Mnesitheus

Holy Martyr Mnesitheus was one of the nine martyrs of Perge in Pamphylia, commemorated on 1 August (new style): Leontius, Attus, Alexander, Cindeas, Mnesitheus, Cyriacus, Menaeus, Catunus and Eucles.

They lived in the time of Emperor Diocletian and the governor Flavian, in Perge. All were tillers of the soil, except Menaeus, who was a carpenter, and they had carried Christianity in their souls from childhood. One evening they resolved to confess Christ and entered the pagan temple of Artemis, where they smashed all the statues. Seized at once by the pagans, they were tortured: their sides were burned, their flesh was torn with iron claws, their eyes were pierced with burning torches, and they were shut up without water and food. Then they were thrown into a cage of wild beasts, but the beasts, though hungry, stayed quiet. The crowd cried: "Great is the God of the Christians." Thunder and lightning were heard, and a voice calling the martyrs to heaven. Furious, the governor ordered their heads cut off.