Athanasius the Commentariensis

Holy Martyr Athanasius the Commentariensis was, in the time of Diocletian's persecution (284 to 305), a commentariensis, that is, a superintendent of prisoners in a prison in Cilicia. The Roman title of his office is kept in his name.

Saint Zosimus, an ascetic of the Cilician wilderness, was seized by pagans and brought before the governor Domitian. Boldly confessing Jesus Christ, he was subjected to terrible torments: they burned his ears with red-⁠hot irons, threw him into a cauldron of boiling mud and then hung him upside down. By God's power he escaped unharmed from all. Since the pagans' fury was not appeased, they cast him into the theatre arena to be torn by hungry beasts, but a lion appeared and spoke of Christ in a human voice. Seeing the wonder, the commentariensis Athanasius believed in Christ and was baptized, and the tyrant set Zosimus free.

The two went to the mountains and lived in the cleft of a rock, until, in a desolate place, a stone split in two; they entered beneath the stone and gave up their souls to the Lord. They are commemorated on 4 January (new style).