gods. But the Lord would not permit the saint to suffer shame. As soon as she was disrobed, long thick hair grew from her head covering her body. An angel was also appointed to guard her.

The son of the Eparch also came to defile the virgin, but fell down dead before he could touch her. Through the fervent prayer of St Agnes, he was restored to life. Before his father and many other people he proclaimed, "There is one God in the heavens and on earth: the Christian God, and the other gods are but dust and ashes!" After seeing this miracle, 160 men believed in God and were baptized, and then suffered martyrdom.

St Agnes, at the demand of the pagan priests, was given over to torture. They tried to burn her as a witch, but the saint remained unharmed in the fire, praying to God. After this they killed her by stabbing her in the throat. Through her death at the age of thirteen, St Agnes escaped everlasting death and inherited eternal life. The holy virgin martyr was buried by her parents in a field they owned outside of Rome.

Many miracles occurred at the grave of St Agnes. Her holy and grace-filled relics rest in the church built in her honor, along the Via Nomentana.

St Basil and other Greek writers honour this prelate with the epithet of “the Great”, and St Athanasius calls him the “Teacher of the Catholic Church”.  Alexandria, which was the place of his education, was then the centre of the sciences, and Dionysius whilst yet a heathen gave himself to learning. He assures us that he was converted to the Christian faith by a vision and a voice, which spoke to him, as well as by diligent reading and an impartial examination.
   He became a scholar in the catechetical school of Origen, and made such progress that when Heraclas was made bishop the care of that school was committed to Dionysius, who conducted it for fifteen years. In 247 he was himself chosen bishop. Soon after the populace, stirred up by a certain heathen prophet at Alexandria, raised a fierce persecution, of which St Dionysius wrote an account to Fabius, Bishop of Antioch.
  Then the edict of Decius put arms into the hands of the enemies of the Christians, and directly the decree reached Alexandria the governor sent a troop to arrest the bishop. They looked everywhere for him except in his house, where he was all the time, but at the end of four days he left it with his household to try and get away. They were seen and arrested, except one servant, who told a peasant whom he met going to a wedding what had happened. The peasant was not a Christian but seemed glad of an excuse to fight the police, for he rushed off and told the wedding party, who “with a single impulse” as if by agreement, ran to the rescue and drove off the guards. St Dionysius thought the wedding-guests were robbers and offered them his clothes. Then when it was explained that St Dionysius was free he was grieved at losing a martyr’s crown and refused to budge. The Egyptians did not understand this idea at all, so they seized him, put him on a donkey and drove him to a place of refuge in the Libyan desert. Here Dionysius remained with two companions, governing the church of Alexandria from thence, until the per­secution ceased.
   Then the Church was rent by the schism formed by Novatian against Pope St Cornelius. The antipope sent him a request for his support, and St Dionysius answered, “You ought to have suffered all things rather than have caused a schism in the Church. To die in defence of its unity would be as glorious as laying down one’s life for its faith in my opinion, more glorious because here the safety of the whole Church is concerned. If you bring your brethren back to union your fault will be forgotten. If you cannot gain others, at least save your own soul.”

   In opposition to the heresy of Novatian, who denied to the Church the power of remitting certain sins, he ordered that communion should be refused to no one that asked it in the right dispositions at the hour of death.

   When Fabius of Antioch seemed inclined to favour the rigorism of Novatian towards the lapsed, Dionysius wrote him several letters against that principle. In one he relates that an old man called Serapion, of hitherto blameless life, had offered pagan sacrifice and had therefore been refused communion. In his last sickness he could get absolution from no one, till he cried out, “Why am I detained here? I beg to be delivered.” Then he sent his little grandson to a priest who, being sick and not able to come, sent the Holy Eucharist by the child (for during persecutions the Blessed Sacrament is allowed to be so carried and received in domestic communion). So the aged man died in peace. St Dionysius contends that his life was miraculously preserved that he might receive communion.

   At this time a pestilence began to rage and made great havoc for several years. St Dionysius left an account of its terrors, in which he contrasts the behaviour of the Christians, many of whom died martyrs of charity, with the selfishness—and greater mortality—of the pagans.

   In opposing the false opinion that Christ will reign on earth with his elect a thousand years before the day of judgement Dionysius showed himself a keen scriptural critic, and in his enthusiasm against dogmatic error, used arguments against St John’s authorship of the Apocalypse which seventeen hundred years later were revived by “higher critics”.

St Dionysius took part also in the controversy about baptisms by heretics, in which he seems to have inclined to the view that such baptisms were invalid but followed the practice directed by Pope St Stephen I {254-246}. This indefatigable bishop also had to proceed against some of his brethren in the Pentapolis who professed Sabellianism. In writing against them he vented opinions that caused him to be delated to his namesake, Pope St Dionysius. The pope wrote expounding the bishop’s errors, whereupon he published an explanation of his teaching.

Persecution being renewed by Valerian in 257, Emilian, prefect of Egypt, had St Dionysius with some of his clergy brought before him and pressed them to sacrifice to the gods, the protectors of the empire. St Dionysius replied, “All men do not worship the same deities. We worship one only God, the creator of all things, who has bestowed the empire on Valerian and Gallienus. We offer up prayers to Him for the peace and prosperity of their reign.” The prefect tried to persuade them to worship the Roman deities with their own God, and then sent them into banishment to Kephro in Libya.

The exile of St Dionysius this time lasted for two years, but when he was allowed to return to his see in 260 it was to a distracted city. A political upheaval brought on Alexandria all the evils of civil war, and it was a prey to violence of all sorts. Trifling incidents caused riots. The town ran to arms, the streets were filled with dead bodies, and the gutters ran with blood. The peaceable demeanour of the Christians could not protect them from violence, as St Dionysius complains, and a man could neither keep at home nor stir out of doors without danger. He even had to communicate with his people by letter, for it was easier, he wrote, to go from East to West than from Alexandria to Alexandria. Plague again added its havoc, and, whilst the Christians attended the sick with care and charity, the heathen threw putrid carcasses into the highways, and often put their dying friends out of doors and left them to perish in the streets.

