Hieromartyr Marcellus, Pope of Rome, and with Him the Martyrs Sisinius, Cyriacus the Deacon, Smaragdus, Largus, Apronianus, Saturninus, Papias, Maurus, Crescentian, and the Women Priscilla, Lucina and Artemia (IV)
The Hieromartyr Marcellus, Pope of Rome, and with him the holy Martyrs Sisinius and Cyriacus the Deacon, Smaragdus, Largus, Apronianus, Saturninus, Papias, Maurus, Crescentian, and the women Priscilla, Lucina and Artemia suffered in Rome in the time of Diocletian and Maximian (284–305) and their successors Galerius (305–311) and Maxentius (305–312). Maximian, ruler of the western part of Rome, stripped all Christians of military honours and sent them to hard labour. A rich Christian, Thraso, sent food and clothing to the prisoners by the hands of the Christians Sisinius, Cyriacus, Smaragdus and Largus. When Pope Marcellus learned of this, he thanked Thraso for his charity, and ordained Sisinius and Cyriacus deacons. Soon the saints, who went to the prisoners, were seized, and they too shared the lot of the other Christians. Sisinius and Cyriacus did, besides their own work, the quota of Saturninus, who was worn out with old age. When this came to light, Maximian handed Sisinius over for torture to Laodicius, the governor of the region. The saint was thrown into prison. Apronianus, the prison guard, seeing his face shining with heavenly light, believed in Christ and was baptised; then with the saint he went to Pope Marcellus, was anointed with chrism, and received Communion from his hand. That same day, 7 June, Sisinius and Saturninus, accompanied by Apronianus, came before Laodicius. Apronianus was beheaded at once, while Sisinius and Saturninus were thrown into prison. Laodicius ordered them to be taken to a pagan temple to perform the rite of sacrifice. Saturninus said: “May the Lord turn the pagan altars to ashes!” At that very moment the tripods standing before the idols, on which incense was burned in honour of the false gods, melted. Seeing this miracle, the soldiers Papias and Maurus confessed Christ. After long torture Sisinius and Saturninus were beheaded, while Papias and Maurus were shut up in prison, where they fervently besought the Lord to grant them the grace of baptism. With the help of the all-good God the confessors were able to leave the prison unnoticed, be baptised by Marcellus, and return.
At the tribunal they again confessed Christianity, for which they gave up their souls in terrible torments. Their holy relics were committed to the earth by the priests John and Thraso.
The saints Cyriacus, Smaragdus, Largus and other Christian prisoners were again worked to exhaustion.
At that time Diocletian’s younger daughter Artemia was tormented by an evil spirit. When the emperor learned that the prisoner Cyriacus healed diseases and cast out demons, he summoned him to the court. The saint healed the daughter, and then baptised her. As a sign of gratitude Diocletian granted freedom to Cyriacus, Smaragdus and Largus. Shortly afterwards he sent Cyriacus to Persia to heal the daughter of the king of Persia. On his way back to Rome the saint was seized by order of the new emperor, Galerius, son-in-law of the retired Diocletian. Enraged to fury by the conversion of the king’s daughter Artemia, the emperor ordered Cyriacus, stripped naked and in chains, to be led behind his chariot for the crowd to mock and deride.
Pope Marcellus publicly denounced Galerius for the savage torture of innocent Christians, for which he was put in prison. The saints Cyriacus, Smaragdus, Largus and another prisoner, Crescentian, were tortured to death. The king’s daughter Artemia, who had been shut up in prison with Saint Cyriacus, and twenty-one other prisoners were put to death in prison.
A Roman cleric smuggled Pope Marcellus out of prison. He took the bodies of Cyriacus, Smaragdus and Largus to the estate of the Christian women Priscilla and Lucina, and turned Lucina’s house into a church.
Maxentius, who ascended the imperial throne, ordered the church to be destroyed and turned into a cattle shed, and appointed the holy pope herdsman of the cattle. Tormented by hunger, frost and being cast into filth, Saint Marcellus fell ill and died in 310.
Saints Priscilla and Lucina were ignominiously banished from Rome, and their estates were plundered.
