Valens the Deacon

Holy Martyr Valens the Deacon was a deacon of the church of Aelia (Jerusalem), an old man of sharp mind who knew Holy Scripture by heart, and he died beheaded at Caesarea in Palestine, in the persecution of Diocletian, in the company of the twelve martyrs. He is commemorated on 16 February.

Valens was the second of the twelve martyrs of Caesarea, after the presbyter Pamphilus of Beirut and before Paul of Jamnia. After the torments they endured from the governor Urban, all three spent two years in prison, until the governorship passed to Firmilian. At that time five young Egyptians returning from a sentence in the mines of Cilicia entered Caesarea, confessed that they were Christians and were thrown into prison. On 16 February all were brought before Firmilian. The Egyptians, called Elias, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Samuel and Daniel, were condemned to the sword, and Pamphilus, Valens and Paul, who had already been sufficiently tortured and had remained unshaken, were likewise condemned to be beheaded. Later there were added Porphyrius, a young servant of Pamphilus, burned alive, the soldier Seleucus, the old Theodulus, crucified, and Julian of Cappadocia.

The bodies of the martyrs were thrown out of the city, as food for dogs and birds.