Towards the end of the year 265 St Dionysius died at Alexandria, after he had governed that church with great wisdom and sanctity about seventeen years. A church dedicated in his honour, but much more by his virtues and writings, says St Epiphanius, preserved his memory, there, of which only a few fragments have survived.  St Dionysius of Alexandria is mentioned in the Roman Martyrology on this day, and also on October 3, where he is erroneously named as a martyr together with his companions in his first exile and others. He is commemorated in the canon of the Syrian and Maronite Mass.

Almost all we know of St Dionysius is derived from Eusebius and from the extracts from the saint’s letters that Eusebius preserved for us. There are a few references to him in the writings of St Athanasius and other early fathers, but they do not amount to much. The best edition of Dionysius’s literary remains is that of C. L. Feltoe (1904), who has also produced (1918) another book of translations and comments. There is an exhaustive article devoted to this Dionysius by Abbot Chapman in the Catholic Encyclopedia. See also Bardenhewer, Geschichte der altkirchilchen Literatur, vol. ii, pp. 206—237 DTC., vol. iv (1911), cc. 425—427 the Journal of Theological Studies, vol. xxv (1924), pp. 364—377 the Zeitschrift N.—T. Wissenschaft, 1924, pp. 235—247 the monographs of F. Dittrich (1867) and J. Burel (1910) and H. Delehaye, Les passions des martyrs… (1921), pp. 429—435.  

Born in Alexandria, Dionysius had a vision and converted to Christianity. He entered a catechetical school and studied under Origen, whom he succeeded as master of the school. Bishop Heraclas named him to this position in 232. In 247, Dionysius was elected bishop of Alexandria. During the persecution of the Church in 249, Dionysius was arrested but rescued and taken to the Libyan desert. He returned to Alexandria but had to flee again in another persecution. Dionysius supported Pope St. Cornelius in his battle against Novatian. After his second exile, this time to Kephro in the Libyan desert, Dionysius returned to Alexandria to find plague and civil unrest. He comforted the plague victims and protected Christians.

He studied under Origen, and eventually became the head of the catechetical school of Alexandria, Egypt. Archbishop of Alexandria. In 250 during the persecution of Decius, Dionysius tried to flee the city, but was caught and imprisoned. He was rescued by Christians and hid in the Libyan desert until 251. During the Novatian schism Dionysius supported Pope Cornelius, and helped unify the East. Exiled during the persecution of Valerian in 257 to the desert of Mareotis; he returned to Alexandria when toleration was decreed by Gallienus in 260. Dionysius dealt leniently with the Christians who had lapsed during the persecutions. He wrote a noted commentary on Revelations. Greek Father of the Church.  Born  c.190 in Alexandria, Egypt  Died  265 of natural causes

God the Father, source of everything divine, you are good surpassing everything good and just surpassing everything just. In you is tranquility, as well as peace and harmony. Heal our divisions and restore us to the unity of love, which is similar to your divine nature. Let the bond of love and the ties of divine affection make us one in the Spirit by your peace which renders everything peaceful. We ask this through the grace, mercy, and compassion of your only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Gregory was of a distinguished pagan family. He was born at Neocaesarea, Pontus, and studied law there. About 233, he and his brother, Athenodorus, accompanied his sister, who was joining her husband in Caesarea, Palestine, while they continued on to Beirut to continue their law studies.
They met Origen and instead of going to Beirut, entered his school at Caesarea, studied theology, were converted to Christianity by Origen, and became his disciples. Gregory returned to Neocaesarea about 238, intending to practice law, but was elected bishop by the seventeen Christians of the city. It soon became apparent that he was gifted with remarkable powers. He preached eloquently, made so many converts he was able to build a church, and soon was so reknowned for his miracles that he was surnamed Thaumaturgus (the wonderworker).
He was a much-sought-after arbiter for his wisdom and legal knowledge and ability, advised his flock to go into hiding when Decius' persecution of the Christians broke out in 250, and fled to the desert with his deacon. On his return, he ministered to his flock when plague struck his See and when the Goths devastated Pontus, 252-254, which he described in his "Canonical Letter."
He participated in the synod of Antioch, 264-265, against Samosata, and fought sabellianism and Tritheism. It is reported that at his death at Neocaesarea, only seventeen unbelievers were left in the city. He is invoked against floods and earthquakes (at one time he reportedly stopped the flooding Lycus, and at another, he moved a mountain).
According to Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory Thaumaturgus experienced a vision of Our Lady, the first such recorded vision. He wrote a panegyric to Origen, a treatise on the Creed, and a dissertation addressed to Theopompus; St. Gregory of Nyssa wrote a panegyric to Gregory Thaumaturgus.

Saint Gregory the Wonderworker, Bishop of Neocaesarea
Born in the city of Neocaesarea (northern Asia Minor) into a pagan family. Having received a fine education, from his youth he strived for Truth, but the thinkers of antiquity were not able to quench his thirst for knowledge. Truth was revealed to him only in the Holy Gospel, and the youth became a Christian.

For the continuation of his studies St Gregory went to Alexandria, known then as a center for pagan and Christian learning. The youth, eager for knowledge, went to the Alexandrian Catechetical School, where the presbyter Origen taught. Origen was a famous teacher, possessing a great strength of mind and profound knowledge. St Gregory became a student of Origen. Afterwards, the saint wrote about his mentor: "This man received from God a sublime gift, to be an interpreter of the Word of God for people, to apprehend the Word of God, as God Himself did use it, and to explain it to people, insofar as they were able to understand it." St Gregory studied for eight years with Origen, and was baptized by him.

