Martyr
Four Hundred and Forty Martyrs
March 2 Old CalendarMarch 15 New Calendar
Life
These four hundred and forty martyrs were slain by the Lombards in Italy around the year 579. Saint Gregory the Dialogist writes of them. In one place forty of them were beheaded, and in another place the remaining four hundred — all because they refused to eat of the idol-sacrifices, and moreover these four hundred also because they refused, according to the custom of the pagan Lombards, to dance around a goat's head that had been offered as a sacrifice to the demons by the pagans.
From the Prologue from Ochrid by St. Nikolai Velimirovich, March 2. Translated by Marcian Sakarya, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Also commemorated on March 2
The full reading for March 2 includes the hymn of praise, a reflection, a contemplation and a homily.
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