Holy Martyrs Trophimus, Sabbatius and Dorymedon (+276)

The holy Martyrs Trophimus, Sabbatius and Dorymedon suffered for Christ in the time of the Roman emperor Probus (276–282). Once a pagan feast was being celebrated in Antioch. Unbridled revelry was going on everywhere. The Christians Trophimus and Sabbatius, who had come to the city, looked on this noisy, lawless festival with sorrow and besought the Lord to set those darkened minds on the path of salvation. For preaching Christ the godless seized the saints and brought them to the governor. The pagans began to beat and torture the confessors, to bend them by force to idol-worship. Sabbatius died under torture, while Trophimus was sent to Dionysius, the governor of Phrygia, known for his cruelty and ruthlessness. The godless Dionysius, for all his efforts, could not bend the valiant Christian: the saint only repeated these words of the psalm: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all” (Ps. 33:19). At last he was thrown into prison. Here the blessed one was visited by a secret follower of Christ, the senator Dorymedon. When the tormentors learned of this, they imprisoned him too and demanded that he deny the faith of the Saviour. The martyr refused, and for this he was thrown to the beasts together with Trophimus to be torn apart. The wild beasts did not touch the Lord’s chosen ones. Then they were beheaded.