The Holy Forty-five Martyrs of Nicopolis in Armenia: Leontius, Mauricius, Daniel, Antony, Alexander, Anicetus, Sisinius, Meneus, Virilades and Others (+c. 319)

The holy forty-five martyrs suffered in the Armenian city of Nicopolis in the reign of the Emperor Licinius (307–324), the co-ruler of Constantine the Great. Licinius cruelly persecuted the Christians. In his eastern domain he issued a law that threatened death by torture to all who would not worship the idols. When the persecution began in the city of Nicopolis too, forty who hoped in the Saviour resolved to give themselves up to the tormentors of their own accord and to endure torture for the name of Christ. By God’s will five more outstanding Christians joined the saints: Leontius, Mauricius, Daniel, Antony and Alexander, who took on the leadership of them. The confessors were cruelly beaten, bound, and thrown into prison.

Locked in the cell, the saints rejoiced and sang the psalms of David. Saint Leontius encouraged them. The blessed one feared that some might not bear the pain, might lose heart and be shaken in faith, and he fervently besought the Lord to receive the souls of the confessors soon.

At midnight, as the martyrs were singing psalms, a radiant angel suddenly stood before them, lit up the cell with heavenly light, and told the saints that their labours were drawing to a close and that their names were already written in heaven. The prison guards, Meneus and Virilades, witnessed this miraculous appearance and believed in the true God. The next day the governor decided to put the lambs of Christ to death. The saints were burned in fire, and their holy bones, which remained unharmed, were thrown into a river (+318). God-loving people found the saints’ relics and buried them in one place with great honour. Later, when freedom was granted to the Church of Christ, a church dedicated to the holy forty-five martyrs was built on this spot.