Martyrs Pamphilius the Presbyter, Valens the Deacon, and those with them, at Caesarea in Palestine
The Holy Martyrs Pamphίlios the Presbyter, Valens the Deacon, Paul, Porphyrios, Séleukos, Theódoulos, Julian, Samuel, Elias, Daniel, Jeremiah, and Isaiah suffered martyrdom during the reign of Emperor Diocletian (284 – 305) at Caesarea in Palestine.
The holy Martyr Pamphίlios, a native of the city of Beirut, was educated at Alexandria, after which he was ordained as a priest at Caesarea. He devoted much labor to collating manuscripts and correcting the copyists' errors in the manuscripts of the New Testament. These texts were copied and distributed to anyone who wanted them. Thus, many pagans were converted to Christ by them.
His works were gathered into the extensive library of spiritual books available for the enlightenment of Christians. Saint Jerome (IV-V century) had deep respect for Saint Pamphίlios and considered himself fortunate to have located and acquired several of his manuscripts.
Actively assisting Saint Pamphίlios in proclaiming the faith in Christ were Saint Valens, a Deacon of the Church, and Elias, a man stooped with age and well-versed in the Holy Scriptures, and Saint Paul, ardent in his faith and love for Christ the Savior. All three were imprisoned for two years by Urban, the governor of Palestinian Caesarea.
During the rule of his successor Firmilian, 130 Christians were sentenced in Egypt and sent to Cilicia (Asia Minor) to work in the gold mines. Five young brothers accompanied them to the place of exile. On their return to Egypt they were detained at Caesarea and thrown into prison for confessing Christ.
These young men appeared before Firmilian, together with those previously imprisoned incarcerated: Saints Pamphίlios, Valens and Paul. The five Egyptian youths took the names of Old Testament Prophets, Elias, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Samuel, and Daniel. Asked where they were from, the youths said that they were citizens of Jerusalem, meaning the heavenly Jerusalem. Firmilian knew nothing of such a city, since Jerusalem had been razed to the ground by Emperor Titus in the year 70. Emperor Hadrian (117-138) built a new city on the site, which was called Aelia Capitolina.
Firmilian tortured the youths for a long time, trying to learn the location of this unknown city, and he tried to persuade them to apostatize. Accomplishing nothing, the governor sentenced them to be beheaded with a sword, along with Pamphίlios, Valens, and Paul.
Before this took place, one of Pamphilios' servants endured suffering. This was the eighteen-year-old youth Porphyrios, who was meek and humble. He had heard the death sentence for the condemned martyrs, and asked the governor for permission to bury the bodies after their execution. Because of this he was also sentenced to death, and was thrown into a fire.
A pious Christian named Séleukos, a former soldier, praised the deeds of the Martyrs. He went to Pamphίlios and told him of the martyric death of Saint Porphyrios. He was arrested by soldiers and, on Firmilian’s orders, he was beheaded with a sword, together with the others.
One of the governor’s servants, Theódoulos, was a man of venerable age, and a secret Christian. He met the Martyrs as they were being led to execution. He embraced them and asked them to pray for him. Soldiers brought him before Firmilian, at whose orders he was crucified.
The young Julian, a native of Cappadocia who had come to Caesarea, saw the bodies of the Saints which had been thrown to wild beasts without burial. Julian knelt down and venerated the bodies of the sufferers. Soldiers apprehended him and took him to the governor, who condemned him to be burnt alive. The bodies of all twelve Martyrs remained unburied for four days, but neither beasts nor birds would touch them. Embarrassed by this situation, the pagans permitted the Christians to take the bodies of the martyrs and bury them.
Although these twelve Martyrs came from various places, they were also united by their love for Christ, and from Him they received unfading crowns of glory.
Saint Maruthas, Bishop of Martyropolis in Mesopotamia
Saint Maruthas was Bishop of Tagrith (Martyropolis), a city which he founded between the Byzantine Empire and Persia. He was famed for his knowledge and his piety, he wrote about the martyrs, and he suffered for his faith in Christ under the Persian emperor Sapor. He also left behind other works in the Syrian language, among which the most famous are: “Commentary on the Gospel,” “Verses of Maruthas,” “Liturgy of Maruthas” and “The 73 Canons of the Ecumenical Council at Nicea” (325) with an account of the acts of the Council.
