By Bishop Grigorios of Mesaoria
The Orthodox Church commemorates today Martyrs Acindynus, Pegasius, Elpidephorus, Anempodistus and Aphthonius. It also commemorate Martyrs Eudoxios and Agapios.
Acindynus, Pegasius, and Anempodistus were King Sapor’s courtiers and in 330 AD they confessed their faith in the Lord. After their confession, they were arrested and beaten with whips. They never yielded to the torments, since they had understood the true meaning of the Incarnation of Jesus.
They were forced to enter the flames of a great fire. They prayed to God to send rain and to put out the fire and their prayers were truly heard. This miracle led to the postponement of the execution and, by the light of the Holy Spirit, Aphthonius, who was pagan, became Christian and was baptised.
However, after a few days, Aphthonius had his head cut off, as he did not deny the Lord and said that paganism would not last thanks to the omnipotence of God.
Elpidephorus also remained steadfast in his faith in the Savior Christ. Despite the efforts to make him deny the Lord, he answered that he believed in Christ, as He was “the way and the truth and the life.” Thus, they ordered to kill him along with seven thousand other Christians.
Source: Church of Cyprus
