Antoninus of Ancyra

Holy Martyr Antoninus of Ancyra is commemorated together with his parents, the martyrs Melasippus and Cassinia, who suffered in the time of Julian the Apostate, in the city of Ancyra in Phrygia, in the year 363. They are commemorated on 20 November.

The holy martyrs Melasippus and Cassinia, torn with iron hooks and maimed, died under torture. Their son, the boy Antoninus, whom the persecutor forced to watch his parents' torments, spat in the face of the God-⁠denying emperor. For this he was subjected to terrible torments, in which he remained unharmed, then was beheaded. Forty young men, seeing that the Lord kept His confessor Antoninus and that the torments did him no harm, believed in Christ, openly confessed their faith and received the death of martyrs.