Venerable Martyrs Patermuthius and Copres and the Martyr Alexander (+361–363)

The Venerable Martyrs Patermuthius and Copres and the Martyr Alexander died for Christ in the time of the Emperor Julian the Apostate (361–363). Patermuthius and his disciple Copres laboured in the Egyptian desert. When the emperor learned of the hermit fathers, he summoned them to him and tried by cunning to win them over to paganism. He said: “I too was a Christian before, but later I became convinced that only the pagan gods can grant salvation.” Copres was beguiled by the king’s promises and denied the Saviour, but later, through his teacher’s prayers and tearful admonitions, he understood the depth of his fall, repented, and again openly confessed the true faith. Copres’s boldness enraged the emperor, and he ordered him to be tortured. Saint Patermuthius urged the Lord’s chosen one to patience and strengthened him. One of the soldiers, Alexander, seeing the martyr’s sufferings, believed in Christ, for which he was sentenced to be burned, while Patermuthius and Copres were beheaded.