Hieromartyr Anthimus, Bishop of Nicomedia, and with Him the Holy Martyrs Theophilus the Deacon, Dorotheus, Mardonius, Migdonius, Peter, Indes, Gorgonius, Zeno, Domna the Virgin and Euthymius (+302)

The Hieromartyr Anthimus, Bishop of Nicomedia, and other martyrs with him died for Christ at the time when Diocletian and Maximian (284–305) were fighting furiously to root out the true faith in the country. The tormentors used the burning of the imperial palace in Nicomedia as a pretext for intensifying the persecution of the Christians. The godless blamed the Christians for starting the fire and began to take revenge on them with indescribable cruelty. This did not daunt the faithful: they firmly confessed Christ and gladly offered themselves as a sacrifice to the Saviour. At this time Saints Dorotheus, Mardonius, Migdonius, Peter, Indes and Gorgonius suffered. The soldier Zeno, for boldly denouncing the emperor, was stoned and then beheaded. At the same time the holy virgin Domna, a former priestess, and Saint Euthymius, who were burying the bodies of the martyrs, died at the hands of the pagans. At the request of his flock Bishop Anthimus had taken refuge in a village near Nicomedia, from which he addressed the faithful with letters and urged them to steadfastness. One of the letters sent by the hand of the deacon Theophilus fell into the hands of the lawless and was handed over to the Emperor Maximian. Theophilus was brought for interrogation and put to death by torture, but they could not make him reveal the whereabouts of the holy hierarch. Some time later Maximian nevertheless learned where the blessed Anthimus was and sent a detachment of soldiers to seize him. The bishop met the soldiers on the road, but they did not recognise him; the saint took in the whole detachment, entertained them kindly, and only afterwards revealed who he was. The soldiers were troubled; they wished to leave the hierarch and tell the emperor that they had not found him; but Saint Anthimus would not agree to this. The soldiers believed in Christ and were baptised. The bishop made them carry out the order of the godless ruler. When Anthimus was brought before the emperor, he ordered instruments of torture to be brought and laid out before the martyr, to which the saint declared: “O king, dost thou think to frighten me with instruments? No, he who himself seeks death for Christ will not tremble. Only the faint-hearted, for whom nothing is dearer than this passing life, fear the sentence of death!” Then by order of the autocrat the blessed hierarch was cruelly tortured and beheaded (+302).