Charisimus of Tarsus

Holy Martyr Charisimus of Tarsus was a servant of Venerable Anthusa and died for Christ together with Holy Martyr Neophytus. Of him the calendar preserves only what is said of them together with Anthusa.

Venerable Anthusa, a native of Seleucia in Syria, was the daughter of noble pagans. Learning the teaching of Christ, she set out, on the pretext of visiting her nurse, to Saint Athanasius, Bishop of Tarsus, from whom she received Baptism. Her parents were angry that their daughter had become a Christian, and the saint, receiving monastic tonsure from Saint Athanasius, withdrew to the desert, where she struggled twenty-⁠three years and reposed in peace at the end of the third century. The martyrs Charisimus and Neophytus, baptised at the same time as Venerable Anthusa, were her servants and received death for Christ.

They are commemorated on 4 September (new style).