Mary

Holy Martyr Mary, together with her sister, Holy Martyr Martha, and their brother, Holy Martyr Lycarion, died crucified and pierced with a sword for Christ in the parts of Asia, in a time of persecution of Christians.

Martha and Mary, sisters by the same mother, lived in virginity serving Christ and wished to die for Him, like the sisters of the Gospel whose names they bore. Once, when the pagan governor passed by their house, Martha opened the door and cried out with her sister: "We are Christians." The governor paid no heed, but they cried out again. He answered: "I forgive you for your youth, for I do not wish to kill you." Martha said: "Martyrdom is not death but life." Angered, the governor ordered her seized. Then Mary came out and said: "What my sister said, I also confess." Then their brother, the child Lycarion, came out after them and cried: "As Martha and Mary have said, so I say: I am a Christian."

The governor ordered them hung on crosses, three together. Their mother stood by and said: "Be saved, my dear children, and receive the crown from Christ." Mary, from the cross, answered: "May you be saved too, mother, with the fruit of your womb, for you have brought us to Christ." A soldier pierced all three with a sword, and they gave up their spirits into the hands of the Lord. The Greek Synaxarion says that the sisters were beheaded, and that Lycarion, a child monk, was first crucified. The saints are commemorated on 8 February, according to the new calendar.