Aaron, Athena, Isidorus and Dioscorus

Saints Aaron, Athena, Isidorus and Dioscorus, Martyrs (in the Greek sources Heron, Ateus, Isidorus and Dioscorus; in some Latin translations Ateus appears as Arsenius), were Christians of Egypt, put to death in the persecution of Decius (249-251), in the third century. They are mentioned in the letter that Dionysius of Alexandria sent to Fabius of Antioch, published by Eusebius of Caesarea in the Ecclesiastical History.

According to Dionysius, in the time of the persecution of Decius Heron, Ateus, Isidorus and Dioscorus, aged fifteen, were arrested in Egypt. The judge, thinking he would easily overcome the youngest, tried to force him first with words, then with torments, to renounce the Christian faith. Seeing his steadfastness and the wisdom of his answers, he let him go, and Dioscorus was still alive when Dionysius wrote the letter. The other three were subjected to terrible torments and then condemned to the stake.

Their commemoration entered, on 14 December, the medieval martyrologies of the Catholic Church (Florus, Ado of Vienne, Usuard), which also mention Dioscorus, although from Dionysius's account it does not appear that he suffered martyrdom. Caesar Baronius entered it in the Roman Martyrology, where it is said that, by divine will, Dioscorus was left free for the consolation of the faithful. The reform of the martyrology after the Second Vatican Council changed the commemoration.