Commemorated on December 28
At the beginning of the fourth century, Emperor Maximian
(284-305) gave orders to destroy Christian churches, to burn service
books, and to deprive all Christians of rights and privileges of
citizenship. At this time, the bishop of the city of Nicomedia was St.
Cyril, who by his preaching and life contributed to the spread of
Christianity, so that many members of the emperor’s court secretly
became Christians.
The pagan priestess, Domna, was living in the palace at that time,
but was able to obtain a copy of the Acts of the Apostles and the
Epistles of St. Paul. Her heart burned with the desire to learn more
about Christianity. With the help of a young Christian girl, Domna
secretly went to Bishop Anthimus with her faithful servant, the eunuch
Indes. St. Anthimus catechized them, and both received holy Baptism.
Domna began to help the poor – she gave away her valuables with the
assistance of Indes, and she also distributed food from the imperial
kitchen. The chief eunuch, who was in charge of provisions for the
imperial household, discovered that Domna and Indes were not eating the
food sent them from the emperor’s table. He had them beaten in order to
find out why they did not partake of the food, but they remained silent.
Another eunuch informed him that the saints were distributing all the
emperor’s gifts to the poor. He locked them up in prison to exhaust them
with hunger, but an angel supported them and they did not suffer. St.
Domna feigned insanity so she wouldn’t have to live among the pagans.
Then she and Indes managed to leave the court, and she went to a women’s
monastery. The abbess of the monastery, Agatha, quickly dressed Domna
in men’s clothing, cut her hair and sent her off from the monastery.
During this time, the emperor returned from battle and ordered that a
search be made for the former pagan priestess Domna. The soldiers found
the monastery where Domna had stayed and destroyed it. The sisters were
thrown into prison and subjected to torture and abuse, but none o them
suffered defilement. Sent to a house of iniquity, St. Theophila was able
to preserve her virginity with the help of an angel of the Lord. The
angel led her from the brothel and brought her to the cathedral.
Shortly thereafter, the emperor cleared the city square to offer
sacrifice to the pagan gods. When they began sprinkling the crowd with
the blood of the sacrificial animals, the Christians started to leave
the square. Seeing this, the emperor became enraged, but in the middle
of his ranting, a great thunderstorm sprang up. People fled in panic,
and the emperor had to hide in his palace for his own safety.
Later, the emperor went to the cathedral with his soldiers and told
the faithful that they could escape punishment if they renounced Christ.
Otherwise, he promised to burn the church and those in it. The
presbyter Glycerius told the emperor that the Christians would never
renounce their faith, even under the threat of torture. Hiding his
anger, the emperor left the church, but commanded that Glycerius be
arrested. The executioners tortured the martyr, who did not cease to
pray and to call on the Name of the Lord. Unable to force St. Glycerius
to renounce Christ, Maximian ordered that he be burned to death.
In 302, on the Feast of the Nativity of Christ, about 20,000
Christians assembled at the cathedral in Nicomedia. The emperor sent a
herald into the church, told the faithful that soldiers were surrounding
the building, and that those who wished to leave had to offer sacrifice
to the pagan gods. Anyone who defied the emperor would perish when the
soldiers set fire to the church. All those present refused to renounce
Christ.
As the pagans prepared to set fire to the church, Bishop Anthimus
baptized all the catechumens and communed everyone with the Holy
Mysteries. All 20,000 died in the fire. Among them were the abbess
Agatha and St. Theophila. Bishop Anthimus, however, managed to escape.
Emperor Maximian thought that he had exterminated the Christians of
Nicomedia. However, he soon learned that there were many more, and that
they were willing to confess their faith and die for Christ. The emperor
commanded that the regimental commander, Zeno, be arrested, as he was
openly criticizing the emperor for his impiety and cruelty. Zeno was
fiercely beaten and finally beheaded.
They also jailed the eunuch Indes
for refusing to participate in a pagan festival.
The persecution against the Christians continued. Dorotheus,
Mardonius, Deacon Migdonius, and others were thrown into prison. Bishop
Anthimus sent them encouraging letters, but one of the messengers, the
Deacon Theophilus, was captured. They tortured him, trying to learn
where the bishop was hiding, but the holy martyr endured everything,
while revealing nothing. They executed him and also those whom the
bishop had addressed in his letters. Though they were executed in
different ways, they all showed the same courage and received their
martyr’s crowns from God.
For weeks, St. Domna concealed herself within a cave and sustained
herself by eating plants. When she returned to the city, she wept before
the ruins of the cathedral, regretting that she was not found worthy to
die with the others. That night she went to the seashore, and, at that
moment, fishermen pulled the bodies of the martyrs Indes, Gorgonius and
Peter from the water in their nets.
St. Domna was still dressed in men’s clothing, and she helped the
fishermen to draw in their nets. They left the bodies of the martyrs
with her, and, with reverence, she looked after the holy relics and wept
over them, especially over the body of her spiritual friend, the Martyr
Indes.
After giving them an honorable burial, she refused to leave the
graves so dear to her heart. Each day she burned incense before them,
sprinkling them with fragrant oils. When the emperor was told of an
unknown youth who offered incense at the graves of executed Christians,
he gave orders to behead him. The Martyr Euthymius was also executed
along with Domna.
Troparion (Tone 2) –
Blessed is the earth that received your blood, Agape, passion-bearer of the Lord,
and holy is the dwelling place which received your spirits.
You triumphed over the enemy in the stadium
and you preached Christ with boldness.
Since He is good, we pray that you beseech Him to save our souls.
Kontakion (Tone 1) –
Their souls strengthened by faith, the twenty thousand martyrs accepted their suffering by fire,
and cried out to You, the One born of the Virgin:
“Like gold, myrrh, and frankincense, the gifts of the Persian kings,
receive our whole burnt offering, O Eternal God.”
By permission of the Orthodox Church in America (www.oca.org)
From http://www.antiochian.org/node/17203
