Feb. 1/14. Martyr Tryphon

The Martyr Tryphon, a native of Phrygia, at first herded geese. Even in his boyhood, for his piety he was granted the gift of healings and used this gift to spread the Christian faith among the pagans. Many pagans, seeing the power of God in the deeds of St. Tryphon, accepted baptism. Upon learning of this, the governor, a pagan and persecutor of Christians named Aquilinus, ordered Tryphon to be brought before him and at first tried with flattery to make him renounce Christ, then commanded that he be tortured: he was hung on a tree and cruelly beaten with sticks; finally, the tormentor said: “Drive sharp nails into his feet and lead him around the city in that state.” Strengthened by the power of God, the holy saint felt as though the nails were driven not into his feet but into his boots. After that, he was beheaded with a sword. This took place in the year 250.

The Martyr Perpetua and with her the martyrs Satyrus (Saturus), Revocatus, Saturninus, Secundulus, and the Martyr Felicitas suffered in Carthage in the year 203. Perpetua, a 23-year-old woman, belonged to a noble and wealthy family, while the others came from the class of slaves. Perpetua was secretly baptized in the absence of her pagan father and, despite his tearful pleas to renounce Christ, remained firm and unshakable in the faith. “Spare your aged father, do not make me a subject of reproach among my fellow-believers, have pity also on your little son—he will not live without you,” said Perpetua’s father, urging her to renounce Christ. “I am a Christian!” she answered her father. Felicitas had to give birth in prison, and during her torments she groaned. “Behold, you could not endure even light sufferings. What will happen then when you are thrown to the beasts to be devoured?” the prison guard said to her. “Now I suffered alone, but then Christ will suffer for me, for Whom I will suffer,” the martyr replied. All the holy confessors, except Secundulus who died in prison, were given over to be torn apart by wild beasts, and when the beasts did not touch them, they were beheaded with a sword.

The Venerable Peter was born in Galatia. As an eight-year-old boy, he left his parental home for Jerusalem, then moved to Antioch, where he shut himself in a burial cave and spent his life in strict fasting and unceasing prayer; he possessed the gift of working miracles and reposed around the year 492, at the age of 99.

The Venerable Vendimianus was a disciple of St. Auxentius (commemorated February 11) and lived for 42 years in a cleft of a rock in the Bithynian desert. Through fasting, vigil, and prayer he acquired the gift of working miracles and reposed at the age of 99. He lived in the early 5th century.