The ascetic life of St Gregory, his continence, purity and lack of covetousness aroused envy among his conceited and sin-loving peers, pagans that they were, and they decided to slander St Gregory. Once, when he was conversing with philosophers and teachers in the city square, a notorious harlot came up to him and demanded payment for the sin he had supposedly committed with her. At first St Gregory gently remonstrated with her, saying that she perhaps mistook him for someone else. But the profligate woman would not be quieted. He then asked a friend to give her the money. Just as the woman took the unjust payment, she immediately fell to the ground in a demonic fit, and the fraud became evident. St Gregory said a prayer over her, and the devil left her. This was the beginning of St Gregory's miracles.

Having returned to Neocaesarea, the saint fled from the worldly affairs into which influential townsmen persistently sought to push him. He went into the desert, where by fasting and prayer he attained to high spiritual accomplishment and the gifts of clairvoyance and prophecy. St Gregory loved life in the wilderness and wanted to remain in solitude until the end of his days, but the Lord willed otherwise.

The bishop of the Cappadocian city of Amasea, Thedimos, having learned of St Gregory's ascetic life, decided to have him made Bishop of Neocaesarea. But having foreseen in spirit the intent of Bishop Thedimos, the saint hid himself from the messengers of the bishop who were entrusted to find him. Then Bishop Thedimos ordained the absent saint as Bishop of Neocaesarea, beseeching the Lord that He Himself would sanctify the unusual ordination.
St Gregory perceived the extraordinary event as a manifestation of the will of God and he did not dare to protest. This episode in the life of St Gregory was recorded by St Gregory of Nyssa (January 10). He relates that St Gregory of Neocaesarea received the episcopal dignity only after Bishop Thedimos of Amasea performed all the canonical rites over him.

During this time, the heresy of Sabellius and Paul of Samosata began to spread. They taught falsely concerning the Holy Trinity. St Gregory prayed fervently and diligently imploring God and His most pure Mother to reveal to him the true faith. The All-Holy Virgin Mary appeared to him, radiant like the sun, and with Her was the Apostle John the Theologian dressed in archepiscopal vestments.

By the command of the Mother of God, the Apostle John taught the saint how to correctly and properly confess the Mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. St Gregory wrote down everything that St John the Theologian revealed to him. The Mystery of the Symbol of the Faith, written down by St Gregory of Neocaesarea, is a great divine revelation in the history of the Church. The teaching about the Holy Trinity in Orthodox Theology is based on it. Subsequently it was used by the holy Fathers of the Church: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and Gregory of Nyssa. The Symbol of St Gregory of Neocaesarea was later examined and affirmed in the year 325 by the First Ecumenical Council, showing his enduring significance for Orthodoxy.

Having become a bishop, St Gregory set off to Neocaesarea. Along the way from Amasea he expelled devils from a pagan temple, the priest of which he converted to Christ. The convert was witness to still another miracle of the saint, at his word a large stone shifted from its place.

The preaching of the saint was direct, lively and fruitful. He taught and worked miracles in the name of Christ: he healed the sick, he helped the needy, he settled quarrels and complaints. Two brothers sharing an inheritance were not able to agree over the property of their dead father. There was a large lake over which they argued, for each of the brothers wanted the lake for himself. They both gathered their friends together, and were ready to come to blows. St Gregory persuaded them to delay their fight until the following day, and he himself prayed all night long at the shore of the lake which sparked the quarrel. When dawn broke, everyone saw that the lake had dried up or gone underground. Through the intense prayer of the saint, now there was only a stream, and its course defined the boundary line. Another time, during the construction of a church, he commanded a hill to move and make room at the place of the foundation.

When a persecution against Christians began under the emperor Decius (249-251), St Gregory led his flock to a faraway mountain. A certain pagan, knowing about the hiding place of the Christians, informed the persecutors. Soldiers surrounded the mountain. The saint went out into an open place, raised up his hands to heaven and ordered to his deacon to do the same. The soldiers searched the whole mountain, and they went several times right past those praying, but not seeing them, they gave up and went away. In the city they reported that there was nowhere to hide on the mountain: no one was there, and only two trees stood beside each other. The informer was struck with amazement, he repented of his ways and became a fervent Christian.

St Gregory returned to Neocaesarea after the end of the persecution. By his blessing church Feasts were established in honor of the martyrs who had suffered for Christ.

By his saintly life, his effective preaching, working of miracles and graced guiding of his flock, the saint steadily increased the number of converts to Christ. When St Gregory first ascended his cathedra, there were only seventeen Christians in Neocaesarea. At his death, only seventeen pagans remained in the city.

GREGORY THAUMATURGUS   Also known as  Gregory of Neo Caesarea; Gregory of Neocaesarea; Gregory of Pontus; Gregory the Wonder Worker; The Wonder Worker; 
Born to a wealthy and distinguished pagan family. Trained in law and rhetoric in his youth. Brother-in-law to the Roman governor of Palestine. Father died when Theodore was age 14. Originally planned to study at the law school in Beirut, but when he arrived at Caesarea with his brother-in-law's entourage, Palestine he encountered Origen, head of the catechetical school in Alexandria. He and his brother Athenodorus each gave up the idea of law school, became students of Origen, and converted to Christianity; Theodore changed his name to Gregory. Studied philosophy and theology for seven years under Origen. Returned to Pontus c.238.

Bishop of Caesarea, a diocese with only 17 Christians at the time. Converted most of his bishopric; tradition says there were only 17 pagans left at the time of his death. Instituted the celebration of martyrs, teachings about the saints, and celebration of saint feast days as a way to interest pagans in the Church. During the Decian persecutions c.250, he and his flock fled into the desert. Worked among the sick when the plague struck soon after, and with refugees during the invasion of Pontus by the Goths in 252-254. Attended the First Council of Antioch in 264-265. Opposed the heresies of sabellianism and Tritheism. Used his legal training to help his parishioners, and settle disputes between them without taking their problems to the civil courts controlled by pagans. Oversaw the council that chose Saint Alexander the Charcoal Burner as the first bishop of Comana. Saint Macrina the Elder heard Gregory preach many times in her youth, and passed his wisdom onto her grandsons Saint Basil the Great and Saint Gregory of Nyssa. Noted theological writer.

