Hieromartyr Eleutherius

Life

From a good tree comes good fruit also. This wondrous saint had parents noble and renowned. Eleutherius was born in Rome, where his father was the imperial proconsul. His mother Anthia heard the Gospel from the great Apostle Paul himself, and by this apostle was baptized. Left a widow early, she gave her only son for instruction and service to Anicetus, Bishop of Rome. Seeing Eleutherius gifted by God and enlightened by God's grace, the bishop ordained him in his fifteenth year as deacon, in his eighteenth as presbyter, and in his twentieth as bishop. God-given wisdom compensated in Eleutherius for what he lacked in years. And this God-pleaser was appointed bishop of Illyria with his see in Valona (Avlona) in Albania. The good shepherd guarded his flock well and increased it from day to day. Adrian, the Christ-persecuting emperor, sent a certain General Felix with soldiers to capture and bring Eleutherius to Rome. When the furious Felix arrived in Valona and entered the church, seeing and hearing God's holy hierarch, suddenly his heart was changed and he became a Christian. Eleutherius baptized him and went with him to Rome, going joyfully as if going to a feast and not to trial and torments. The emperor imposed cruel tortures upon the noble Eleutherius: flogging, burning on an iron bed, boiling in pitch, burning in a fiery furnace. But by God's power Eleutherius was delivered from all these deadly tortures. Seeing all this, Corib, the Roman eparch, himself declared that he was a Christian. Corib was tortured and then beheaded. Likewise also blessed Felix. Finally the imperial executioners cut off the honorable head of Saint Eleutherius also. When his mother came to the dead body of her son, Saint Anthia too was beheaded. Their bodies were transferred to Valona, where Saint Eleutherius to this very day glorifies the name of Christ by many miracles. He suffered in the time of Hadrian, in the year 120.

From the Hymn of Praise

Eleutherius, God's saint,Did not hide God's truth from men,By God's truth he enlightened men,Salvation to each and all he offered.