Gelasinus

Holy Martyr Gelasinus was, according to tradition, an actor from Mariamme near Damascus who became a Christian on the stage and died a martyr at Heliopolis (today Baalbek in Lebanon), around the year 297, under Diocletian.

The account says that, during a performance mocking the mystery of baptism, Gelasinus was plunged into a vat of warm water and came out unwilling to continue the play, confessing that he was a Christian and wished to die a Christian. The pagan crowd of Heliopolis, a city where the worship of the gods was very much alive, was seized with rage, dragged him outside and stoned him. His kin and other Christians took his body and built a chapel in his honour in their village.

The story is found in the seventh-⁠century Paschal Chronicle, in a text of doubtful historical value which may nevertheless preserve a true tradition. The Orthodox Church commemorates him on 27 February, and the West on 26 August.