Martyr Peter of Capitolias

Saint Peter was born and raised in the city of Capitolias (an ancient city in eastern Jordan, on the way to Damascus), and he was both wise and very prudent. He was married with three children, and after his wife died he became a monk.

He was ordained to the holy priesthood by the Bishop of Busra (an ancient Syrian city in Choran, 80 km. east of Lake Gennesaret, and 90 km. south of Damascus, where Job's tomb is located). As a Christian teacher, he was denounced to the Saracen ethnarch. Because Saint Peter courageously confessed his faith before the ethnarch, his hands and feet were cut off. Then they gouged his eyes out and crucified him. Finally, he was beheaded. After his martyrdom, his body was burnt in a fire, and then it was thrown into the river.

Some sources say that the Hieromartyr Peter received his crown of martyrdom during the III or IV century; it is more probable, however, that his martyrdom occurred in the VIII century.