The Forty Holy Martyrs who froze in the lake of Sebaste.
The Forty Holy Martyrs of Sebaste were Roman soldiers who confessed Christ in Armenia in the year 320, during the persecution of Licinius. Refusing to deny the Lord, they were condemned to stand through the night upon a frozen lake, with warm baths set on the shore to tempt them. One gave way, but a guard, beholding crowns descending upon the martyrs, confessed Christ and took his place, completing the forty.
Their memory on March 9 is kept with love in the midst of the Great Fast, honored as an image of endurance to the end. In Greek tradition the day is the name day of Sarantis.
Feast day
On the New Calendar, Forty Holy Martyrs of Sebaste is commemorated on March 9. Churches on the Old (Julian) Calendar keep the feast on March 22 of the civil calendar.
Who celebrates a name day
People with these names keep their name day on this feast:
Also commemorated on March 9
Ourpasianos
Martyr, Ουρπασιανός
Holy Martyr Ourpasianos of Nicomedia, burned in an iron cage.
Name days: Ourpasianos
Kaisarios the Physician
Saint, Καισάριος
Righteous Kaisarios, physician, brother of Saint Gregory the Theologian.
Six Martyrs of One Family
Saint, Μάρτυρες μιας οικογενείας
Holy Martyrs, a grandfather, grandmother, father, mother and their two children.
Icon: public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.
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