Today our Church honors the memory of the Great Martyr Kyriaki (Sunday), the Hieromartyr Peregrinus and the martyrs Germanus and Hesychius, of Dyrrachium (Durres), in today’s Albania.
The parents of Saint Kyriaki the Great Martyr were Dorotheus and Eusebia, who acquired her after constant prayers to God. She was born on a Sunday, hence her name. During the persecution of Diocletian, her parents martyred to their steadfast faith in Jesus Christ. The Saint was sent to Caesar Maximian and from there to the Governor of Bithynia, Hilarion, who pointed out to her that her beauty was destined for secular life and not for torture. Saint Kyriaki responded appropriately and with courage. He tortured her and ordered her beheaded.
With courage and dignity, as well as with constant prayer, Saint Kyriaki surrendered her spirit to the Bridegroom Jesus Christ, whom she loved and was devoted to him with reverence and love since her childhood. With her strength and steadfastness, she led others to martyr, confessing the true God.
It is worthwhile today for Christians to ask the Christ the King to forgive people’s mistakes, and to extend their repentance and obedience to His will.
Furthermore, the heroines ask Saint Kyriaki to be an ambassador for the glory of the Triune God, to remain steadfast and courageous in the struggle of daily life. They ask for nothing to distract them from the steadfast compass of the love of the Risen Christ.
Source: Church of Cyprus
