Carterius

Saint Carterius was one of the twenty-⁠three Christians of Nicomedia who suffered for Christ at the beginning of the fourth century, in the reign of the emperor Galerius Maximian. The Church commemorates him on 26 August, together with the Holy Martyrs Adrian and Natalia, whose conversion and sacrifice are closely bound up with their witness.

The Greek synaxarion preserves the names of the whole company: Anatolius, Anthimus, Antiochus, Gentilius, Eleutherius, Hermogenes, Euethius, Euretus, Eutychius, Theagenes, Theodore, Thyrsus, John, Carterius, Claudius, Cyriacus, Mardonius, Marinus, Menodius, Plato, Synetus, Troadius and Pharetrius. Nothing more is known of each of them, and Carterius is known only through the suffering he shared with his brethren.

When the emperor promised a reward to those who would denounce Christians, these twenty-⁠three were found hiding in a cave near Nicomedia. They were tortured, urged to worship the idols and brought before the officials so that their names and answers could be recorded. Adrian, the head of the praetorium, a young man of twenty-⁠eight, saw how bravely they confessed Christ and asked them what reward they awaited from their God. Their answer moved him so deeply that he asked for his own name to be written among the Christians, although he was not yet baptized.

Adrian was thrown into prison with them, and his wife Natalia, who was secretly a Christian, came to strengthen them all. In the end the martyrs had their hands and legs crushed on an anvil, and so they gave up their souls to God. The persecutors wanted to burn their bodies, but a storm put out the fire. The Christians then took the relics to Argyropolis near Byzantium, where Saint Natalia was later buried as well.

Saint Carterius is thus honoured as one of those whose patience brought Saint Adrian to Christ. His memory is kept on 26 August, the feast of Saints Adrian and Natalia.