Holy Martyr Callinicus

Life

By origin from Cilicia. Raised from childhood in Christian piety. Having left all things, he went forth to preach the Gospel. In Ancyra he was seized by a certain pagan prince, Sacerdon. When the prince terribly threatened him with torments if he would not bow down to the idols, St. Callinicus replied: "Every torment for my God is as welcome to me as bread is to a hungry man." After terrible tortures and beatings, the prince shod him in iron sandals with nails inside and ordered that he be driven to the city of Gangra, for he dared neither to torment him further nor to put him to death in Ancyra, since many, beholding the heroic endurance of the man of God, converted to the faith of Christ. Along the way the soldiers grew thirsty, and there was no water. St. Callinicus prayed to God and drew water from a rock. When they arrived at the city of Gangra, the tormentors cast St. Callinicus into a blazing furnace. The saint prayed to God, saying: "I thank Thee, O Heavenly Father, that Thou hast made me worthy of this hour, in which I die for Thy holy name." Then he entered the fire. When the fire was extinguished, they found his body dead but whole and unharmed by the flames. He suffered honorably and was crowned with the wreath of eternal glory around the year 250.

From the Hymn of Praise

Seraphima, beloved of the angels,All innocent in both soul and body,Guileless in all her thoughts,Many days was she torturedFor the Lord Christ the Immortal.