Kazdoa of Persia

Holy Martyr Kazdoa of Persia, a princess, suffered together with her brother, the Holy Martyr Gabdelas, and with the Holy Martyr Dadas, in the time of the Persian king Shapur. The Church commemorates them on 12 October (new style).

Dadas was the first courtier of Shapur, and Gabdelas and Kazdoa were the children of this cruel king. Not knowing that Dadas was a Christian, the king made him governor of a province of Persia. When it became known, Dadas was stripped of all honours, brought to the judgment of the cruel Andromelichus and condemned to burning. Approaching the pyre, the saint made the sign of the cross, and the pyre went out. Seeing the miracle, Prince Gabdelas believed in Christ and confessed his faith in the hearing of all. The judge informed the king, who ordered him fiercely tortured, but the power of God guarded him in all the tortures. An angel of the Lord comforted him, and each time the Lord gave him back strength and health. Seeing the wonderful healings of the martyr, many of those imprisoned with him, among them the sorcerer Gargal, became Christians and received martyrdom as well.

The martyr's sister, Princess Kazdoa, visited him secretly in prison and brought him water. Once more she saw him, when they tortured him again. The martyr was hung on a cross and many arrows were shot at him, but the arrows rebounded and turned against those who shot. Seeing his sister, he urged her to believe in Christ. Saint Kazdoa confessed herself a Christian and, by order of her father, King Shapur, was cruelly beaten and thrown into the prison where her brother lay. Suffering from her wounds, she asked her martyr brother to pray for her. After prayer Gabdelas assured her that she would be tortured no more. The next day, at new tortures, Gabdelas saw in the crowd the priests Dadius and Abdius and asked them to bring oil and water, for he greatly desired Holy Baptism. At that time a cloud overshadowed the martyr, from which water and oil poured over him, and a voice was heard: "Servant of God, you have already received Baptism." The martyr's face shone and a sweet fragrance spread in the air. The tormentor ordered him pierced with spears and after a few hours he died with prayer on his lips. His body was cut into three parts, but the priests Dadius and Abdius and the deacon Armazat took the holy remains and buried them with honour. The body of the Holy Martyr Dadas, who had been tormented at length and cut alive into pieces, was likewise buried in secret by Christians.

At midnight the martyr Gabdelas appeared to the priest Dadius, gave him a vessel of oil and sent him to the martyr Kazdoa to anoint her and give her the Holy Mysteries. The priest did so, saying to her at the end: "Sleep, sister, until the coming of the Lord," and Saint Kazdoa passed to the Lord. The martyr's mother prepared her for burial and laid her beside the martyr Gabdelas.