Holy Martyrs Julian, Marcian, John, James, Alexius, Demetrius, Photius, Peter, Leontius, Mary the Patrician, Gregory the Protospatharios and Others (+730)
The holy Martyrs Julian, Marcian, John, James, Alexius, Demetrius, Photius, Peter, Leontius, Mary the Patrician, Gregory the protospatharios and others suffered for the veneration of the holy icons in 730, in the time of the Emperor Leo the Isaurian (717–741). The godless autocrat drove the holy Patriarch Germanus (715–730) from the hierarchal see and exiled him, and enthroned the iconoclast Anastasius (730–753) in his place. In Constantinople, since the time of the pious King Constantine the Great (306–337), there had stood a wonderworking icon of the Saviour made of bronze. The Emperor Leo and the iconoclast Patriarch Anastasius gave orders for it to be taken down and thrown to the ground. A soldier set a ladder against the wall to carry out the order. The people who had gathered could not bear to watch the blasphemy against God. First the noble lady Mary the Patrician stepped out from the crowd; others followed her, rushed at the ladder and pulled it away from the wall, so as not to let the blasphemer touch the holy thing. The soldier fell and was mortally injured. This took place on 19 January 730. Among those who took part in defending the icon were the protospatharios (commander) Gregory, the venerable martyr and virgin Theodosia (commemorated 29 May), and others. When the emperor learned what had happened, he slaughtered the faithful on the spot. The protospatharios Gregory too died a martyr, while some of the Orthodox from among the nobility, Julian, Marcian, John, James, Alexius, Demetrius, Leontius, Photius and Peter, were shut up in prison. Here for eight months the martyrs received five hundred blows every day. At last, by the emperor’s order, they were beheaded. Saint Mary the Patrician was not among the prisoners. But when she learned that the Lord’s chosen ones had been sentenced to death, she came of her own accord to share their lot. The saints’ bodies were buried in Constantinople, near the church of the holy Martyr Theodore. A hundred and thirty-nine years later their incorrupt relics were uncovered.
