By Bishop Gregorios of Mesaoria
Today we celebrate the memory of the Martyr Bassa of Edessa and her sons Theogonius, Agapius, and Pistus.
The four Saints is an eloquent proof of how important is the spiritual unity of the members of a family, as “the church that meets at their house,” (Romans 16:5) and of the severe consequences stemming from the absence of strong faith in Christ.
Saint Bassa came from Edessa, Syria, and lived around the year 280 AD. From childhood, she had been raised in the Christian Faith, but her husband Valerius was a pagan priest. The husband denounced his wife and his three sons to the governor. Saint Bassa and her sons were arrested and taken to prison. The pious mother encouraged her children, with the grace of the Holy Spirit, to endure and wholeheartedly accept the successive tortures because of their faith in Christ.
She was subjected to various and inhumane tortures in order to offer sacrifice to idols. However, she resisted, thanks to her steadfastness, confessing her faith in the true God. The envy of the pagans led her to the blood test. Like her children, she met her death by decapitation in Cyzicus.
SOURCE: Church of Cyprus