Holy Martyrs Paul and His Sister Juliana, and with Them Quadratus, Acacius and Stratonicus (+273)

The holy Martyrs Paul and his sister Juliana, and with them Quadratus, Acacius and Stratonicus (+273). The holy Martyrs Paul and Juliana met their end in the time of the Emperor Aurelian (270–275) in the Phoenician city of Ptolemais. Once the emperor came to this city with his retinue. Among those who met him was Paul, who made the sign of the cross. The courtiers seized him and tortured him cruelly. Paul’s sister Juliana publicly denounced the emperor for his injustice and cruelty, after which she too shared her brother’s lot. Amazed at the saints’ endurance, three soldiers, Quadratus, Acacius and Stratonicus, believed in the true God. The new confessors of Christ were put to death at once.

The lawless emperor decided to tempt Juliana and promised to marry her on condition that she deny Christ. The saint rejected the emperor’s proposal. By Aurelian’s order Saint Juliana was thrown into a brothel, but the Lord protected her: all who tried to touch her were struck blind. The enraged emperor ordered the brother and sister to be tortured again. The people, shaken by the torture of the Christians, grew restless. The emperor took fright and ordered the martyrs to be beheaded.

Before their death the brother and sister, radiant with joy at drawing near to Christ, sang: “Thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us” (Ps. 43:8).