The suffering of the holy martyrs Peter, Dionysius, Andrew, Saul, Christina, Heraclius, Pauline and Venedimus

At the time of the persecution of the Christians by the Gentiles, the faithful soldiers of Christ laid down their lives for their Lord, so that the whole universe was stained with the blood of the martyrs. At that time, the Gentiles took the Christian Peter, a handsome young man, as strong as the body, as well as the spirit; he was taken in Lampsaca, the city of Gellespont. When Peter was brought for questioning to the igumen Opitiminus, the igumen asked him: "Are you a Christian?"

"Yes, I am a Christian, " Peter replied. Then the young man said", I am surprised that you dare to make me worship a woman who is so vile and immoral that it is shameful to speak of her".

And if I should go and sacrifice unto a vile harlot, wherefore should I worship the living and true God, the King of ages, Christ my Lord, to whom alone is the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving?

But the servant of God, Peter, as he was tormented, laughed at the madness of the young man, and was even stronger in his hope in the help of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then he lifted up his eyes to heaven and began to pray:

I thank thee, Lord Jesus Christ, that thou hast given me strength and steadfastness in the midst of my afflictions, that I might finish my course with courage, and overcome the enemy of the wicked.

At the same time Dionysius, who was also a Christian, was taken and put in prison. When Egimon was about to go from Lampsacus to Troas, a city near the region of Gellespont, two soldiers, a Christian, were brought to him from Mesopotamia [Mesopotamia - a stony and sandy country located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and stretching from Armenia in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south].

Nicodemus, who pretended to be a Christian, stood before them. "What do you think? " they asked". We are Christians, " they replied.

And at once, when Nicomachus was near death, and had but a little time to endure to receive the crown of martyrdom, which was as it were in his hands, he suddenly forfeited it, and after leaving the good confession, he denied Christ, and cried out in public,

"I have never been a Christian! I consent to sacrifice to the gods". And immediately the soldiers stopped his torture and took him down from the torture stake. When this despondent apostate offered sacrifice to idols and worshiped them, the demon attacked him and hit him hard on the ground, so that Nicomachus became furious, biting his tongue and spewing bloody foam until he released his despondent soul.

In the meantime, a young woman named Christina, who had been possessed by a demon for sixteen years, stood before the crowd.

"Yes, I am a Christian, and now I weep and mourn the loss of a wretched man, who would not suffer a momentary torment to gain eternal peace".

"Now he is at rest, for he has sacrificed to the gods; but that you Christians may not dishonor him, our great goddess Diana and Venus have ordered him to be taken from here. But I want you to sacrifice to these gods too, if you do not want to be blasphemed and burned in the fire". The saint answered this: "My God is greater to me than you, and therefore I am not afraid of your threats. I trust in my God, and I trust that he will protect me and give me patience in all things.

But the two insolent young men took the chaste and holy virgin and hurried her into their house, intending to defile her; but when their lust was quenched, they could not defile her till midnight.

And it came to pass in the night, when they were come near to Christ, that there appeared a bright youth, and he lit up the house with his light; and the young men, being afraid, fell down to the ground as dead men; and when they came to themselves, they fell down at the feet of Christ, and asked her to pray for them unto their God, that there should not come upon them any plague from Him.

"Do not be afraid, but know that the young man you have seen is a holy angel, sent to me from Christ my God, to preserve my virginity, always ready to kill anyone who touches me.

The next day the city officials stirred up the people and compelled the governor to release the men. The governor ordered Dionysius and Andrew to be brought out of the prison. He ordered them to come and pay homage to the goddess Artemis.

"We do not know Artemis or any of the demons you worship, but only our God and our Lord Jesus Christ".

And the people bound the saints with ropes, and dragged them out of the city, and cried out, and said, I will die with you on earth, and live with you in heaven.

And it came to pass, when the king heard that a certain young woman, a Christian woman, who had been given to two young men to be defiled, had been delivered out of their hands by a certain bright young man, that he came to the place where the Christians were stoned, and fell on her.

Thus, all the holy martyrs mentioned, who fought against the devil, the world and the goddess Opitiminus, were able to be victorious over their enemies with the help of Christ, our God, and Peter was killed after various tortures, Dionysius, Andrew and Paul were stoned, and the holy virgin Christina was cut with a sword. All this happened in the city of Lampsaca, under king Decia [Decius reigned from 249 to 251].

These men, Heraclius, Paulinus, and Venedimus, the holy martyrs from Athens, preached the name of Christ in Athens with great boldness, convincing all the wicked to renounce their vain idolatry and to be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

At their interrogation they confessed the true God, the Creator of all things, while they called idols unfeeling stones and wood, the work of human hands. For confessing the name of Christ, these holy martyrs were subjected to various tortures and finally, together with their disciples, were thrown into a fiery furnace, after which they died.

And in exchange for their victory they received the incorruptible crown from Christ our God, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.