Saint Gregory of Nyssa writes that the Wonder-Worker was the first person known to receive a vision of the Theotokus. The Virgin and Saint John the Baptist appeared to him in a vision, and gave him what became a statement of doctrine on the Trinity.
Gregory had the power of healing by laying on of his hands. Often the healing was so powerful that the patient was cured of his illness, and became a fervent convert on the spot.
During the construction of a church for his growing flock, the builders ran into a problem with a huge buried boulder. Gregory ordered the rock to move out of the way of his church; it did.
In order to stop the River Lycus from its frequent and damaging floods, Gregory planted his staff at a safe point near the river bank. He then prayed that the river would never rise past the staff. The staff took root, grew into a large tree, and the river never flooded past it again. This act led to his patronage against floods and flooding.
Two local pagans, hearing that Gregory was a soft touch, decided to con the bishop. One lay beside the road where Gregory was travelling, and pretended to be dead. The other stopped the bishop, pleaded poverty, and asked for money to bury his dead friend. Gregory had no money with him, so he took off his cloak and threw it over the "dead" man, telling the "live" one to sell the cloak and use the funds. When Gregory had moved on, the "live" con-man found that his friend had died.
Two brothers in Gregory's diocese had inherited a piece of land that contained a lake. Unable to decide how to divide the lake, the two settled on armed combat to settle the matter. On the night before the battle, Gregory prayed for a peaceful solution to the matter. The next morning the brothers found that the lake had dried up leaving easily dividable farm land.
During Gregory's time in the desert during the Decian persecutions, an informer told the authorities where to find the bishop. Guards went to the site, but found nothing but two trees standing in isolation in the desert. The informer went back to the place and found that what the soldiers had seen as trees were actually Gregory and a deacon in prayer. This convinced the informer of the reality of Gregory's God, and he converted.
When returning from the wilderness, Gregory had to seek shelter from a sudden and violent storm. The only structure nearby was a pagan temple. Gregory made the sign of the cross to purify the place, then spent the night there in prayer, waiting out the storm. The next morning, the pagan priest arrived to receive his morning oracles. The demons who had been masquerading as pagan gods advised him that they could not stay in the purified temple or near the holy man. The priest threatened to summon the anti-Christian authorities to arrest Gregory. The bishop wrote out a note reading "Gregory to Satan: Enter". With this "permission slip" in hand, the pagan priest was able to summon his demons again.

272 St. Sabas "stratelates"= {military commander}  healing the sick and casting out demons in the name of Christ Roman martyr Gothic officer
Romæ sancti Sabæ, ductóris mílitum, qui, accusátus quod Christiános in cárcere deténtos visitáret, coram Júdice Christum líbere conféssus est.  Hinc ab eódem Júdice fácibus adústus et in lebétem picis fervéntis est immíssus, et, cum inde evasísset illæsus, eo miráculo septuagínta viros ad Christum convértit; qui omnes, constánter in confessióne fídei permanéntes, gládio cæsi sunt.  Postrémo et ipse, demérsus in flumen, martyrium consummávit.
    At Rome, St. Sabas, a military officer, who bravely confessed Christ before the judge when he was accused of visiting the Christians kept in prison.  For this he was burned with torches and thrown into a cauldron of boiling pitch, out of which he came uninjured.  Seventy men were converted to Christ at the sight of this miracle, and as they all remained unshaken in the confession of the faith, they were put to the sword.  Sabas, however, completed his martyrdom by being cast into the river.

Saint Sabbas Stratelates came from a Gothic tribe. For his bravery he attained the high rank of military commander or "stratelates," and he served under the Roman emperor Aurelian (270-275).  From his youth, Sabbas was a Christian and he fervently followed the commands of Christ. He helped the needy, and visited Christians in prison. Because of his pure and virtuous life the saint received from the Lord the gift of wonderworking, healing the sick and casting out demons in the name of Christ.

When the emperor learned that St Sabbas was a Christian, he demanded that he apostasize. The martyr threw down his military belt and declared that he would not forsake his faith. They beat him, burned him with torches, and threw him into a cauldron with tar, but the martyr remained unharmed.
Looking on at his torments, seventy soldiers came to believe in Christ. They were beheaded by the sword. St Sabbas was thrown in prison. At midnight, while he was praying, Christ appeared to the martyr and shone on him the light of His Glory. The Savior bade him not to fear, but to stand firm. Encouraged, the Martyr Sabbas underwent new torture in the morning, and was drowned in a river in 272.

283 Cosmas and Damian The Holy Martyrs, Wonderworkers and Unmercenary Physicians they led strict and chaste lives, and they were granted by God the gift of healing the sick
Born at Rome, brothers by birth, and physicians by profession. They suffered at Rome in the reign of the emperor Carinus (283-284). Brought up by their parents in the rules of piety, they led strict and chaste lives, and they were granted by God the gift of healing the sick. By their generosity and exceptional kindness to all, the brothers converted many to Christ. The brothers told the sick, "It is not by our own power that we treat you, but by the power of Christ, the true God. Believe in Him and be healed." Since they accepted no payment for their treatment of the infirm, the holy brothers were called "unmercenary physicians."

Their life of active service and their great spiritual influence on the people around them led many into the Church, attracting the attention of the Roman authorities. Soldiers were sent after the brothers. Hearing about this, local Christians convinced Sts Cosmas and Damian to hide for a while until they could help them escape. Unable to find the brothers, the soldiers arrested instead other Christians of the area where the saints lived. Sts Cosmas and Damian then came out of hiding and surrendered to the soldiers, asking them to release those who had been arrested because of them.

At Rome, the saints were imprisoned and put on trial. Before the Roman emperor and the judge they openly professed their faith in Christ God, Who had come into the world to save mankind and redeem the world from sin, and they resolutely refused to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. They said, "We have done evil to no one, we are not involved with the magic or sorcery of which you accuse us. We treat the infirm by the power of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and we take no payment for rendering aid to the sick, because our Lord commanded His disciples, "Freely have you received, freely give" (Mt. 10: 8).

