- Martyrs Pamphilius and those with him, at Caesarea in Palestine (308)
- These twelve holy Martyrs suffered in the reign of Diocletian.
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"The first of these, Pamphilius, was priest in the church at Caesarea in
Palestine; a learned and devout man, he corrected the mistakes of
various copiers in the text of the New Testament. He himself copied
this saving Book and gave it to any who desired it. The second was a
deacon, Valentine, old in years and white with wisdom. He was a great
expert in the Holy Scriptures, knowing them by heart. The third was
Paul, a respected and eminent man, who had on a previous occasion been
cast into the fire for the sake of Christ. With them were five
Egyptians, brothers both in blood and soul, who were returning to their
native land from serving a sentence in the mines of Cilicia. As they
reached the gate of the town of Caesarea they sad that they were
Christians, and were therefore brought to trial. When asked their
names, they replied: 'We have cast away the pagan names given us by our
mother, and are called Elias, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Samuel and Daniel.'
when asked where they were from, they replied: 'From Jerusalem that is
above.' They were all beheaded, and a young man called Porphyrius, who
had searched for their bodies to give them burial, suffered soon
afterwards. Him they burned. An officer, seleucus, who had come up to
the martyrs and embraced them before the sword descended on their heads,
was also burned, and an old man, Theodulus, a servant of the Roman
judge, who had embraced one of the martyrs while they were under escort.
Lastly Julian, who had kissed the dead bodies of the martyrs and
honoured them, followed them in death. So they exchanged the small for
the greater, the tawdry for the precious and death for immortality, and
went to the Lord in 308." (Prologue)
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The Synaxarion concludes, "After the martyrdom
of Pamphilius, the leader of the glorious cohort, the impious governor
gave orders that his body and those of his companions should be left
where they lay as food for carnivorous animals. However by God's
Providence, no animal came near their holy relics, which the Christians
were able to lay to rest with due honour." The account of these Martyrs
was written by Eusebius of Caeserea, Pamphilius' disciple.
source: http://www.abbamoses.com
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