Holy Martyrs Eulampius and Eulampia (+303–311)

The holy Martyrs Eulampius and Eulampia were brother and sister and lived in the city of Nicomedia in the fourth century. When the Emperor Maximian (284–305; 307–310) issued an order that all Christians were to be put to death, Eulampius publicly rebuked the autocrat, who instead of the country’s enemies was declaring war on his own subjects. For this the blessed one was seized, brought to trial and ordered to deny Christ. When they received a firm refusal in reply, the godless first tortured the holy confessor cruelly with iron instruments, and then laid him on a red-hot iron bed. Suddenly the martyr asked to be taken to the pagan temple. The judges rejoiced, thinking that the saint’s firmness of spirit had been shaken; but when he entered the heathen temple of Mars, Eulampius rebuked the idol: “Dumb and soulless idol, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I command you to turn to dust!” The idol fell from its pedestal and was shattered. The astonished people cried out: “One is the God of the Christians, great and mighty!” At that moment the holy martyr’s sister, Eulampia, also stood before the judges and declared that she too was a Christian. Eulampius encouraged the blessed one: “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul” (Matthew 10:28). After torture the Lord’s chosen ones were thrown into a heated furnace, but they came through unharmed. At last the brother was beheaded, while the sister died under torture.

This happened in 303, or according to another account in 311.