Holy Martyr Agapius and the Seven Martyrs with Him (+303)

The holy Martyr Agapius and the seven martyrs with him suffered in the time of Diocletian in Caesarea of Palestine. At a certain pagan festival Christians who had not offered sacrifice to the idols were tortured in public. Saint Timothy (commemorated 19 August) was burned on a pyre, while Saints Agapius and Thecla (commemorated 19 August) were given to the beasts to be torn apart. Some youths standing in the crowd, Publius, Timolaus, Alexander, another Alexander, Dionysius, and Romulus, a subdeacon of the church of Diospolis, decided to confess Christ publicly and lay down their lives for the faith. They bound their own hands and presented themselves before the local governor, Urban. Urban tried in vain to make the young men go back on their decision. The holy confessors were thrown into prison, where two Christians already were: Agapius and his servant Dionysius. The saints were cruelly tortured and then beheaded.