The 1003 Martyrs of Nicomedia (+303)

The holy martyrs who met their end in Nicomedia were servants of the noblemen Bassus, Eusebius, Eutychius and Basilides (commemorated 20 January), who had suffered for Christ in the time of Diocletian (284–305).

After their masters’ martyrdom the desire for martyrdom for Christ was stirred in them too, and they courageously confessed their faith. No exhortations or promises could bend the blessed confessors, after which soldiers surrounded them and cut them all down, 1003 people together with women and children. No one was left alive.