In the year 381 Saint Maruthas participated in the Second Ecumenical Council at Constantinople, convened against the heresy of Macedonius. In 383, he attended the Council of Antioch against the Messalians.
During the years 403-404 Saint Maruthas set off to Constantinople to plead with the emperor Arcadius to protect Persian Christians. He was twice sent by the emperor Theodosius the Younger to the Shah Izdegerd to secure the peace between the Empire and Persia.
In the year 414 Saint Maruthas, having done his duty as envoy to the court of Izdegerd, persuaded the Shah to a favorable disposition towards Christians, and he assisted greatly in the freedom of Christians in Persia. He rebuilt Christian churches razed during the persecution by the Persian ruler Sapor. He also located relics of saints who had suffered martyrdom and transferred them to Martyropolis. He died there in 422. The relics of Saint Maruthas were later transferred to Egypt and placed in a skete monastery of the Mother of God.
Persian Martyrs in Martyropolis in Mesopotamia
No information available at this time.
Saint Flavian, Archbishop of Antioch
Saint Flavian, Archbishop of Antioch, was a contemporary of Saint John Chrysostom. He attempted to obtain from the emperor Theodosius (379-395) a pardon for the citizens of Antioch, who had angered the emperor by destroying his statue. Saint Flavian’s death was peaceful and without illness. He is also commemorated on September 27.
New Martyr Elias
The Holy New Martyr Elias (Nikolayevich) was born in a Moscow village in the XIX century. He studied at the Moscow Theological Academy and married a devout woman named Eugenia. Then he was then ordained as a priest and served in the small church of a poorhouse, and in the parish of Saint Nicholas Tolmachev in Moscow, before the October revolution of 1917 broke out.
Saint Elias was a most pious priest. His church was a beacon of spiritual light for many believers. He was married, but he lived an ascetical life. In 1932 the Soviet secret police arrested and imprisoned him. He was exiled to the Krasnaya Visera River region. Matushka Eugenia spent the entire night in prayer and tears. But in the morning she fell asleep and then she saw the Theotokos in a dream, who told her not to be afraid.
Two years later, Matushka Eugenia visited him at his place of exile and brought him a Gospel and a small vial of holy water. The guards confiscated the Gospel. When they asked her what was in the vial, she replied that for them it was plain water, but for herself and her husband it was sacred, their medicine. The Saint looked as if he had been tortured. They did not allow him to serve, and this caused him immeasurable grief. He began to tell Eugenia of his martyrdom. When they brought him and many others to the place of exile, they were forced to walk on the surface of the melting snow. The thin layer of ice was breaking up beneath their feet and the "convicts" were sinking in the snow up to the waist. Wet to the bone, with nothing to eat or drink all day, they were forced to spend the night inside a hut. The exhausted men immediately fell to the floor and fell asleep as if dead. Only the Saint stayed awake. Around midnight he cried from the depths of his heart: "Lord, why have you forsaken me? I have served you so faithfully. I devoted my entire life to You. How many times have I read the Akathist Hymn and the Canons? I served in the church with reverence. Why, O Lord, have You forsaken me, and why do I suffer so much? O Most Holy Theotokos, Holy Hierarch Nicholas, Holy Father Seraphim, and all the Saints of God! After all my prayers to you, why am I tormented so much?"
Suddenly a divine visitation, like a flame, touched his aching soul and flooded it with otherworldly consolation. The light of faith secretly illumined his heart and ignited in him an inexpressible and irresistible love for Christ, which, as the Apostle Paul says, "he heard unspeakable words which no man may utter."1 When dawn came, he was a young man, born again as if he had been baptized in fire.
As he bade farewell to Matushka Eugenia, the Saint said to her: "You know, my heart is ablaze for Christ. I think I came here to understand that there is absolutely nothing better, nothing more wonderful than He. I wish to die for Him!"
When Matushka arrived back in Moscow, she learned that there had been a fire in the concentration camp and that Saint Elias was burned along with eleven other Christians.
