By Bishop Gregorios of Mesaoria
The Church celebrates the memory of the Hieromartyr Athenogenes and his ten disciples, as well as the memory of Martyr Antiochus of Sebaste, the brother of the Martyr Platon, who was a physician and martyred at the end of the 3rd century AD.
Hieromartyr Athenogenes came from Sebastea in Cappadocia and lived during the reign of emperor Diocletian.
Thanks to being a highly educated and virtuous man, and practising the virtue of humiliation, he came to join the sacred clergy. He became Bishop of Pidachthoa.
Hieromartyr Athenogenes was a person who constantly prayed. During the persecution of Christians in Sebastea, he was arrested with ten disciples, by the prince Philomachos. After undergoing fierce tortures, they resisted and confessed themselves Christians.
In the end, both the teacher and his disciples were beheaded, suffering for their faith in Jesus Christ, the sole true God.
SOURCE: Church of Cyprus
