Holy Martyr Epimachus

Life

A native of Egypt, he practiced asceticism in Egypt, and in Egypt he also ended his earthly life as a martyr. Imitating Saint John the Baptist, he withdrew as a young man into the desert. Because of his great love for God, the Spirit of God guided him into all truth, and without any other teacher taught him how to practice asceticism. But Epimachus learned that unbelievers were tormenting and killing Christians in Alexandria for Christ's sake. Inflamed with zeal for the faith, he went to the city and smashed the idols. When the pagans began to torture him for this, he cried out: "Strike me, spit on me, place a crown of thorns upon my head, put a reed in my hands, give me gall to drink, crucify me and pierce me with a spear — this my Lord endured, and this I too wish to endure." In the crowd of people who watched the torment of holy Epimachus there was a certain woman who was blind in one eye. She wept bitterly from grief, watching the heartless torture of God's servant. And when the torturers scraped the body of the holy martyr of Christ, blood splattered from him, and one drop of blood fell upon the blind eye of that woman. Immediately the woman regained her sight, and her blind eye became as sound as the other. Then the woman cried out: "Great is the God in whom this sufferer believes!" After this they cut off the head of Saint Epimachus, and his soul passed into eternal joy, around the year 250.