Murinus of Corfu

Holy Martyr Murinus of Corfu (Kerkyra) is counted among the martyrs around the Holy Apostles Jason and Sosipater, with Saturninus, Iakischolus, Faustianus, Januarius, Marsalius, Euphrasius, Mammius, Zeno, Eusebius, Neon and Vitalis. The Apostle Jason was from Tarsus and had been the first Christian of the city. The Apostle Sosipater was from Achaia. Both were disciples of the Apostle Paul, who called them his "kinsmen" (Romans 16:21). Jason was made bishop in his native Tarsus, and Sosipater at Iconium. With the preaching of the Gospel they set out west and in the year 63 came to the island of Kerkyra in the Ionian Sea, near Greece. There they built a church in the name of the first martyr Stephen and baptized many. The ruler of the island learned of it and shut them in prison, where there were seven robbers: Saturninus, Iakischolus, Faustianus, Januarius, Marsalius, Euphrasius and Mammius. The apostles turned them to Christ, and for the confession of Christ the seven prisoners died as martyrs in a cauldron of melted pitch, sulphur and wax. The prison guard, seeing their struggle, declared himself a Christian, and his left hand was cut off, then both feet and finally his head. The apostles Jason and Sosipater the ruler had beaten with a whip and shut in prison again.

The ruler's daughter, the virgin Kerkyra, learning how the martyrs suffered for Christ, declared herself a Christian and gave all her ornaments to the poor. Enraged, her father tried to persuade her to renounce Christ, but she stood firm against both persuasion and threats. Then the father devised a dreadful punishment for his daughter: he ordered her put in a separate cell and the robber and fornicator Murinus let in to her, to dishonour the bride of Christ. But when the robber came to the door of the prison, a bear attacked him. Saint Kerkyra heard the noise and drove off the beast in the name of Christ, then by prayer healed Murinus's wounds. After this she enlightened him with faith in Christ, Murinus declared himself a Christian and was killed on the spot. The ruler ordered the prison set on fire, but the holy virgin remained alive. Then, at the command of her angry father, she was hung on a tree, suffocated with acrid smoke and shot with arrows. After her death the ruler resolved to put to death all the Christians of Kerkyra. The martyrs Zeno, Eusebius, Neon and Vitalis, enlightened by the apostles Jason and Sosipater, were burned.

The inhabitants of Kerkyra, fleeing the persecution, crossed to a neighbouring island. The ruler set out with soldiers by sea, but was swallowed by the waves. His successor ordered the apostles Jason and Sosipater thrown into a cauldron of boiling pitch, but seeing them unharmed, cried out in tears, "God of Jason and Sosipater, have mercy on me." The freed apostles baptized him and gave him the name Sebastian. With his help they built several churches on the island and, living there to deep old age, increased the flock of Christ by their ardent preaching. Murinus is commemorated on 11 May, in the new style, with the Holy Apostles Jason and Sosipater.