Athenodorus the Martyr

Athenodorus the Martyr was a monk from Syrian Mesopotamia who suffered in the time of the Emperor Diocletian, around the year 304.

From his youth he had devoted himself to the monastic life. During the persecution he was denounced as a Christian, seized and brought before the imperial governor Eleusius, before whom he confessed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. For this he was condemned to harsh torments: he was stretched between two pillars, his body was burned with candles, red-⁠hot balls were put under his arms, sharp needles were driven into his nostrils, and he was laid on a red-⁠hot iron bed, which, the sources say, cooled miraculously, and then he was thrown into a heated bronze bull and subjected to many other torments. Through all this he remained unharmed.

Seeing these miracles, many pagans accepted Christianity: first fifty, then thirty more were baptized. At last the martyr was condemned to be beheaded by the sword, but the executioner, as soon as he began, stumbled and fell dead, and his hand with the sword was torn from his shoulder. After that no one dared to carry out the execution. Then the saint prayed to God and gave up his soul.

He is commemorated on 7 December by the old calendar.