Leonidas of Corinth

Saint Leonidas, martyr, suffered at Corinth together with seven women, in the time of the persecution of the emperor Decius, on Great Saturday. The Orthodox Church commemorates him on 16 April by the old calendar, which is 29 April by the new. With him are commemorated the women martyrs Chariessa, Nike, Galina, Callida, Nunechia, Basilissa and Theodora.

According to the Greek source, the saint was tried before the proconsul of the region. Leonidas was hanged, and his body was carried to the sea together with the women. On the eve of Pascha the women were thrown into the depths of the sea.

The faithful say that the sea did not receive them and that they walked upon the water. Seeing them thus, the pagans tied stones to their necks and threw them again into the deep, and drowned them. A Serbian source gives the year 281 for their suffering, while the Greek source ties it to the time of Decius (249 to 251), so the year is not certain.