Our Holy Church today honors the memory of the holy martyr Kallinikos, who came from Cilicia and was distinguished for the eloquence and zeal with which he spread the holy Gospel.
While teaching the Christian faith in Egypt, he was arrested by the pagans and led to the ruler Sacredon, who, first with seductive words and then with horrors and tortures, tried to convince him that the gods of the Roman Empire were true.
Eventually, because of his resistance to the pagan temptations of the ruler and his steadfast Christian confession, Kallinikos was thrown into the fire, where he surrendered his spirit to Jesus Christ.
by Bishop Gregory of Mesaoria