Valerius of Sebaste

Holy Martyr Valerius of Sebaste is one of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste in Armenia. After Constantine the Great issued in 313 the edict of freedom of faith, his co-⁠emperor Licinius, a convinced pagan, resolved to wipe out Christianity in his part of the empire, where it had spread widely. Preparing for war with Constantine and fearing treason, he wanted to purge the army of Christians.

In Sebaste the commander was Agricolaus, a zealous supporter of paganism. Under him served a company of forty Cappadocians, brave soldiers, victors in many battles, all Christians. When they refused to sacrifice to the gods, Agricolaus put them in prison. The soldiers gave themselves to prayer and one night heard a voice: "He who endures to the end will be saved." The next day Agricolaus tried flattery, praising their courage, youth and strength and promising honour from the emperor, but was refused again. The eldest of them, Cyrion, observed that the emperor had not given him the right to put them in chains, and Agricolaus ordered them taken to prison without chains. After seven days the high official Lysias arrived in Sebaste and held the trial. The saints answered that he could take from them not only their soldier's rank but their lives, but that nothing was dearer to them than Christ God. Lysias ordered them stoned, but the stones flew wide, and the stone Lysias himself threw struck Agricolaus in the face. At night in prison they again heard the voice of the Lord: "He who believes in Me, though he die, shall live. Be courageous and do not fear, for you will receive unfading crowns."

It was winter and a hard frost. The soldiers were stripped and led to the lake near the city, where they were set on the ice under guard all night, and on the shore beside them a heated bath, to break their will. At the first hour of the night one of them could bear it no longer, ran to the bath and fell dead on the threshold. At the third hour the Lord comforted the martyrs: light came, the ice melted and the water of the lake grew warm. All the guards slept, only Aglaius kept watch. Looking toward the lake he 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. He woke the other guards, took off his clothes, said "I too am a Christian", and joined the martyrs. Standing in the water, he prayed to be found worthy to suffer with the servants of the Lord.

In the morning the tormentors saw with astonishment that the martyrs were alive and that their guard Aglaius was glorifying Christ together with them. They brought them out of the water and broke their shins. During this torment the mother of the youngest, Meliton, urged him not to fear and to endure to the end. The bodies of the martyrs were laid on carts to be burned. Meliton was still breathing and was left lying on the ground, but his mother lifted him and carried him on her shoulders after the cart. When he died, she laid him on the cart beside the others. The bodies were burned on a pyre and the charred bones thrown into the water, so that Christians could not gather them. After three days the martyrs appeared in a dream to the blessed Peter, bishop of Sebaste, and commanded him to bury their remains, which he did by night, with a few clergy, with great honour.

Saint Valerius is commemorated on 22 March (9 March, old style) with the others.