Nicander

Holy Hieromartyr Nicander, bishop of Myra in Lycia, and Holy Hieromartyr Hermaeus, the presbyter, were disciples of the holy Apostle Titus of the Seventy, the fellow ascetic of Saint Paul (25 August), and were ordained priests by him. Living the ascetic life amid incessant pastoral labours, they brought many pagans to Christ. For this they were arrested and brought before the city prefect, Libanius, but neither flattery nor threats shook them from their confession of Christ.

Then Libanius ordered them tortured: they were tied to horses and dragged over stones, their bodies were raked with iron hooks, and they were cast into a hot oven. The Lord helped them endure what a mere man could not by his own strength. Toward the end, iron nails were hammered into their heads and hearts, and they were thrown into a pit and covered over with earth. The holy Nicander and Hermaeus are commemorated on 4 November (new style).