Synaxarion of the Holy Martyr Aphrodisios of Cilicia

St. Aphrodisios of Cilicia (Feast Day - June 21);
fresco depicts the Prophet Daniel in the lion's den

Verses

Not sacrificing to the image of Aphrodite,
Aphrodisios was put to death with the sword.

Saint Aphrodisios was from the land of Cilicia, who was taught to revere Christ from his ancestors. Arrested as a Christian, he was brought before the governor Dionysios, and confessed Christ as the true God. 

For this he was burned with heated iron on his back, then put in a cauldron full of boiling lead. Afterward he was suspended upside down. Because he was kept unharmed by divine grace, a lion appeared in the theater which was set loose upon the Saint, that harmed him in no way, but instead spoke with him in a human voice, rebuking the harshness of the Greeks. Because of this miracle, many came to believe in Christ, whom they boldly confessed, for which reason they were beheaded, and thus ascended victoriously into the heavens.

When the tyrant saw this, he ordered for a rock to be split, for the Saint to be placed in the middle, and for the other half of the rock to be put on top of him. It took fifty-five soldiers to carry this out. Thus the Saint immediately delivered his soul into the hands of God, and received from Him the crown of martyrdom.