Venerable Martyr Paphnutius the Egyptian and the 546 Martyrs with Him (3rd Century) — September 25 / October 8 (Julian Calendar)

On this day, September 25 according to the Julian Calendar (October 8 civil calendar), the Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates Venerable Martyr Paphnutius the Egyptian and the 546 Martyrs with Him.

The Venerable Martyr Paphnutius was an Egyptian who struggled as an ascetic in the desert. During the persecution of Christians under Diocletian (284–305), the governor Arian ordered that the hermit be brought to him, but Paphnutius did not wait for the messengers and presented himself to the authorities. There the blessed one openly confessed Christ, for which he was handed over to be tortured. The soldiers Dionysius and Callimachus, who were torturing the saint, saw how the power of God protected him and believed in Christ the Savior. By order of the governor, they were immediately put to death.

After the torments, Paphnutius was thrown into prison, where he converted forty prisoners to the faith of Christ. The godless burned them all. Some time later the blessed hermit was released. A Christian named Nestor received him hospitably, after which the host’s entire household was strengthened still further in the faith of Christ and met a martyr’s end. Paphnutius encouraged many more of the faithful and kindled in them the desire for martyrdom. Through the preaching of Saint Paphnutius, five hundred and eighty-six people turned to Christianity, and all of them died as martyrs. Saint Paphnutius himself was thrown into a river with a stone tied around his neck, but by the will of God he was miraculously cast up on the shore. Finally he was sent to the emperor Diocletian, by whose order he was nailed to a date palm and so gave up his spirit.