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<\/a><\/p>\nOne month after the feast of the Holy Martyrs of Niculi\u0163el\u2014Zotic, Atal, Camasie, and Filip\u2014a feast that brought holy joy to the hearts of the faithful in Dobruja and beyond, the Diocese of Tulcea is once again celebrating. This celebration honors the oldest saints known as martyrs in Dobruja, the Holy Martyrs Epictetus and Astion\u2014whom the Orthodox Church commemorates every year on July 8\u2014and whose martyrdom is documented in the Acts of the Martyrs with the most detailed account of their lives and sufferings, the local bishop himself, His Grace Visarion, spoke to us.<\/p>\n
Your Grace, within the Diocese of Tulcea are found the relics of the oldest known saints in our country, Sts. Epictetus and Astion, from the Halmyris Monastery. Please tell us about the historical sources that mention them.<\/p>\n
They are known as the saints of Halmyris, the ancient Christian city situated on the banks of the Danube, which in antiquity was called \u201cAlmyra,\u201d and who suffered a martyr\u2019s death during the brutal persecution unleashed against the Christian Church by Emperor Diocletian (244\u2013311) on July 8, 290. They are certainly the oldest martyrs from Dobruja reliably attested by hagiographic sources. We have information about their lives and sufferings in the Acts of the Martyrs, but, unfortunately, the martyrdom account dedicated to them has been preserved only in a late 15th-century copy, located in the Church of the Savior in Utrecht, which was published in 1615 by the Jesuit scholar Herbert Rosweyde (\u20201629).<\/p>\n
In 1921, the Benedictine Dom Germain Morin discovered in the Hieronymian Martyrology the commemoration of Sts. Epictetus and Astion on May 23, \u201cDe S.S. Epictetus, presbyter, and Astion, monk, martyrs of Almirida in Scythia,\u201d thereby confirming the veracity of the statements in the *Acta Sanctorum*, edited by N. Rosweyde, mentioned above. The renowned researcher and historian Raymund Netzhammer (1862\u20131945)\u2014who later became the Catholic archbishop of Bucharest and left behind the work *Epiktet und Astion, diokletianische Martyrer am Danaudelta* (Zug, 1937)\u2014also drew upon passages from the *Acta Sanctorum* in his study on the two holy martyrs. Similarly, the Byzantinologist Prof. Dr. Emilian Popescu produced a scholarly study on their lives and activities in the work *Romanian Saints and Defenders of the Ancestral Law* (Bucharest, 1987).<\/p>\n
The Miracles on the Banks of the Danube<\/strong><\/p>\n Your Grace, what can you tell us about the lives and miracles performed by Saints Epictetus and Astion?<\/p>\n From the aforementioned documents, we know that during the reign of Emperor Diocletian, there lived in the East\u2014probably in Phrygia (Asia Minor)\u2014a priest named Epictetus, who led a pure and devout life. For this reason, God honored him with the gift of performing miracles, healing many sick people\u2014a young woman who was completely paralyzed was healed, a young man possessed by an evil spirit was delivered through the power of prayer, and a blind woman who regained her sight through the prayers of Priest Epictetus. One day, Epictetus met Astion\u2014a handsome young man of pure character, from a distinguished and wealthy family. Through their conversations, Astion learns about the teachings of the Gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ and about eternal bliss, which leaves a profound impression on him and prompts him to ask Priest Epictetus to take him as a disciple and enlighten his soul through the sacrament of Holy Baptism.<\/p>\n After receiving Holy Baptism, they both decided to leave those lands and retreat to a suitable place where they could live in holiness and preach the Christian faith to others. They boarded a ship and arrived at the city of Halmyris (today\u2019s Dun\u0103v\u0103\u021b), on the banks of the Danube, where they continued to live in purity and piety, performing many miracles there as well.<\/p>\n