Holy Martyrs Proclus and Hilarius (II)

The holy Martyrs Proclus and Hilarius came from the village of Kallippi near Ancyra. They died as martyrs during the persecution of Christians under the Emperor Trajan (98–117).

The lawless seized Proclus first. The blessed one boldly confessed Christ before the governor Maximus. The godless ruler soon realised that Proclus would not deny Christ willingly, and so he tried to force the saint by violence to offer sacrifice to the pagan idols. During the torture the martyr foretold to Maximus that he too would soon confess Christ as the true God. The tormentors forced the martyr to run behind the governor’s chariot as it went towards Kallippi. Exhausted and worn out, Proclus fervently besought the Lord to stop the chariot. And He heard His chosen one’s prayer: the carriage stopped and no one could move it from the spot. The official in it sat as if turned to stone, until, at the martyr’s demand, he wrote the Orthodox confession of faith with his own hand. Only after this could the governor continue on his way.

The defeated pagan took terrible revenge on Proclus: he ordered him to be led outside the city, bound to a pillar and pierced with arrows.

As Proclus was being led to the place of execution, he was met on the way by his nephew Hilarius. The young man, in tears, embraced his uncle lovingly and declared himself a Christian too. The soldiers arrested the blessed one.

As the governor had ordered, Saint Proclus died bound to the pillar, wounded and his body covered with arrows; to the end of his life the saint prayed and besought God to forgive his murderers.

After Saint Proclus’s martyrdom Saint Hilarius too was cruelly tortured; with his hands bound, wounded and bleeding, he was dragged through the streets of the city, and at last beheaded.

The blessed Proclus died on 12 July, and Hilarius three days later. The Christians buried the God-pleasers in one grave.