Neophytos of Tarsus

Holy Martyr Neophytos of Tarsus (Cilicia) is commemorated together with Venerable Anthusa and the martyr Charisimus. Venerable Anthusa, born in the city of Seleucia (Syria), was the daughter of noble pagans. Learning the teaching of Christ, under pretext of visiting her nurse she went to the hierarch Athanasius of Tarsus and from him received Baptism. Her parents were angry with their daughter for becoming a Christian, and the saint, receiving from Saint Athanasius monastic tonsure, withdrew to the desert, where she spent twenty-⁠three years in struggles and reposed in peace at the end of the third century. The martyrs Charisimus and Neophytos, baptized at the same time as Venerable Anthusa, were her servants and accepted death for Christ. Neophytos is commemorated on 4 September, in the new style.