ST ACEPSIMAS AND COMPANIONS, MARTYRS OF PERSIA - 22 MARCH

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN APRIL

Saints celebrated on the 22nd of April

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SAINT ACEPSIMAS AND COMPANIONS, MARTYRS OF PERSIA

The memorial of Saint Acepsimas and Companions is variously celebrated on April 22, March 14, or October 10. Saint Acepsimas, bishop of Honit in Persia (Assyria), a venerable old man of more than eighty years, received the prophecy that he would one day be martyred for his faith already as a boy, which duly came to pass.

A terrible persecution against Christians broke out under the Persian King Sapor II and lasted with equal intensity for more than half a century. Saint Acepsimas was taken prisoner in 347 and tortured in the most cruel way. After his first steadfast confession of the Christian faith, his feet were bound with heavy chains by order of the governor, and Acepsimas was stretched out on the ground and scourged so cruelly that his body, covered in blood, seemed to be just an enormous single wound. Finally, after this terrible mistreatment he was thrown into prison, where he languished in this condition for three years while enduring the most excruciating suffering. After the three years had elapsed, he was once more brought before the judge and after his repeated steadfast confession of the Christian faith he was stretched out on the ground and divided into quarters by thirty men, fifteen on each side pulling apart the ropes attached to the various members of his body, while two henchmen hit him with leather straps at the same time. During this terrible ordeal, which took place in A.D. 350, Saint Acepsimas gave up the ghost.

The Christians secretly took his body away, while the daughter of the king of Armenia, who was held hostage among the Persians at the time, took care of his burial. Apart from that of Saint Acepsimas, the memory of other martyrs in Persia is commemorated; some of these holy men and women suffered death along with him, and others suffered martyrdom at the same time but in other places. Among these Martyrs are 23 bishops: Barbasyme, Paulus, Gaddiabbes, Sabinus, Marnas, Mocius, Joannes, Hormisdas, Papas, Jacobus, Romas, Maares, Agas, Bochres, Abdas, Abdiesus, Joannes, Abramius, Agdela, Sabor, Isaaces, Dausa and Milles; then Manreandes, an auxiliary bishop, and three priests: Josephus, Jacobus, Aithalas; two deacons: Azes or Azadanes and Abdiesus; and 251 other clergy. Besides these, the following heroes of the faith are remembered with him: Azades, a eunuch, Tarbula or Pherbutes, a virgin, with her sister, who was a widow, then her maidservant, and 16,000 other Christians, whose names are listed in the acts, and innumerable others, are not mentioned individually by name. Acts of Saint Acepsimas exist, and we also have acts of Saint Josephus, Priest, and Saint Aithales (Aithalahas), Deacon, who were buried in the ground following their martyrdom. The tyrant is said to have felt so much remorse and sadness over the death of the eunuch Azades that he subsequently abandoned the general persecution of the Christians and only targeted the priests and teachers.

Saint Tarbula, about whose heroic death there are separate acts, was charged with her sister and her maid. They were accused of administering poison to the queen, who had unexpectedly become ill. Although their innocence was subsequently proven, they were kept in prison because, as Christians, they steadfastly kept refusing to worship the sun. Eventually they were fetched and sawn into pieces along with the eunuch. Butler lists the feast of this saint on March 14, probably because the Orientals celebrate it on that day; in the Roman Martyrology* their names occur on April 22. According to the Menology of Emperor Basil, the feast of Saint Acepsimas was celebrated on October 10 because on that day he passed to his eternal reward. Butler* reckons that these saints suffered in the year 380, the 70th of Sapor's reign and the 40th of the persecution, but it seems more likely that they died in A.D. 350.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 1, Augsburg, 1858, pp. 15-16)

*A hagiography source used by the authors 

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of the holy Martyrs of Persia 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

➡️ More information about these holy Martyrs

⬅️ Martyrs of Persia under Sapor II