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270:
and immediately died. One of the guards, Aglaius, was set to keep watch over the martyrs and beheld at this moment a supernatural brilliancy overshadowing them. He at once proclaimed himself a
Christian, threw off his garments, and joined the remaining thirty-nine. Thus the number of forty remained complete. At daybreak, the stiffened bodies of the confessors, which still showed signs of life, were burned and the ashes cast into a river. Christians, however, collected the precious remains, and the
326:
29:
514:. There is an intentional play on the number forty being both the number of martyrs and the days in the fast. Their feast also falls during Great Lent so that the endurance of the martyrs will serve as an example to the faithful to persevere to the end (i.e., throughout the forty days of the fast) in order to attain heavenly reward (participation in
269:
near
Sebaste on a bitterly cold night, that they might freeze to death. Among the confessors, one yielded and, leaving his companions, sought the warm baths near the lake which had been prepared for any who might prove inconstant. Upon immersion into the cauldron, the one who yielded went into shock
607:, built in the fifth century, contains a chapel, built like the church itself on an ancient site, and consecrated to the Forty Martyrs. A sixth or seventh-century mural there depicts their martyrdom. The names of the confessors, as we find them also in later sources, were formerly inscribed on this
564:
Byzantine artists were fascinated with the subject that allowed them to graphically show human despair. The
Martyrs were typically represented at the point when they were about to freeze to death, "shivering from the cold, hugging themselves for warmth, or clasping hands to their faces or wrists in
306:
Hesychius, Meliton, Heraclius, Smaragdus, Domnus, Eunoicus, Valens, Vivianus, Claudius, Priscus, Theodulus, Euthychius, John, Xanthias, Helianus, Sisinius, Cyrion, Angius, Aetius, Flavius, Acacius, Ecditius, Lysimachus, Alexander, Elias, Candidus, Theophilus, Dometian, Gaius, Gorgonius, Eutyches,
315:
Aetius, Eutychius, Cyrius, Theophilus, Sisinnius, Smaragdus, Candidus, Aggia, Gaius, Cudio, Heraclius, John, Philotemon, Gorgonius, Cirillus, Severianus, Theodulus, Nicallus, Flavius, Xantius, Valerius, Aesychius, Eunoicus, Domitian, Domninus, Helianus, Leontius (Theoctistus), Valens, Acacius,
247:
353:
was especially devoted to the Forty
Martyrs; two discourses in praise of them, preached by him in the church dedicated to them, are still preserved and upon the death of his parents, he laid them to rest beside the relics of the confessors.
438:) contain their depictions, datable to the 11th and 12th centuries, respectively. A number of auxiliary chapels were dedicated to the Forty, and there are several instances when an entire
592:(d. about 410 or 427) received particles of the ashes of martyrs during a voyage in the East, and placed them with other relics in the altar of the basilica which he had erected, at the
238:(370–379) in a homily he delivered on their feast day. The Feast of the Forty Martyrs is thus older than Basil himself, who eulogised them only fifty or sixty years after their deaths.
532:
Service (referred to as a "crowning") to remind the bride and groom that spiritual crowns await them in Heaven also if they remain as faithful to Christ as these saints of long ago.
525:
There is a pious custom of baking “skylarks” (pastries shaped like skylarks) on this day, because people believed that birds sing at this time to announce the arrival of spring.
629:
In the West, the feast of the Forty
Martyrs of Sebaste was celebrated on 10 March and suppressed in 1969. In some countries, for example Poland and Slovenia, 10 March is named
959:
974:
911:
265:
According to Basil, forty soldiers who had openly confessed themselves
Christians were condemned by the prefect to be exposed naked upon a frozen
282:
839:
669:
477:
451:
329:
316:
Alexander, Vicratius (Vibianus), Priscus, Sacerdos, Ecdicius, Athanasius, Lisimachus, Claudius, Ile, Melito and
Eutychus (Aglaius).
760:
234:
who, after 316, persecuted the
Christians of the East. The earliest account of their existence and martyrdom is given by Bishop
964:
855:
778:
656:
403:
720:
418:), was built in the 6th century AD, and is thought to have been an important pilgrimage site. The Churches of
496:
932:
391:
969:
646:
419:
634:
588:
Special devotion to the Forty
Martyrs of Sebaste was introduced at an early date into the West. Bishop
540:
836:
492:
565:
pain and despair". This is particularly evident in the large 10th-century ivory plaque from the
371:
139:
692:
651:
589:
519:
443:
307:
Athanasius, Cyril, Sacerdon, Nicholas, Valerius, Philoctimon, Severian, Chudion, and
Aglaius.
