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| Sts. Melasippos, Karina and Anthony (Feast Day - November 7) |
Verses
To Melasippos and Karina
They were not of the flesh, but fleshless by nature,
For Melesippos and Karina went to be scraped.
To Anthony
Rejoice place where Anthony was beheaded,
And receive this joy at this divine place.
These Saints were martyred during the reign of Emperor Julian the Apostate in the year 361, in the city of Ancyra. They came from ancestors who were Christians. Anthony was the son of Melasippos and his wife Karina, and they were all arrested for being Christians. Melasippos and Karina at first had their flesh torn apart by being scraped then their wounds were burned with lit torches. After this they cut off the legs of Saint Melesippos at the knee, and cut off the breasts of Saint Karina. In this manner, while hung upon the tortuous wood, they delivered their souls into the hands of God.
Seeing his parents endure these torments for their faith in Christ, Anthony blessed them and spit in the face of Julian the Apostate. He was therefore also hung up and scraped. They then pierced through his ankles and hung heavy stones from them. After this they had him sit on a throne of heated iron. Enduring all these things bravely and with steadfastness of faith, the torturers then shaved the head of Saint Anthony and tied a rock to his neck, and paraded him around the city to face the rebukes of the people and be shamed.
Once again they hung him up and scraped at the flesh of the Saint, then sent him to Duke Agrippinos, who had him thrown into a lit furnace then cast before wild beasts to be devoured. Since the Saint was preserved unharmed after these things by divine grace, forty children who were witnesses came to believe in Christ through him, and they were immediately beheaded by servants of the emperor. The Saint was then laid out on a fiery bed and beaten with rods. After cutting off his hands they cast him into a furnace once again, but again was preserved unharmed, causing many to believe in Christ. Lastly he was beheaded, and together with his parents he received from the Lord the crown of martyrdom.