The emperor, however, continued with his demands. Through the prayer of the holy brothers, imbued with the power of grace, God suddenly struck Carinus blind, so that he too might experience the almighty power of the Lord, Who does not forgive blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Mt. 12:31). The people, beholding the miracle, cried out, "Great is the Christian God! There is no other God but Him!" Many of those who believed besought the holy brothers to heal the emperor, and he himself implored the saints, promising to convert to the true God, Christ the Savior, so the saints healed him. After this, Sts Cosmas and Damian were honorably set free, and once again they set about treating the sick.

What the hatred of the pagans and the ferocity of the Roman authorities could not do, was accomplished by black envy, one of the strongest passions of sinful human nature. An older physician, an instructor, under whom the holy brothers had studied the art of medicine, became envious of their fame. Driven to madness by malice, and overcome by passionate envy, he summoned the two brothers, formerly his most beloved students, proposing that they should all go together in order to gather various medicinal herbs. Going far into the mountains, he murdered them and threw their bodies into a river.

Thus these holy brothers, the Unmercenary Physicians Cosmas and Damian, ended their earthly journey as martyrs. Although they had devoted their lives to the Christian service of their neighbors, and had escaped the Roman sword and prison, they were treacherously murdered by their teacher.  The Lord glorifies those who are pleasing to God. Now, through the prayers of the holy martyrs Cosmas and Damian, God grants healing to all who with faith have recourse to their heavenly intercession.

The Unmercenary Saints Cosmas and Damian of Rome should not be confused with the Unmercenary Saints Cosmas and Damian of Asia Minor (November 1), or the Unmercenary Saints Cosmas and Damian of Arabia (October 17).

Roman martyr; little more than the fact of his martyrdom can be proved about St. Sebastian. In the "Depositio martyrum" of the chronologer of 354 it is mentioned that Sebastian was buried on the Via Appia. St. Ambrose ("In Psalmum cxviii"; "Sermo", XX, no. sliv in PL, XV, 1497) states that Sebastian came from Milan and even in the time of St. Ambrose was venerated there. The Acts, probably written at the beginning of the fifth century and formerly ascribed erroneously to Ambrose, relate that he was an officer in the imperial bodyguard and had secretly done many acts of love and charity for his brethren in the Faith. When he was finally discovered to be a Christian, in 286, he was handed over to the Mauretanian archers, who pierced him with arrows; he was healed, however, by the widowed St. Irene. He was finally killed by the blows of a club. These stories are unhistorical and not worthy of belief. The earliest mosaic picture of St. Sebastian, which probably belongs to the year 682, shows a grown, bearded man in court dress but contains no trace of an arrow. It was the art of the Renaissance that first portrayed him as a youth pierced by arrows. In 367 a basilica which was one of the seven chief churches of Rome was built over his grave. The present church was completed in 1611 by Scipio Cardinal Borghese. His relics in part were taken in the year 826 to St. Medard at Soissons. Sebastian is considered a protector against the plague. Celebrated answers to prayer for his protection against the plague are related of Rome in 680, Milan in 1575, and Lisbon in 1599. His feast day is 20 January.

Item Romæ, ad Catacúmbas, sancti Sebastiáni Mártyris, qui, Diocletiáno Imperatóre, cum habéret principátum primæ cohórtis, jussus est, sub título christianitátis, ligári in médio campo, et sagittári a milítibus, atque ad últimum fústibus cædi, donec defíceret.
      Also at Rome, in the catacombs, the martyr St. Sebastian.  He was commander of the first cohort under Emperor Diocletian, and for professing Christianity he was bound to a tree in the centre of a vast field, shot with arrows by the soldiers, and beaten with clubs until he expired.
Born in Narbonne, Gaul (France); died in Rome, 288-300; feast day in the East is December 18.
No matter what our occupation in life, God can use us for His purpose if we will simply pray for the eyes to see the opportunities before us. Sebastian, a Roman soldier, had such a faith. He had joined the army in 283 in order to help his fellow Christians by rescuing them from persecution and/or giving them comfort. He entered the lists against the powers of evil, knowing that not all the battles are visible to human eyes.

Those who faltered, like Marcus and Marcellian, he encouraged; those pagans who had fiercely objected to the death of relatives and children, like their mother Zoë (a deaf mute whom he cured with the Sign of the Cross on her lips) and her husband Nicostratus (who was in charge of prisoners and cured of gout by Sebastian), he converted; for those who were martyred, he helped to make arrangements for burial and veneration of their bodies.

So successful was he as a soldier that he gained favor with the emperor Diocletian, who made him captain of the Praetorian Guard. He retained that position under Emperor Maximian when Diocletian left him in charge at Rome. Thus by his high rank and office he helped to relieve many who were imprisoned for Christ, though by so doing he placed himself in great peril.

Among the thrilling incidents of early Christian history is that of his bold deliverance of two brothers who had been condemned. He went openly to the house of he magistrate, where they were detained along with 16 heathen prisoners, and before them all spoke of the love of Christ to such effect that those who heard him, including the magistrate and the jailer, were converted. In the place where he spoke the only window was a hole in the roof, and as he stood directly under it the light shone down upon his rich tribune's armor, leaving the rest of the room in darkness. Who could be sure that among so many there might not be one there who would betray him?

Afterwards, Claudius, the jailer, came with anxiety to the magistrate and reported: "The prefect is much disturbed at my having allowed the prisoners to be in your house; and therefore he requires you to appear before him and explain the reason." Upon this, the magistrate went at once to the prefect and so impressed him with his account of what had happened, that he, too, was baptized, and after him 68 others, as a direct result of Sebastian's intervention.

One version of the legend says that Tiburtius, the son of the prefect of Rome, and Chromatius, the prefect himself were converted because Sebastian cured him, too, of the painful gout with which he was afflicted. Thereafter, the prefect set many godly prisoners free, freed his slaves, and resigned as prefect. He retired to his estate in Campania, and took many of Sebastian's converts with him to this place of relative safety.

