Daily saints, december 22
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Saint Chrysogonus was the teacher of the Great Martyr St Anastasia. When
Diocletian learned that the prisons of Rome were overcrowed with
Christians who resisted torture, he ordered them all to be killed in a
single night, and for Chrysogonus to be sent to him at Aquileia.
St Anastasia followed her teacher at a distance. The emperor
interrogated Chrysogonus personally, but could not make him renounce his
faith. Therefore, he had him beheaded and thrown into the sea.
St Chrysogonus foretold that Zoilus would also die on the same day. Nine
days later, the words of St Chrysogonus were fulfilled. Zoilus fell
asleep in the Lord, and St Anastasia visited the three maidens before
their torture. When these three martyrs gave up their souls to the Lord,
she buried their bodies.
Martyr Theodota who suffered under Diocletian
Saint Theodota was a young widow with three children, whom she raised in
piety. The Great Martyr St Anastasia lived with her in Macedonia, and
the two women visited Christians in prison and took care of them.
Arrested as a Christian, Theodota was sent to Nicetas, the governor of
Bithynia, for interrogation. Since she refused to deny Christ, she and
her three children were sentenced to death, beaten, and thrown into a
fiery furnace.
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Martyr Evodus who suffered under Diocletian
Saint Evodus was the eldest son of St Theodota. He, his mother, and his
two brothers stood bravely before the judge and endured beatings without
protest. After lengthy torture, they were all thrown into a fiery
furnace and so received the crown of martyrdom.