Holy Martyrs Tigrius and Eutropius

Life

These two were from the clergy of Saint John Chrysostom. When malicious people drove Chrysostom out of Constantinople, the cathedral church caught fire, and the flame rose from it and fell upon the houses of the persecutors of this luminary of the Church. The people saw in this the finger of God, while the enemies of Chrysostom attributed the fire to his followers. Many of these people suffered because of this, among them the presbyter Tigrius and the reader Eutropius. The city prefect, a certain unbaptized Greek named Optatus, with particular malice organized a hunt for the followers of Chrysostom. Tigrius in his youth had been the slave of a certain rich man, who had made him a eunuch. Having gained his freedom from slavery, he gave himself wholly to the service of the Church, and in that service he shone as a bright torch. This "meek, humble, merciful, and hospitable" man Optatus subjected to great tortures and then sent into exile to Mesopotamia, where he ended his life in prison. Eutropius, a virgin from birth, pure, blameless, and guileless, was beaten with ox sinews and rods, and finally hanged. When Christians carried his body for burial, sweet angelic singing was heard in the air.