St. Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church
872 N. 29th St. Boise, ID
an American parish of the Russian Orthodox Church
Holy 40 Martyrs of Sevastia - March 9 (March 22 New Style)


High in the mountains of the country called Armenia is the town of Sevastia. Nearby is a large lake called Lake Sevastia. It was here that the holy forty martyrs witnessed for Christ. These forty holy men were soldiers in the army of the Roman emperor. They were all pious Christians and loved to read the Holy Bible and pray together. Three of them; Kyrion, Kandid and Domnos, knew the Bible best, and they were leaders of the group.

The evil Emperor Licinius, once decided to destroy all the Christians in the empire. He worshipped idols and hated our Lord Jesus Christ very much. He issued an order that all the soldiers in his army must offer sacrifices to the idols. When these forty soldiers refused to worship the idols, they were arrested and brought before the commander. The commander demanded of them: “The emperor has commanded that you offer sacrifices to the idols. You are soldiers and you must obey the emperor.”

The holy ones answered: “We have always served the emperor faithfully and bravely, and we will always do so. But we will not turn away from Jesus Christ and we will not offer worship to these idols, for they are demons and not gods.”

The commander did not want to kill these forty men, because they were good and brave soldiers, and they had always served with honor. He threatened them with all kinds of punishment, and then had them thrown into prison, hoping they would change their minds. That night the holy soldiers prayed to God to give them strength and courage to witness for Him. In the morning, the commander called for them and demanded: “Have you decided to obey the emperor and worship the idols instead of Christ? If you do not worship the idols, you will no longer be my friends. I will take away your military rank and make you suffer much.”

“We worship only Christ, the true God. We will not turn away from Him. If you wish to hate us for this, then take away not only our rank, but also our lives.”

At this the commander became very angry. “Throw these men into prison!” he screamed. “The prince is coming here soon. I will let him decide what to do with you.”

The forty saints were kept in prison for more than a week. Finally, the prince came. When he heard about the forty holy soldiers, he ordered that they be brought to him. When they came, he began to promise them all sorts of things if they would only worship the idols: “I will give you high honors and great wealth,” he said. “My father, the emperor, will give you a high rank and glory.”

“We do not want earthly honor or wealth,” they replied. “We only want to be servants of Christ.”

Hearing such a meek but unshakeable reply, the prince went into a terrible rage. “Stone these men to death!” he shouted. But when his servants began to cast stones at all the holy martyrs, the stones did not strike them at all. God caused the stones to fall aside. When the holy martyrs saw this they were strengthened, but the commander and the prince were made even more angry. They were too evil to accept God’s miracle and save their souls.

It was wintertime and the weather was very cold. The commander ordered that the martyrs be taken to Lake Sevastia and placed in the water with their hands tied behind their backs. Toward evening, the lake would begin to freeze over. The water was already icy cold and a sheet of ice had already formed on the shallow water along the shore. There were warm, steamy bathhouses on the shore of this lake; the commander ordered that the holy forty martyrs be put into the icy water in a place where they could see these warm baths. Then he shouted to the martyrs: “If any of you wishes to obey the emperor and renounce Christ, he can leave the cold freezing water and go into a warm cozy bathhouse. Afterward, he will be honored and given much money.”

Guards were posted to watch over the forty martyrs. As darkness approached and the cold grew worse, a sheet to ice began to form on the water’s surface. Then, one of the forty grew weak and dragged himself to the shore. The guards helped him to the bath, but as soon as the heat struck his frozen body, he died. He had lost his martyr’s crown and his life. Then one of the guards cried out. While looking into the air over the heads of the martyrs, he saw in a vision forty crowns descending over their heads. There were forty crowns, but only thirty-nine martyrs to receive them. Suddenly, the guard understood everything. He saw the holy martyrs in the frozen lake rejoicing and glorifying God as if the water was warm and pleasant, and he beheld the forty crowns, one of which was over an empty place. He cried out with a loud voice, “Jesus Christ, the true God, make me worthy to receive this crown which your former servant gave up.” With that, he rushed into the freezing water and took his place with the other thirty-nine, so that there were once again forty holy martyrs.

All night long, the holy martyrs, warmed by the Holy Spirit, prayed and sang hymns and gave glory to God. In the morning the prince and the commander were told all that had happened. They trembled in fear, but they were too evil to accept even this great miracle of God. They ordered that the holy forty martyrs be killed at once and their sacred relics burned in a fire. Later, God revealed to the bishop where the bones of the holy martyrs were, and they were buried with great honor. All the Christians in the East rejoiced and were made stronger by the witness of these holy forty martyrs.

Through their holy prayers, may we find courage to reject the new idols of our world, confess Christ and bravely endure the cold hatred of this world, so that we too may receive the crowns from our dear Savior Jesus Christ.