Holy 3,628 Martyrs of Nicomedia (3rd–4th c.) — September 2 / September 15 (Julian Calendar)

On this day, September 2 according to the Julian Calendar (September 15 civil calendar), the Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates the Holy 3,628 Martyrs of Nicomedia.

The holy 3,628 martyrs were put to death for Christ in Nicomedia during the reign of the emperors Diocletian and Maximian (284–305). They were Alexandrians who came to believe in Christ the Saviour after the martyric end of Peter, Archbishop of Alexandria (commemorated November 25). The saints travelled with their families to Nicomedia and voluntarily surrendered themselves to be tortured. Diocletian at first tried to persuade the confessors to renounce the true faith, but when he saw their steadfastness he ordered that all of them be beheaded and their bodies thrown into a ravine. The holy relics of these servants of the Lord were discovered many years later through a divine revelation.