SAINTS EPICTETUS AND ASTION, MARTYRS - 8 JULY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JULY

Saints celebrated on the 8th of July

SAINTS EPICTETUS AND ASTION, MARTYRS

This Saint Epictetus was a priest in the Orient; he flourished at the time of Diocletian. Among the many whom he converted in his apostolic zeal was a youth named Astion, who, for fear of his father, withdrew with his teacher and spiritual father, fleeing to the land of the Scythians, where both settled in the city of Almiride. 

Here Epictetus healed a deaf mute and, by this miracle, won 1000 inhabitants to Christianity. Astion freed a possessed person from the evil spirit with the Sign of the Cross. Both the cured man and his parents thereupon became Christians. 

Epictetus was about 60 and Astion about 35 years old when they were summoned to court and, after a steadfast profession of their faith, were beheaded - their martyrdom took place about the year 290. (II. 538)

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 2, Augsburg, 1861, p. 72)

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saints Epictetus and Astion may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org