Eusebius of Corfu

Holy Martyr Eusebius of Corfu is commemorated among the martyrs of the island of Corfu (Kerkyra), in the Ionian Sea near Greece, together with the Holy Apostles Jason and Sosipater and the Holy Martyrs Saturninus, Jakischolus, Faustianus, Januarius, Marsalius, Euphrasius, Mammius, Murinus, Zeno, Neon and Vitalis. He is commemorated on 11 May (new style).

The Apostle Jason came from Tarsus in Asia Minor and was the first Christian of the city. The Apostle Sosipater was from Achaia. Both were disciples of the Holy Apostle Paul, who called them his kinsmen. Jason was made bishop in his native Tarsus and Sosipater at Iconium. Setting out with the Gospel towards the west, in the year 63 they reached the island of Corfu. There they built a church in the name of the first martyr Stephen and baptized many.

The governor of the island, learning of it, shut them in a prison where seven robbers were held: Saturninus, Jakischolus, Faustianus, Januarius, Marsalius, Euphrasius and Mammius. The apostles brought them to Christ, and the seven died as martyrs in a cauldron of molten pitch, sulphur and wax. The jailer, seeing this, declared himself a Christian and was killed. The governor ordered the apostles to be whipped and shut in prison again.

The governor's daughter, the maiden Kerkyra, learned how the martyrs suffered for Christ, declared herself a Christian and gave her jewels to the poor. Her father tried to make her renounce her faith and, failing, put her in a separate prison and sent to her the robber Murinus, to dishonour her. Murinus was attacked by a bear, and Kerkyra drove the beast away in the name of Christ and healed his wounds by prayer. Murinus believed and was put to death at once. The prison was set on fire, but the maiden remained alive; then she was hung from a tree, choked with smoke and shot with arrows. The confessors Zeno, Eusebius, Neon and Vitalis, enlightened by the apostles Jason and Sosipater, were burned.

The inhabitants fled to a neighbouring island, and the governor set out after them with a band of soldiers, but was swallowed by the waves. His successor ordered Jason and Sosipater thrown into a cauldron of boiling pitch, and when he saw them unharmed he cried out in tears to their God for mercy. The apostles baptized him and gave him the name Sebastian, and with his help they built several churches on the island and increased the flock of Christ until their old age.