Such activities could not long remain secret. Soon many of Sebastian's converts were tortured and killed. First Nicostratus's wife Zoë was discovered to be a Christian. Hung by her heels over a fire, she died of smoke inhalation. Nicostratus and the converted prefect were captured, tortured, and killed.

Finally, Sebastian was denounced to the emperor, who reproached him with ingratitude and accused him of conspiracy. Sebastian protested in vain that though he was a Christian he had never neglected his military duties. "I pray daily," he said, "for thy safety and the prosperity of the State." But Diocletian, who had returned, refused to listen, and ordered him to be shot to death with arrows.

By a strange providence, however, although his body was riddled with arrows and the archers thought he was dead, he recovered in the field where they had left him and was rescued by a friend, the widow of Saint Castulus named Saint Irene, who took him to her apartment near by in the imperial palace--and nursed him to recovery. The widow Irene then urged him to escape, but, casting aside discretion, he placed himself deliberately in the path of the emperor and called boldly for the relief of the Christians, who, he declared, were among the most loyal of his subjects.

The emperor, thinking he was dead, was startled as if he had seen a ghost. "You will have no peace," cried Sebastian, "until you cease from shedding innocent blood." The emperor angrily sentenced him to be cudgelled to death and his body to be thrown into the sewer, from which it was afterwards removed by a Christian woman called Lucina, who buried it in her own garden along the Appian Way.

In 367, Pope Saint Damasus built a basilica of San Sebastiano over his tomb, which was one of the seven stationary churches of Rome. Sebastian's cultus dates from the 4th century; his name is found in the Depositio Martyrum, dated 354. That Sebastian was a martyr buried in a cemetery on the Appian Way is fact; all else is pious fiction dating no earlier than the 5th century. Some wrongly attribute these acta to Saint Ambrose.

Several writers testify that the relics of Saint Sebastian were given to Hilduin, abbot of Saint-Denys, by Pope Eugenius II and deposited in Saint Medard's at Soissons on December 9, 826, together with some of the relics of Saint Gregory the Great. These shrines were plundered by the Hugenots in 1564, and the sacred bones thrown into a ditch in which there was water. They were later found and re-enshrined in 1578, though the bones were then intermixed. Sebastian's head was given to Saint Willibrord by Pope Sergius and is now kept at Echternach, Luxembourg. Other portions of his relics are widely dispersed.

It should be noted that Saint Ambrose says that Sebastian was born in Milan, Italy, where he was venerated as early as the 4th century (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Butler, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Gill, Husenbeth, White).
Arrows, representing pestilence as well as the instrument of his martyrdom, are Saint Sebastian's emblem in art (Tabor). Generally he is portrayed as a young, nude man tied to a tree and shot through by bowmen. At times he may be shown (1) nude, pierced by or holding arrows; (2) richly dressed with bow and arrows; (3) as a young warrior with an arrow; (4) with sword and arrow; or (5) as the arrows are being removed by Saint Irene in the habit of a Benedictine nun. He should not be confused with the king Saint Edmund of England, who is always bearded and crowned (Roeder). There is a notable image of him in the Uffizi Gallery of Florence painted by Sodoma (Tabor).

The earliest representations of Sebastian, as in mosaics in Ravenna and at the church of Saint Peter in Chains in Rome (late 7th century) or in the frescoes of Saint Saba's church (Rome; early 8th century), depict him as an elderly, bearded man holding a crown. Some later images also show Sebastian in this manner. The more popular image as a young man appeared in the late Middle Ages (Farmer).

Nothing is historically certain about St. Sebastian except that he was a Roman martyr, was venerated in Milan even in the time of St. Ambrose and was buried on the Appian Way, probably near the present Basilica of St. Sebastian. Devotion to him spread rapidly, and he is mentioned in several martyrologies as early as a.d. 350.

The legend of St. Sebastian is important in art, and there is a vast iconography. Scholars now agree that a pious fable has Sebastian entering the Roman army because only there could he assist the martyrs without arousing suspicion. Finally he was found out, hauled before Emperor Diocletian and delivered to Mauritanian archers to be shot to death. His body was pierced with arrows, and he was left for dead. But he was found still alive by those who came to bury him. He recovered, but refused to flee. One day he took up a position near where the emperor was to pass. He accosted the emperor, denouncing him for his cruelty to Christians. This time the sentence of death was carried out. Sebastian was beaten to death with clubs.

Comment:    The fact that many of the early saints made such a tremendous impression on the Church—awakening widespread devotion and great praise from the greatest writers of the Church—is proof of the heroism of their lives. As has been said, legends may not be literally true. Yet they may express the very substance of the faith and courage evident in the lives of these heroes and heroines of Christ.

