Holy Martyr Mauricius and Seventy Soldiers

Life

In the time of Emperor Maximian there was a great persecution of Christians. In the Syrian city of Apamea, Mauricius was the commander of the local army. The pagans accused him to the emperor as a Christian and as a sower of the Christian faith among the soldiers. The emperor himself came and conducted an investigation. Together with Mauricius, seventy Christian soldiers were brought before the emperor, among them the son of Mauricius, Photinus. Neither the emperor's flattery nor his threats could shake these heroes. To the emperor's threats they replied: "O emperor, there is no fear in the right-minded and powerful soul of those who love the Lord!" When the emperor commanded that their military belts and garments be stripped from them, they said to him: "Our God will clothe us in garments and belts of incorruption, and in eternal glory!" When the emperor rebuked them for despising the military honor he had bestowed upon them, they answered: "Your honor is dishonor, for you have forgotten God who gave you imperial power!" Then the emperor commanded that before the eyes of Mauricius his son Photinus be beheaded, in order thereby to terrify the father and the rest. But Mauricius said: "You have fulfilled our desire, O tormentor, and have sent Photinus ahead of us — a soldier of Christ." Then the emperor condemned them to the most inhuman death: they were led to a swamp, stripped naked, bound to trees, and smeared with honey so that mosquitoes, wasps, and hornets would sting them. In terrible torments they surrendered their souls to God only on the tenth day, and departed to rejoice eternally with the holy angels in heaven. Christians secretly took their bodies and buried them honorably. These brave soldiers of Christ suffered around the year 305.

From the Hymn of Praise

### HOLY MARTYR MAURICIUS AND PHOTINUS