Khusdazat of Seleucia

Holy Martyr Khusdazat of Seleucia (also called Usfazan) was a eunuch, once the tutor of King Shapur II of Persia, and suffered in the persecution of Christians of the year 344, together with Holy Hieromartyr Simeon, bishop of Seleucia-⁠Ctesiphon, with the priests Abdelas and Ananias and many others.

Simeon was slandered as having ties with the Greek state and hostile actions against the Persian king. In 344 the king issued a decree by which the Christians were subjected to a heavy tax; when some refused to pay it, the act was presented as rebellion, and the king opened a fierce persecution. Simeon, as a supposed enemy of the kingdom, was brought to trial in iron chains with the two priest-⁠martyrs, Abdelas and Ananias. The holy bishop did not even bow to the king. Asked why he had not honoured him as was fitting, he answered: Formerly I bowed to your rank, but now, when I am brought to renounce my God and abandon my faith, it is not fitting for me to bow to you. The king tried to persuade him to bow to the sun, threatening that otherwise he would wholly destroy Christianity in the country. Neither counsels nor threats shook the courageous hierarch, and they led him to prison.

On the way the eunuch Usfazan, the king's former tutor, saw him. He rose and bowed to the bishop, but the latter turned away from him and rebuked him that, being a Christian, he had bowed to the sun for fear of the king. The eunuch repented with all his heart, exchanged his costly clothes for coarse ones and, sitting at the palace gates, wept bitterly: Woe to me, how shall I stand before my God, whom I have renounced? Behold, Simeon has turned away from me. King Shapur learned of the grief of his beloved tutor and asked him what had happened. He told him openly that he bitterly repented his renunciation and would no longer bow to the sun, but only to the one true God. The king was amazed at the old man's sudden resolve and gently urged him not to dishonour the gods honoured by their fathers. Usfazan remained unshaken and was condemned to death. His only request was that the heralds proclaim to the whole city that he was dying not for an offence against the king but as a Christian. The king fulfilled his request.

Saint Simeon learned of the end of the martyr Usfazan and thanked the Lord with tears. Called a second time to the king, he again refused to bow to the pagan gods and confessed his faith in Christ. The king, angered, ordered that all the Christians in the prison be beheaded with the sword before the bishop's eyes. The Christians went to their death without fear, blessed by the hierarch, and bowed their own heads under the sword. So Simeon's companion, the priest Abdelas, was beheaded. When the turn came to the priest Ananias, he trembled. Then one of the officials, Saint Phusik, a secret Christian, fearing that Ananias would renounce Christ, cried out loudly: Do not fear, old man, close your eyes and you will at once see the divine Light of our Lord Jesus Christ. By this cry he gave himself away. The king ordered his tongue torn out and his skin stripped off. With Phusik his daughter, the martyr Askitrea, was also tortured. Last came Saint Simeon to the executioner and, praying, bowed his head on the block (13 April 344). All through Bright Week, until 23 April, the executions continued. The Holy Martyr Azat the eunuch, an official close to the king, also received martyrdom. The sources state that a thousand martyrs suffered, then another hundred and another hundred and fifty.

The saints are commemorated on 30 April (new style).