290 Epictetus priest and Astion monastic martyrs; lived in Bithynia on the southwest coast of the Black Se;a God granted Epictetus gift of wonderworking, he healed many people troubled by unclean spirits, or afflicted with other maladies.
   During the reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian (284-305). From his youth, St Epictetus had dedicated his life to God, and studied to acquire knowledge of the Gospel. He entered a monastery, and later was found worthy to be ordained to the holy priesthood. Proclaiming the Gospel of Christ, the saint converted many people to Christianity. God granted Epictetus the gift of wonderworking, and he healed many people troubled by unclean spirits, or afflicted with other maladies.
One day while out for a stroll, the illustrious youth Astion met St Epictetus. During a long conversation St Epictetus enlightened Astion, sowing the seed of God's Word in the young man's soul. He spoke to him about the only true God, about the great value of the immortal human soul, and about fleeting worldly pleasures.
   Astion came to believe in Christ and was baptized. Soon after this, he also became a monk. Since Christians were being persecuted in Bithynia, he asked St Epictetus if they might travel together to some distant land where they could dedicate their lives completely to God. Boarding a ship, Sts Epictetus and Astion journeyed to Scythia and settled among the pagan Slavs near the Roman outpost of Halmyris in the province of Histria south of the mouth of the Danube. The city was the site of a military fort and a base for the Roman fleet which patrolled the Danube and the Black Sea.
   When they arrived at Halmyris in 273, St Epictetus was forty-seven years old, and St Astion was only eighteen. During the next seventeen years, the saints spent their lives in prayer and fasting, and performed many miracles.
   The God-pleasing lives of the monks could not remain hidden from others for very long. People afflicted by various illnesses or oppressed by evil spirits came to the saints seeking relief. Even pagans asked the holy ascetics for help, and after being healed of their afflictions, they embraced Christianity.
   St Epictetus once healed a fifteen-year-old deaf and dumb boy by praying and breathing on him three times. More than a thousand people became Christians after witnessing this miracle. St Astion once cured a man whose legs and toes were crushed when he fell from a building.
   Latronianus, the military commander of the district, arrived in Halmyris in 290 on an official visit of inspection. The pagan priests wasted no time in complaining to him about Sts Epictetus and Astion. They denounced the two men from Bithynia, accusing them of converting people to Christianity through sorcery, and persuading them not to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods.
The saints were arrested and interrogated by Latronianus, who tried to find out their names and where they were from. Their only reply was, "We are Christians." Latronianus had them tortured in an effort to make them abandon their Christian beliefs.
After thirty days in prison without food and water, the holy martyrs Epictetus and Astion were once again brought before Latronianus. They remained steadfast and ready to endure even more suffering for Christ. The commander declared that Epictetus and Astion were traitors, and ordered them to be tortured and beheaded.

   Sts Epictetus and Astion received the crown of martyrdom on July 8, 290. At first, they were buried in an unknown spot. Later, their holy relics were transferred into the basilica built in the fourth century by St Constantine the Great (May 21) at Halmyris.
Archaeologists discovered the holy relics of Sts Epictetus and Astion at Halmyris in 2001. The bones were scattered about in two rooms of a burial crypt, indicating that the tomb had been vandalized, perhaps in the sixth century. Scientific tests on the bones revealed that one of the men was approximately sixty-four years old, and the other about thirty-five. This is consistent with the ages of the two saints as given in the written accounts of their martyrdom. The bones also indicate that the two had been beheaded.

The holy relics of Sts Epictetus and Astion were reburied in 2001 by Archbishop Theodosius of Tomis (Romania).

 Bellóvaci, in Gálliis, sanctórum Mártyrum Luciáni Presbyteri, Maximiáni et Juliáni. Horum duo últimi a persecutóribus gládio perémpti sunt; beátum autem Luciánus, qui, una cum sancto Dionysio, in Gálliam vénerat, et ipse, post nímiam cædem, cum Christi nomen viva voce confitéri non timuísset, priórum senténtiam excépit.
       At Beauvais in France, the holy martyrs Lucian, priest, Maximian and Julian.  The last two were killed with the sword by the persecutors; but blessed Lucian, who had come to France with St. Denis, after the slaughter of his companions, not fearing to confess the Name of Christ openly, received the same sentence of death.

IT is said that this Lucian preached the gospel in Gaul in the third century and came from Rome; he was possibly one of the companions of St Dionysius of Paris, or at least of St Quentin. He sealed his mission with his blood at Beauvais, under Julian, vicar or successor to the persecutor Rictiovarus in the government of Gaul, about the year 290. Maximian, called by the common people Messien, and Julian, the companions of his labours, were crowned with martyrdom at the same place a little before him. His relics, with those of his two colleagues, were discovered in the seventh century, as St Ouen informs us in his life of St Eligius. They were shown in three gilt shrines in an abbey, which bore his name, founded in the eighth century. Rabanus Maurus says that these relics were famous for miracles when he wrote, a hundred years later.

See the Acta Sanctorum for January 8, p. 640, though the two lives of this saint there printed are of little or no authority. Duchesne in his Faster Épiscopaux, vol. iii, pp. 119 and 141—152, discusses the case of St Lucian at some length, and shows good reason for believing that the whole story is mythical. He strongly inclines to the belief that Rictiovarus never existed. See H. Moretus, Les Passions de S. Lucien et leurs dérivés céphalophoriques (1953). 

3rd v. The Holy Martyr Sebastian miracle worker steadfast faith given to wavering Christians
born in the city of Narbonum in Gaul (modern France), and he received his education at Mediolanum (now Milan).

Under the co-reigning emperors Diocletian and Maximian (284-305) he occupied the position of head of the imperial guards. St Sebastian was respected for his authority, and was loved by the soldiers and those at court. He was a brave man filled with wisdom, his word was honest, his judgment just, insightful in advice, faithful in his service and in everything entrusted to him. He was a secret Christian, not out of fear, but so that he could provide help to the brethren in a time of persecution.

The noble Christian brothers Marcellinus and Mark had been locked up in prison, and at first they firmly confessed the true Faith. But under the influence of the tearful entreaties of their pagan parents (Tranquillinus and Marcia), and also their own wives and children, they began to waver in their intent to suffer for Christ. St Sebastian went to the imperial treasurer, at whose house Marcellinus and Mark were held in confinement, and addressed the brothers who were on the verge of yielding to the entreaties of their family.

"O valiant warriors of Christ! Do not cast away your everlasting crowns of victory because of the tears of your relatives. Do not remove your feet from the necks of your enemies who lie prostrate before you, lest they regain their strength and attack you more fiercely than before. Raise your banner high over every earthly attachment. If those whom you see weeping knew that there is another life where there is neither sickness nor death, where there is unceasing gladness and everything is beautiful, then assuredly they would wish to enter it with you. Anyone who fears to exchange this brief earthly life for the unending joys of the heavenly Kingdom is foolish indeed. For he who rejects eternity wastes the brief time of his existence, and will be delivered to everlasting torment in Hades."

Then St Sebastian said that if necessary, he would be willing to endure torment and death in order to show them how to give their lives for Christ.

So St Sebastian persuaded the brothers to go through with their act of martyrdom, and his speech stirred everyone present. They saw how his face shone like that of an angel, and they saw how seven angels clothed him in a radiant garment, and heard a fair Youth say, "You shall be with Me always."

