On this day, June 3 according to the Julian Calendar (June 16 civil calendar), the Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates the Holy Martyrs Lucillian, Claudius, Hypatius, Paul, Dionysius, and the Virgin Martyr Paula, who suffered under Emperor Aurelian (270-275).
Lucillian was a pagan priest during the reign of the Roman Emperor Aurelian. Already advanced in years, he became convinced of the powerlessness of his religion, believed in his heart in the salvation of Christ, and was baptized.
Through his preaching, many pagans were converted to the true faith. The Jews, unable to accept the growing number of Christians, denounced Lucillian to Silvanus, the governor of Nicomedia. Silvanus attempted to draw the old man back to idol worship, but received a firm refusal. By his orders, the former priest was cruelly tortured — his jaw was broken, he was beaten with rods, hung upside down, and thrown into prison. There he met four young men imprisoned for confessing Christ: Claudius, Hypatius, Paul, and Dionysius. Lucillian strengthened them through his conversations. Shortly thereafter, the saints were brought to trial and cast into a burning furnace, but suddenly rain fell from heaven, extinguishing the fire, and the martyrs remained unharmed. The governor sentenced them to death and sent them to Byzantium for execution, where the holy youths were killed by the sword, and Lucillian was nailed to a cross.
A witness to the martyrs’ struggle was the holy virgin Paula, who took upon herself the service of those suffering for the Savior’s faith. She brought food to the imprisoned Christians, washed their wounds, and brought them medicine, and she buried the bodies of the martyrs. After the deaths of Lucillian and the four youths, she returned to Nicomedia and continued her ministry, for which she was soon arrested and thrown into a burning furnace. By God’s will, the virgin came out unharmed. She too was then sent to Byzantium and killed by the sword.
May the intercessions of the Holy Martyrs Lucillian, Claudius, Hypatius, Paul, Dionysius, and Paula be with us all.