Priscus of Sebaste

Holy Martyr Priscus of Sebaste is one of the forty martyrs of Sebaste in Armenia, Christian soldiers from Cappadocia who died frozen in a lake in the time of the emperor Licinius, around the year 320.

Some years after Constantine the Great had issued in 313 the edict of freedom of faith, his co-⁠emperor, Licinius, continued to persecute the Church in his part of the empire and, fearing treason, wished to cleanse the army of Christians. In Sebaste the commander Agricolaus, a zealous adherent of paganism, had under him a company of forty Cappadocian soldiers, brave men, victors in many battles, all of them Christians. When they refused to sacrifice to the gods, Agricolaus shut them in prison. In prison they prayed fervently and one night heard a voice: whoever endures to the end will be saved.

The next day Agricolaus tried flattery, praising their courage and youth and promising them honour from the emperor; after a new refusal he ordered them put in chains, but the eldest of them, Cyrion, told him that the emperor had not given him the right to put them in irons, and Agricolaus changed the order. After seven days the official Lysias arrived in Sebaste and judged them; the saints answered that he could take from them not only their military rank but their lives, for nothing was dearer to them than Christ. Lysias ordered them stoned, but the stones flew wide, and the stone thrown by Lysias struck Agricolaus in the face. In prison they spent the night in prayer and again heard the voice of the Lord: whoever believes in Me, even if he dies, will live; be bold and do not fear, for you will receive incorruptible crowns.

It was winter, with a terrible frost. The holy soldiers were stripped, taken to the lake near the city and set on the ice all night, under guard; on the shore a bath had been heated to lure them. In the first watch of the night one of them could bear it no longer, ran to the bath and fell dead as soon as he crossed the threshold. In the third hour of the night the Lord sent the martyrs comfort: it became light, the ice melted and the water of the lake grew warm. All the guards were asleep except one, Aglaius, who saw above the head of each martyr a shining crown; he counted thirty-⁠nine and understood that the one who had fled had lost his crown. Aglaius woke his companions, threw off his clothes, said that he too was a Christian and joined the martyrs, praying to be found worthy to suffer with the servants of God.

The next morning the tormentors saw with wonder that the martyrs were alive and that their guard Aglaius was glorifying Christ with them. They took them out of the water and broke their shins. The mother of the youngest, Meliton, urged him not to fear and to endure to the end. The bodies were laid on carts and taken to be burned; Meliton was still breathing and was left on the ground, but his mother took him up and carried him on her shoulders after the cart; when he gave up his spirit she laid him beside the others. The bodies were burned on a pyre, and the charred bones were thrown into the water so that the Christians could not gather them. After three days the martyrs appeared in a dream to Bishop Peter of Sebaste and commanded him to bury their remains; he gathered them at night, with some clergy, and buried them with honour.

The names of the martyrs have been kept: Cyrion, Candidus, Domnus, Hesychius, Heraclius, Smaragdus, Eunoicus, Valens, Vivianus, Claudius, Priscus, Theodulus, Eutychius, John, Xanthias, Ilianus, Sisinius, Angias, Aetius, Flavius, Acacius, Ecdicius, Lysimachus, Alexander, Elias, Gorgonius, Theophilus, Domitian, Gaius, Leontius, Athanasius, Cyril, Sacerdon, Nicholas, Valerius, Philoctimon, Severian, Chudion, Meliton and Aglaius. Their memory is among the most honoured feasts; on the day of it, 9 March in the old style (22 March in the new style), the strictness of Great Lent is relaxed and the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served.