Holy Martyr Polyeuctus the Soldier (+259)
Saint Polyeuctus served in the army of the Emperor Decius (249–251), and suffered for Christ in the reign of Valerian (253–259). The saint was friends with a steadfast Christian, the soldier Nearchus, and was distinguished by the fear of God too, but he still remained a pagan. When the persecution of the Christians began, Nearchus said to Polyeuctus: “Brother, we shall soon be parted: they will take me away to be tortured for Christ, and you, I beg you, renounce your friendship with me.” The saint replied that he had seen Christ in his sleep, who had clothed him in a new, radiant garment. “From this moment,” he said, “I am ready for the service of Christ.”
Burning in spirit, Polyeuctus went out into the city square, tore down and ripped up the king’s decree requiring the worship of idols, and then knocked the pagan idols out of the priests’ hands and smashed them.
Polyeuctus’s father-in-law, the governor Felix, who was charged with carrying out the king’s decree, was horrified at his son-in-law’s conduct. “Now you must die!” he said. “Go and say farewell to your wife and children.” His wife besought the saint with tears to deny Christ, and Felix too burst into tears, but nothing could make Polyeuctus change his intention: he joyfully bowed his head to the sword and was baptised in his own blood (+259). Soon, when in the time of Constantine, Equal to the Apostles, Christianity was declared the state religion throughout the empire, a church dedicated to the holy Martyr Polyeuctus was raised in the city of Melitene. Many miracles took place in this church. The parents of Euthymius the Great (commemorated 20 January), tormented by childlessness, besought the Lord here too to grant them an heir, and through the saint’s intercession their request was granted. A deep venerator of the saint’s memory was also the hierarch Acacius of Melitene, a participant in the Third Ecumenical Council and a great champion of Orthodoxy. Saint Polyeuctus is regarded as the protector of vows and agreements made.
