Holy Nine Martyrs of Cyzicus

Life

These nine courageous martyrs, warmed by the love of Christ, refused to offer sacrifice to idols or to renounce Christ the Lord, for which they were bitterly tortured and finally beheaded by the sword. In the time of Emperor Constantine a church was built in Cyzicus in honor of these martyrs, where their incorrupt relics were placed. Countless healings occurred over their relics. Their names are Theognius, Rufus, Antipater, Theostichus, Artemas, Magnus, Theodotus, Thaumasius, and Philemon. They all despised everything temporal for the sake of the eternal, and the corruptible for the sake of the incorruptible. Therefore the Lord led them into His eternal habitations and crowned them with crowns of unfading glory. They suffered and were glorified honorably in the third century.