Zoe, the wife of the jailer Nicostratus, had lost her ability to speak six years previously, and she fell down at the feet of St Sebastian, by her gestures imploring him to heal her. The saint made the Sign of the Cross over the woman, and she immediately began to speak and she glorified the Lord Jesus Christ. She said that she had seen an angel holding an open book in which everything St Sebastian said was written. Then all who saw the miracle also came to believe in the Savior of the world. Nicostratus removed the chains from Marcellinus and Mark and offered to hide them, but the brothers refused.

Mark said, "Let them tear the flesh from our bodies with cruel torments. They can kill the body, but they cannot conquer the soul which contends for the Faith." Nicostratus and his wife asked for Baptism, and St Sebastian advised Nicostratus to serve Christ rather than the Eparch. He also told him to assemble the prisoners so that those who believed in Christ could be baptized. Nicostratus then requested his clerk Claudius to send all the prisoners to his house. Sebastian spoke to them of Christ, and became convinced that they were all inclined to be baptized. He summoned the priest Polycarp, who prepared them for the Mystery, instructing them to fast in preparation for Baptism that evening.

Then Claudius informed Nicostratus that the Roman eparch Arestius Chromatus wanted to know why the prisoners were gathered at his house. Nicostratus told Claudius about the healing of his wife, and Claudius brought his own sick sons, Symphorian and Felix to St Sebastian. In the evening the priest Polycarp baptized Tranquillinus with his relatives and friends, and Nicostratus and all his family, Claudius and his sons, and also sixteen condemned prisoners. The newly-baptized numbered 64 in all.

Appearing before the eparch Chromatus, Nicostratus told him how St Sebastian had converted them to Christianity and healed many from sickness. The words of Nicostratus persuaded the eparch. He summoned St Sebastian and the presbyter Polycarp, and was enlightened by them, and became a believer in Christ. Nicostratus and Chromatus, his son Tiburtius and all his household accepted holy Baptism. The number of the newly-enlightened increased to 1400. Upon becoming a Christian, Chromatus resigned his office of eparch.

During this time the Bishop of Rome was St Gaius (August 11). He blessed Chromatus to go to his estates in southern Italy with the priest Polycarp. Christians unable to endure martyrdom also went with them. Father Polycarp went to strengthen the newly-converted in the Faith.

Tiburtius, the son of Chromatus, desired to accept martyrdom and he remained in Rome with St Sebastian. Of those remaining, St Gaius ordained Tranquillinus as a presbyter, and his sons Marcellinus and Mark were ordained deacons. Nicostratus, his wife Zoe and brother Castorius, and Claudius, his son Symphorian and brother Victorinus also remained in Rome. They gathered for divine services at the court of the emperor together with a secret Christian named Castulus, but soon the time came for them to suffer for the Faith.

The pagans arrested St Zoe first, praying at the grave of the Apostle Peter. At the trial she bravely confessed her faith in Christ. She died, hung by her hair over the foul smoke from a great fire of dung. Her body then was thrown into the River Tiber. Appearing in a vision to St Sebastian, she told him about her death.

The priest Tranquillinus was the next to suffer: pagans pelted him with stones at the grave of the holy Apostle Peter, and his body was also thrown into the Tiber.

Sts Nicostratus, Castorius, Claudius, Victorinus ,and Symphorian were seized at the riverbank, when they were searching for the bodies of the martyrs. They were led to the eparch, and the saints refused his command to offer sacrifice to idols. They tied stones to the necks of the martyrs and then drowned them in the sea.

The false Christian Torquatus betrayed St Tiburtius. When the saint refused to sacrifice to the idols, the judge ordered Tiburtius to walk barefoot on red-hot coals, but the Lord preserved him. Tiburtius walked through the burning coals without feeling the heat. The torturers then beheaded St Tiburtius, and his body was buried by unknown Christians.

Torquatus also betrayed the holy Deacons Marcellinus and Mark, and St Castulus (March 26). After torture, they threw Castulus into a pit and buried him alive, but Marcellinus and Mark had their feet nailed to the same tree stump. They stood all night in prayer, and in the morning they were stabbed with spears.

St Sebastian was the last one to be tortured. The emperor Diocletian personally interrogated him, and seeing the determination of the holy martyr, he ordered him taken out of the city, tied to a tree and shot with arrows. Irene, the wife of St Castulus, went at night in order to bury St Sebastian, but found him alive and took him to her home.

St Sebastian soon recovered from his wounds. Christians urged him to leave Rome, but he refused. Coming near a pagan temple, the saint saw the emperors approaching and he publicly denounced them for their impiety. Diocletian ordered the holy martyr to be taken to the Circus Maximus to be executed. They clubbed St Sebastian to death, and cast his body into the sewer. The holy martyr appeared to a pious woman named Lucina in a vision, and told her to take his body and bury it in the catacombs. This she did with the help of her slaves. Today his basilica stands on the site of his tomb.

3rd v. Therapon, Bishop of Sardis Hieromartyr suffered for Christ Sardis was in Lydia, Asia Minor miraclulous curative powers from his blood
In fulfilling his priestly service, St Therapon enlightened many of the pagan Greeks with the light of the Christian Faith and baptized them. For this, he was brought to trial before the governor Julian and fearlessly declared himself a Christian bishop. They threw him into prison, where he languished with hunger and thirst, and then they gave him over to cruel tortures. These torments did not break the saint's valiant confession of faith. They led the saint off in chains to the city of Sinaion in Phrygia, and then to Ancyra.
In these cities they tortured him again. They took him to the River Astala, where they stretched him naked upon the ground, fastened to four stakes, and fiercely beat him. After this torture, they took the passion-bearer to the outskirts of the Satalia diocese, part of the Sardis metropolitanate, and here after long beatings St Therapon ended his martyric contest.
The stakes to which the saint had been tied, and which were soaked with his blood, put forth green shoots and grew into large trees, whose leaves were found to have curative powers. Many people received healing through them.