Asterius of Aegae

Holy Martyr Asterius of Aegae was, together with Alexander, one of the executioners sent to torment the Holy Martyr Thalalaeus. By the providence of God, both confessed Christ and received the crown of martyrdom at Aegae in Cilicia, in the time of Emperor Numerian (283-284). They are commemorated on 2 June, the day on which Thalalaeus, Alexander and Asterius are remembered, which is 20 May by the old calendar.

The governor Theodore had begun a persecution against the Church in Aegae. The soldiers seized a young Christian, Thalalaeus, handsome in face and form, fair-⁠haired, eighteen years old, a physician by trade, who healed illnesses without payment. Brought to trial in the temple built in honour of Emperor Hadrian, he said that he was a Christian, born in Lebanon, the son of the army commander Berucius and of Romilia, that he had a brother who was a subdeacon, and that he had learned medicine from the physician Macarius. When the Christians of Lebanon had fled to the mountains because of the persecution, he had been brought before the governor Tiberius of Edessa, had confessed there the Triune God, had escaped from the tormentors with the help of the Lord, and had fled. Now, seized again, he said he no longer wished to flee, for he believed in Christ and hoped that He would help him to endure the torments to the end.

The executioners

The governor ordered the two executioners, Alexander and Asterius, to drill his shins with an auger, pass a rope through the holes and hang him up. But, by the arrangement of God, the eyes of their souls were opened, and instead of the saint they drilled and hung a piece of wood. A disciple of Thalalaeus, Timothy, saw everything. The governor, seeing a piece of wood hanging instead of the martyr, was angry, thought they were mocking him, and ordered them beaten without mercy. But under the blows the two said that blessed be the Name of the Lord, for from now on they too were Christians, believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and suffered for Him. Hearing this, the governor at once ordered them beheaded with the sword, and dying as martyrs they received their crowns from Christ God.

Angered, the governor wished to drill the saint's shins himself, but when he tried to rise, his strength failed. The pagans in the temple cried out that great is the God of the Christians. Ashamed, the governor asked Thalalaeus to pray for him, and after the prayer he rose. Seeing in this not divine power but sorcery, he was angered again, took the auger and began to drill the martyr's legs, but at once his hands withered. He begged him again, and the saint healed him by prayer. Yet he ordered him drowned in the depth of the sea. The servants took him in a boat out to sea and drowned him, and the saint prayed that he might not yet die but suffer more for the Name of God. When the servants came to tell the governor that the order had been carried out, Thalalaeus arrived, dressed in white clothes. The governor and those around him were terrified.

The beasts and the crown

A sorcerer near the governor, Urbicius, advised giving him to the beasts. But neither the fierce she-⁠bear nor the hungry lion and lioness touched him; they lay down at his feet and licked them. The people began to cry out loudly that great is the God of the Christians and to ask mercy of the God of Thalalaeus. The crowd seized Urbicius and threw him to the beasts, who tore him apart on the spot. In the end the governor ordered the martyr killed with the sword. The confessor of Christ was led to the place prepared for the beheading, prayed to God and bowed his head under the sword, in the year 284. The relics of Saint Thalalaeus are in the church of Saint Agathonicus in Constantinople and work many wonders. The Church calls him unmercenary, because he healed the sick without payment, and he is invoked in prayer at the Holy Unction and at the blessing of water.