Linus of Smyrna

Holy Hieromartyr Linus of Smyrna was a priest of the cathedral church of Smyrna and suffered for Christ in the persecution of the emperor Decius (249-251), together with Saint Pionius and the other confessors of the city. The Azbyka page honours them all together, and of Linus it says only that he was a presbyter and was imprisoned for confessing the name of the Lord.

Smyrna was in ancient times a famous trading city on the eastern shore of the Aegean Sea. Its Church had been founded by the holy Apostle John the Theologian and was known for the steadfastness of its faithful. When the persecution began, Saint Pionius, with Sabina and Asclepiades, prepared himself for suffering by strict fasting and constant prayer. Pionius took three twisted chains and put them on himself and on his companions.

The confessors were seized on 23 February, the day on which Smyrna kept the feast of Saint Polycarp, the hieromartyr and bishop of the city, who died in 167. After a short questioning they were led to prison. There they found in chains the presbyter Linus of the cathedral church of Smyrna and a woman named Macedonia from the village of Karina, who were likewise imprisoned for confessing the name of the Lord. Many of the faithful came to the prison and brought what they could, but the saints gave everything to the guards. Christians who had sacrificed to idols for fear of torment also came to Pionius, and he wept bitterly over their weakness and urged them not to despair, to repent truly and to turn again to Christ with their whole heart.

After many torments, on 11 March 250 Saint Pionius was nailed to a cross, and the cross was surrounded with wood and set alight. When the fire died down, all saw his body unharmed; not even the hair of his head had burned, and his face was bright, shining with divine grace. The page does not say how Linus died and gives no date for his end.

The saints of Smyrna are commemorated on 24 March, in the new style. The name of Linus is not in today's Menologion of the Russian Church, but it is kept in the commemoration of these martyrs.