Tuesday, 13 October 2026

Martyr Carpus and Companions at Pergamus

Tuesday of the 20th week after Pentecost

184 days after Pascha · Tone 2 · Liturgy · No Fast

Saints commemorated

Holy Martyr Florentius of Thessalonica

Saint Florentius was a native of Thessalonica in the second century, born of pious parents and raised from his youth in the love of Christ. As he grew, he became known throughout his city for his fervent zeal for the gospel, his readiness to confess Christ before pagan neighbours, and the uprightness of his manner of life. He could not bear to see those about him bowing down to wood and stone, and never let pass an opportunity to expose the futility of the gods of the heathen. Word of his preaching came to the governor of the city, who summoned him and demanded that he honour the gods of the empire. Florentius answered with great freedom that the gods were lifeless idols, fashioned by the hands of men out of wood and stone, gold and silver, while the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Maker of all things, alone is to be worshipped. He blessed the name of Christ before the tribunal and openly mocked the false gods. Provoked beyond patience, the governor commanded that Florentius be tied to a wooden frame and beaten without mercy, that his flesh be torn from his body, and that he be then cast into a great furnace which had been heated to a fierce flame. Throughout these torments the saint rejoiced and gave thanks to God, praying for those who tormented him and finishing his course in the fire. Christians later gathered his remains and gave them honourable burial. His memory was kept with veneration in his native city, and prayers and hymns were composed to him as a citizen of heaven and a glory of Thessalonica. He stands as one of the holy throng of Thessalonian martyrs whom that city offered to Christ in the early centuries of the Church.

Holy Martyrs Carpus, Papylus, Agathodorus, and Agathonike

The holy martyrs Carpus, bishop of Thyatira, Papylus the deacon, with Agathodorus and Agathonike, suffered for Christ at Pergamum about the middle of the third century, in the persecution of the emperor Decius. Carpus was the venerable bishop of his city, Papylus a learned deacon famed for his gift of healing the sick, Agathodorus a faithful servant of the bishop's house, and Agathonike a virtuous woman, the sister of Papylus.

The proconsul of the region, hearing that the bishop and his deacon refused to take part in the festivals of the gods, had them arrested and brought before his tribunal. Setting before them the choice between sacrifice and torment, he received from the holy bishop the firm answer that the gods of the heathen are demons, and from the deacon that he had no other Lord but Jesus Christ. The proconsul commanded that they be bound in iron chains and led on foot through the city, and then tied to horses and dragged the long road to Sardis.

Agathodorus, faithful to his master, was beaten to death with rods upon the road. Agathonike, hearing of her brother's confession, came of her own accord to the place of judgement and openly confessed Christ, even though her young son was still at the breast. She was condemned with the rest, and at the place of execution, lifting her eyes to heaven and entrusting her child to the care of God, she gave herself joyfully to be strangled with the sinews of an ox. Carpus and Papylus were beheaded at Sardis.

Their acts are among the earliest records of the Church, and Eusebius mentions them with honour. Their relics were gathered by the faithful and laid to rest with reverence, and the Church keeps their memory together as four witnesses adorned with one crown.

Venerable Benjamin of the Kiev Caves

Saint Benjamin of the Kiev Caves lived in the fourteenth century in the lands of Kievan Rus, where he was known as a successful and prominent merchant. The Lord blessed his enterprises, and he became a man of great wealth, honoured among the citizens of his city for his honest dealings and for his generosity to the poor. One day, while standing at the divine services in church, the words of the Saviour fell upon his heart with new force, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of God, and that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for him who trusts in his riches to be saved. Pierced by the sense of his own peril, he resolved at once to lay aside the world that he had served and to seek God alone. He distributed all his goods to the poor, set free his servants, and made his way to the great Lavra of the Caves at Kiev, founded by Saints Anthony and Theodosius, where he received the angelic schema and a new name. Within the underground cells he embraced a life of strict fasting, ceaseless prayer, and obedience to his elders, gathering in himself the riches of the Spirit which neither moth nor rust corrupts. Saint Benjamin reposed in peace, having pleased God by fasting and prayer even unto death. He was buried in the Far Caves of Saint Theodosius, where his relics repose to this day, and is honoured among the holy fathers of the Kiev Caves whose memory is kept on 28 August and the second Sunday of the Great Fast, with his own commemoration on 13 October.

Holy Martyr Zlata

1796

“Born in the village of Slatina in the Meglin region [of Bulgaria], of poor peasants who had three other daughters, St Zlata was a meek and devout girl, wise with Christ’s wisdom and golden (‘zlata’ means ‘gold’) not only in name but also in her God-fearing heart. When Zlata went out one day to get water, some shameless Turks seized her and carried her off to their house. When one of them urged her to embrace Islam and become his wife, Zlata answered fearlessly: ‘I believe in Christ, and know Him alone as my bridegroom; I shall never deny Him even if you put me to a thousand tortures and cut me into pieces.’ Her parents and sisters then arrived, and said to her: ‘O our daughter, have mercy on yourself and us. Deny Christ publicly, that we can all be happy. Christ is merciful; He will forgive your sin, committed under the pressure of life.’ Her poor parents and kinsfolk wept bitterly. But Zlata’s heroic soul would not be overcome by devilish seduction. She replied to her parents: ‘When you urge me to deny Christ, the true God, you are no longer parents or sisters to me; I have the Lord Jesus Christ as father, the Mother of God as mother and, for brothers and sisters, the saints.’ Then the Turks threw her into prison, where she lay for three months, and they took her out every day and flogged her until her blood flowed onto the ground. Finally, they hanged her upside-down and made a fire to choke her to death with the smoke. But God was with Zlata, and gave her strength in her suffering. At the very end, they hanged her from a tree and cut her into small pieces. Thus this martyr-maiden gave her soul into God’s hands, and entered into the realm of Paradise, in 1796. Pieces of her relics were taken by Christians to their homes, that they might bring a blessing to them.” (Prologue)

Also commemorated: Martyr Carpus and Companions at Pergamus

Daily readings

Epistle

weekly cycle

Philippians — Philippians 2.16-23

¹⁶Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain. ¹⁷Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all. ¹⁸For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me.

¹⁹But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state. ²⁰For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state. ²¹For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s. ²²But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel. ²³Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me.

Gospel

weekly cycle

Luke — Luke 8.1-3

¹And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him, ²And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, ³And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.