Saint Spotlight: Pamphilios the Martyr & his Companions (Feb 16)

St. Pamphίlios, an educated priest, devoted much labor to collating manuscripts and correcting the copyists' errors in the manuscripts of the New Testament and distributed them to anyone who wanted them, converting the pagans to Christ in the process. His works were gathered into the extensive library of spiritual books available for the enlightenment of Christians. Actively assisting St. Pamphίlios were Elias, Paul, and his deacon, Valens. All three were imprisoned for 2 years by Urban, the governor of Palestinian Caesarea, before going with the 130 other Christians sentenced in Egypt who were sent to work in the Asia Minor gold mines. On the way back, they would all be imprisoned again, this time joined by Egyptian youths, Elias, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Samuel, and Daniel. When the Egyptian youths were asked where they were from, they replied that they were citizens of Jerusalem, meaning the heavenly Jerusalem. Firmilian knew nothing of such a city, since Jerusalem had been razed to the ground by Emperor Titus in the year 70 and had been rebuilt as Aelia Capitolina. This angered the governor, who sentenced them all to be beheaded with a sword.

Before this took place, one of Pamphilios' servants, an 18-year-old Porphyrios, had heard the death sentence and asked the governor for permission to bury the bodies after their execution. Because of this, he was also sentenced to death and was thrown into a fire. Séleukos, a pious Christian and former soldier, went to Pamphίlios and told him of the martyric death of St. Porphyrios. He was arrested by soldiers and, on Firmilian’s orders, was beheaded with a sword. One of the governor’s servants and a secret Christian, Theódoulos, met the Martyrs and embraced them, asking them to pray for him. Soldiers brought him before Firmilian, at whose orders he was crucified. Julian, a native of Cappadocia who had come to Caesarea, saw the bodies of the Saints which had been thrown to beasts. Julian knelt down and venerated the bodies of the sufferers. Soldiers apprehended him and took him to the governor, who condemned him to be burnt alive. The bodies of all twelve Martyrs remained unburied for four days, but neither beasts nor birds would touch them. Embarrassed by this situation, the pagans permitted the Christians to take the bodies of the martyrs and bury them.

Although these twelve Martyrs came from various places, they were also united by their love for Christ, and from Him they received unfading crowns of glory during the reign of Emperor Diocletian (284 – 305).

Source: OCA