Holy Martyrs Photius and Anicetus of Nicomedia — August 12 / August 25 (Julian Calendar)

On this day, August 12 according to the Julian Calendar (August 25 civil calendar), the Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates the Holy Martyrs Photius and Anicetus of Nicomedia and the many who suffered with them.

The holy martyrs Photius and Anicetus suffered in Nicomedia during the reign of the emperor Diocletian (284–305). Saint Anicetus held the office of a military commander at the imperial court. He fearlessly denounced Diocletian for his lawlessness and for the merciless slaughter of innocent Christians, and for this the enraged autocrat had the blessed one cruelly tortured.

The emperor then commanded that the saint be thrown to the wild beasts to be torn apart, but a lion came to him meekly and began to fawn upon him. Suddenly the earth shook violently, the temple of Hercules was shattered, part of the city wall collapsed, and many pagans were buried beneath it. The infuriated tyrant ordered the saint to be beheaded, but the executioner who raised his sword to carry out the order fell down lifeless.

They set about torturing the chosen one of the Lord upon a cartwheel and burning him over a slow fire, but the wheel came to a stop and the fire went out. A kinsman of the martyr, Photius, greeted the blessed one and called the pagan idols nothingness. The sword raised over the new confessor struck down the executioner himself. The martyrs were then cast into prison.

Diocletian made them an offer: „If you wish to receive honor and riches, bow down to our gods!” The lambs of Christ answered: „Your honor and your riches be with you unto your own destruction!” Then the saints were tied to unbroken horses and dragged mercilessly through the street, but the mercy of God preserved them unharmed.

By the order of the God-hating ruler an enormous furnace was made ready for the burning of the confessors of Christ. When the impious had heated it, many who hoped in the Savior, emboldened by the example of Anicetus and Photius, entered into it with the words: „We are Christians!” Every one of them commended his soul to the Lord in prayer.

The fire did no harm to the holy bodies of Anicetus and Photius. Many pagans who beheld this miracle came to believe in the true God. This took place in the year 305.