875:
274:
were distributed throughout many cities. Veneration of the Forty Martyrs became widespread.
674:
362:, who was an eye-witness, has left an interesting account of the finding of the relics in
8:
954:
600:
205:
686:
888:
386:
152:
131:
99:
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in the year 320 AD for the Christian faith is recounted in traditional martyrologies.
528:
A prayer mentioning the Forty Holy Martyrs of Sebaste is also placed in the Orthodox
355:
235:
94:
779:
http://puhtitsa.ee/library/liturgical_texts/menaion/Daily_Menaion/07_March/mar09.pdf
350:
156:
124:
843:
619:
507:
481:
427:
291:
251:
147:
109:
104:
89:
302:
of the Eastern Orthodox Church lists the names of the Forty Martyrs as follows:
837:
40 shenjtoret, zbulohen 6 vaska pagëzimi, befasohen arkeologët, Fatmira Nikolli
615:
570:
549:
455:
363:
219:
190:
948:
367:
197:
183:
792:
506:
of the Forty Martyrs falls on March 9. In Orthodox Churches that follow the
325:
593:
577:
463:
187:
163:
119:
889:"Mednarodni dan žena, mednarodni dan moških / Materinski dan, dan očetov"
633:
as a relict of the feast and celebrated as Men's Day by some people. The
604:
566:
553:
447:
254:
43:
678:
London, Pub. for the Early English text society, by N. Trübner & co.
28:
939:
511:
346:
466:
speaks of a Church of the 40 saints located in Constantinople, in the
407:
349:, and it was in this church that Basil publicly delivered his homily.
503:
402:
The memory of the Forty Martyrs is widespread all over the East. The
395:
375:
685:
459:
231:
68:
414:, which gave its name in Greek to the city itself (Άγιοι Σαράντα,
529:
468:
435:
411:
359:
342:
299:
473:
608:
557:
515:
510:, this day is intentionally placed so that it will fall during
439:
287:
271:
246:
227:
212:
56:
623:
488:
423:
258:
223:
52:
47:
935:
626:, are yet extant, also a "Testament" of the Forty Martyrs.
545:
431:
266:
914:[Men's Day: A Celebration of All Men on Friday].
912:"Dzień Mężczyzn: Już w piątek święto wszystkich panów"
569:
and the Palaiologan portable mosaic set in wax, from
442:(church building) is dedicated to them: for example
761:"Martyr Acacius of the Holy 40 Martyrs of Sebaste"
596:of which he delivered a discourse, still extant.
696:. Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
472:. In 2013 the Feast of the Holy Forty Martyrs in
311:According to Antonio Borrelli, their names were:
946:
614:Acts of these martyrs, written subsequently, in
909:
286:Orthodox church of Forty martyrs of Sebaste in
934:40 Holy Martyrs of Sebaste - Eastern Orthodox
261:and exhibiting a strong Arab-Mongol influence.
218:They were killed near the city of Sebaste, in
960:Groups of Christian martyrs of the Roman era
576:The subject remains popular among Orthodox
27:
910:Lasota-Krawczyk, Justyna (6 March 2024).
886:
856:"Feast of the Holy Forty Martyrs in Štip"
478:UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists
374:, through the instrumentality of Empress
330:Holy Forty Martyrs Church, Veliko Tarnovo
975:Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
715:
713:
711:
539:
385:
324:
281:
245:
204:) were a group of Roman soldiers in the
947:
683:
358:has also eulogized the Forty Martyrs.
755:
753:
708:
499:are dedicated to the Forty Martyrs.
33:Icon of The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste
887:Slatinšek, Suzana (November 2011).
390:Chapel of the Forty Martyrs in the
13:
750:
673:in "Ælfric's Lives of Saints", by
662:
657:Forty Martyrs of England and Wales
535:
230:), victims of the persecutions of
14:
986:
926:
793:Santi Quaranta Martiri di Sebaste
690:. In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).
497:Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Homs
903:
880:
869:
848:
803:P. G., XLVI, 749 sqq., 773 sqq.
876:The Metropolitan Museum of Art
830:
818:
806:
797:
783:
771:
738:
670:Of the Forty Soldiers (Mar. 9)
583:
381:
1:
965:4th-century Christian martyrs
701:
684:Kirsch, Johann Peter (1909).
320:
211:(Armed with Lightning) whose
637:takes place on 19 November.
493:Armenian Cathedral of Aleppo
392:Church of the Holy Sepulchre
241:
7:
747:xix in P.G., XXXI, 507 sqq.
