Anthony

Holy Martyr Anthony is one of the three Lithuanian martyrs of Vilnius: Anthony, John and Eustace, who in their pagan days were called Kumets, Nezhilo and Kruglets. Anthony and John were brothers.

Having entered the service of Grand Prince Olgerd of Lithuania, they received Holy Baptism from a presbyter named Nestor. Learning that they no longer worshipped the sun, Olgerd had them imprisoned. After a year John, sick, promised to return to paganism and was pardoned, but remorse, his brother's steadfast suffering and the reproaches of Christians led him to confess the faith publicly. Olgerd beat him with his own hands and threw him back into prison.

According to the account used here, in 1342 Anthony was hanged on an oak on 14 April, John was strangled on 23 April, and Eustace, their follower, was tortured on 13 December. Their bodies hung from the same tree. The relics rest in the church built in their name on the place of their suffering. They are commemorated on 14 April, old style, a day appointed by Metropolitan Alexis of Moscow.