Nicander the Egyptian

Holy Martyr Nicander the Egyptian was a physician and suffered in Egypt in the time of the Emperor Diocletian (284-305). He is commemorated on 15 March by the old calendar.

In a time of persecution he visited Christians in prison, helped them, brought them food and buried the dead. He was a fervent zealot for the faith and admired with all his soul those who shed their blood for it. Whenever he learned of the death of martyrs, he went to the place, took their holy relics and buried them, sprinkling them with his tears. Once he came to the place where the martyrs' bodies were thrown to wild beasts and, fearing to bury them by day, he waited for night and buried them in the dark. They discovered him and subjected him to terrible tortures: they skinned him alive and burned his body with lit torches, then cut off his head, in the year 302 (according to the Greek source, in 305).