647:20,000 Martyrs of Nicomedia
640:
10:
991:
721:"Forty Martyrs of Sebaste"
16:Roman soldiers and martyrs
452:Holy Forty Martyrs Church
162:
146:
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118:
82:
74:
63:
38:
26:
21:
813:Hymni in SS. 40 martyres
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176:Forty Martyrs of Sebaste
22:Forty Martyrs of Sebaste
635:International Men's Day
257:, created c. 1220 near
825:Historia Ecclesiastica
561:
404:Forty Saints Monastery
399:
341:A church was built at
333:
295:
262:
140:General Roman Calendar
693:Catholic Encyclopedia
687:"Forty Martyrs"
652:42 Martyrs of Amorium
590:Gaudentius of Brescia
543:
520:Resurrection of Jesus
450:and the 13th-century
444:Xeropotamou Monastery
389:
328:
285:
250:A miniature from the
249:
168:Persecuted Christians
601:Santa Maria Antiqua
366:, in the shrine of
138:10 March (pre-1970
970:4th-century Romans
842:2014-04-17 at the
562:
400:
334:
296:
263:
194:Ἅγιοι Τεσσαράκοντα
153:Crown of martyrdom
100:Oriental Orthodoxy
75:Means of martyrdom
675:Ælfric of Eynsham
476:was inscribed in
356:Ephrem the Syrian
255:Gospel Lectionary
236:Basil of Caesarea
172:
171:
95:Eastern Orthodoxy
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725:Oxford Reference
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552:, 10th century (
351:Gregory of Nyssa
125:Pre-Congregation
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19:
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663:Further reading
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536:In Orthodox art
508:Julian calendar
482:North Macedonia
428:North Macedonia
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292:North Macedonia
280:
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110:Anglican Church
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90:Catholic Church
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927:External links
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599:The Church of
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571:Dumbarton Oaks
550:Constantinople
537:
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456:Veliko Tarnovo
416:Hagioi Saranda
383:
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364:Constantinople
338:
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332:, 13th century
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220:Lesser Armenia
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578:iconographers
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544:Ivory relief
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410:, modern day
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368:Saint Thyrsus
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222:(present-day
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202:Άγιοι Σαράντα
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157:Martyr's palm
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918:(in Polish).
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860:. Retrieved
858:. unesco.org
850:
832:
824:
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799:
790:(in Italian)
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764:
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728:. Retrieved
724:
691:
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631:Martyrs' Day
630:
628:
613:
598:
594:consecration
587:
575:
563:
527:
524:
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486:
467:
464:Anna Komnene
426:(modern-day
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401:
340:
310:
297:
264:
217:
207:
201:
193:
188:Katharevousa
179:
175:
173:
83:Venerated in
51:(modern-day
777:(Slavonic)
605:Roman Forum
584:In the West
567:Bode Museum
554:Bode Museum
448:Mount Athos
382:In the East
64:Martyred by
44:Anno Domini
955:320 deaths
949:Categories
940:synaxarion
862:2015-12-23
702:References
512:Great Lent
420:St. Sophia
347:Cappadocia
321:Veneration
206:Legio XII
180:Holy Forty
148:Attributes
893:Prometnik
504:feast day
396:Jerusalem
376:Pulcheria
372:Caesarius
370:built by
242:Martyrdom
213:martyrdom
208:Fulminata
164:Patronage
120:Canonized
840:Archived
745:Homilies
730:10 March
641:See also
495:and the
460:Bulgaria
343:Caesarea
232:Licinius
78:Exposure
69:Licinius
67:Emperor
827:, IX, 2
765:oca.org
680:(1881).
603:in the
530:Wedding
469:Alexiad
436:Ukraine
412:Albania
408:Sarandë
360:Sozomen
300:Menaion
198:Demotic
184:Ancient
178:or the
136:9 March
48:Sebaste
42:c. 320
620:Syriac
609:fresco
558:Berlin
518:, the
516:Pascha
491:, the
440:temple
430:) and
288:Bitola
272:relics
252:Syriac
228:Turkey
57:Turkey
916:RMF24
899:(93).
624:Latin
616:Greek
548:from
489:Syria
454:, in
424:Ohrid
345:, in
337:Early
278:Names
259:Mosul
224:Sivas
191:Greek
132:Feast
53:Sivas
938:and
936:icon
732:2024
622:and
546:icon
502:The
474:Štip
432:Kiev
298:The
267:pond
174:The
39:Died
522:).
487:In
480:of
446:on
422:in
406:in
226:in
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891:.
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767:.
734:.
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398:.
294:.
186:/
182:(
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59:)
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