Meletius of Galatia

Holy Martyr Meletius of Galatia was a tribune and military commander in the province of Galatia, in the time of the Roman emperor Antoninus Heliogabalus (218-222). He was a Christian and prayed earnestly that the Lord would put an end to pagan error. Frightened by his prayer, the demons that dwelt in the idol temples entered into dogs, and these, howling, brought terror to the inhabitants. Meletius, with his soldiers, killed the maddened dogs and destroyed the shrines, and was then seized and brought before the governor Maximian.

Because he refused to sacrifice to idols he was tortured and died confessing Christ. The tribunes of his regiment, Stephen and John, were beheaded for their confession. The other soldiers of the regiment, who also declared themselves Christians, were put to the sword with their wives and children; 1218 people perished in torments, and according to some sources 11,000 (around the year 218). Theodore and Faustus were burned together with many others. Among the women and children who were killed the names of the martyrs Marciana, Susanna and Palladia and of the infants Cyriacus and Christian are known, and among the tribunes the names of Faustus, Fistus, Marcellus, Theodore, Meletius, Sergius, Marcellinus, Felix, Photinus, Theodoriscus, Mercurius and Didymus.

Serapion, born in Egypt, came to Galatia and witnessed the struggle of Meletius and his soldiers. Seeing with what courage the faithful died for Christ, he too came to believe and was imprisoned. In the prison an angel of God appeared to him and ordained him a bishop. Meletius is commemorated on 6 June, in the new style.