Holy Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica, the Myrrh-Streamer (†c. 306) — October 26 / November 8 (Julian Calendar)

The parents of the holy Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica were secret Christians. His father, a Roman proconsul in Thessalonica, kept a hidden church in his house. The child was baptized in this church and raised in faithfulness to the Savior’s commandments. When the saint, orphaned of his father, came of age, Emperor Maximian Galerius (305–311) summoned him, was convinced of the blessed one’s learning and gifts as a commander, and bestowed on him his father’s office, the proconsulship of the Thessalonian district. The chief task laid upon the new official was to defend the city from invading barbarians and to exterminate every last Christian.

Having returned to Thessalonica after his appointment, Demetrius, instead of persecuting the Orthodox faithful, began to preach Christianity openly and to wage an uncompromising struggle against pagan customs and idolatry. When Galerius learned of this, he was terribly enraged. Returning from a campaign on the Black Sea coast, he resolved to pass through Thessalonica with his army and deal harshly with the Christians there. Demetrius was warned of the emperor’s intention in advance and took precautions: he ordered his servant Lupus to distribute all his property to the poor, saying, “Divide earthly treasure among them; let us seek the heavenly.” He himself gave himself to fasting and prayer, awaiting martyrdom.

When the lawless Galerius entered the city, Demetrius was immediately brought before him. The saint boldly confessed Christ and exposed the falsehood and vanity of Roman paganism. The furious emperor threw the confessor into prison. An angel of the Lord appeared to the blessed one, consoling him and strengthening him for the struggle before him. Meanwhile Galerius was staging horrifying gladiatorial spectacles, delighting in watching his favorite strongman, the German Lyaeus, defeat Christians in single combat and hurl them from a platform onto the swords of soldiers.

A tall young man, the Thessalonian Christian Nestor, came to Demetrius in prison and asked his blessing to fight the barbarian. By the blessing and prayer of the Lord’s chosen one, he defeated the godless German, hurling him from the platform just as the German had thrown the faithful, so that he fell upon the soldiers’ swords. The enraged Galerius ordered Nestor (commemorated October 27) to be executed at once, and then sent guards to the dungeon to kill St. Demetrius, who had given Nestor his blessing for this feat.

On October 26, 306, at dawn, soldiers burst into the cell of the saint confined in the underground prison and savagely killed the chosen of the Lord. The blessed one’s faithful servant Lupus gathered his master’s blood and kept it together with the ring given by the emperor.

With this ring and other holy things sanctified by the blood of St. Demetrius, the blessed Lupus afterward worked many healings. The body of the holy Great Martyr Demetrius was thrown to the beasts to be torn apart, but the Christians of Thessalonica secretly carried it away and committed it to the earth.

In the time of the holy Emperor Constantine, equal to the apostles (306–337), a church was built over the grave of the one who pleased the Lord. A hundred years later, during the construction of a new, magnificent church on the site of the old one, the saint’s incorrupt relics were raised. In the seventh century myrrh began to flow from the saint’s tomb. Admirers of St. Demetrius repeatedly tried to transfer his relics to Constantinople, but by God’s wondrous providence the Great Martyr always made his will known: to remain the protector and guardian of his native Thessalonica.