Epipodius

Holy Martyr Epipodius was a young Christian of noble birth from Lugdunum (today Lyon), beheaded for his faith in Christ in the persecution of 177-178, in the time of Marcus Aurelius. He is honoured as a saint of the undivided Church and is commemorated on 22 April by the old calendar.

After the pagans of Lyon put to death Bishop Pothinus and his companions, Epipodius and his Greek friend Alexander, frightened by the tortures, left the city and hid in the house of a Christian widow. They had grown up together, bound from childhood by a spiritual friendship, and had studied and received baptism. A spy found them; at the arrest Epipodius lost a sandal, which the widow later kept as a sacred treasure. After three days they were taken to the judge and both confessed themselves Christians, stirring the fury of the judge and the crowd.

Epipodius was brought out first for torment. The judge tried to move him with soft words, but the young man answered that the life he promised was an eternal death, while the death with which he threatened him was a passage to a life without end. Stretched on the rack, his sides were torn with iron hooks; the people, who usually demand blood, rose in protest and asked for his release. Fearing a riot, the judge ordered his head cut off. The Christians secretly took his body, together with Alexander's, and placed it in a cave near Lyon, which became famous for the miracles worked there.