On the thirteenth of this month [September], we commemorate the Holy Martyrs Chronides, Leontius and Serapion of Alexandria, Seleucus of Galatia, Straton of Bithynia, Elias, Zoticus, Lucian, Valerian, Macrobius, and Gordian.*
Verses
To Chronides, Leontius and Serapion
The sea and grave were a contest,
For Serapion, Chronides and Leontius.
To Gordian and Seleucus
The enraged beasts gave,
Gordian and Seleucus to the beasts.
To Macrobius
What Macrobius long desired in his life,
Shortened his life by the teeth of beasts.
To Valerian
Out of longing for the Martyrs Valerian died,
On behalf of the Martyrs at their grave.
To Straton
The Martyr Straton is bound to two cedars,
His body being displayed in two parts.
To Lucian and Zoticus
Lucian and Zoticus were crowned for their eros,
The sword making and crowning their eros.
To Elias
Before Elias passed through this sad life,
Now Elias the Martyr dies with joy by the sword.
Of these Saints, Leontius and Serapion became disciples of Chronides, who greatly shined in the office of Deacon in the city of Alexandria. Because they learned piety from him, they were seized by the unbelievers together with their teacher Chronides. After being much examined and going through various tortures, lastly they were bound by their hands and feet and cast into the sea, and so completed their martyrdom. Their honorable relics were brought back to shore by Angels, and through visions to Christians they ordered them to have them buried.
Seleucus, Gordian the Cappadocian and Macrobius the Paphlagonian, after suffering various tortures in the region of Galatia, which included fire and the joints of their bodies being twisted out of place, they were finally thrown as food to the wild beasts. In this way they delivered their souls into the hands of Christ. Their friend Valerian, who was as one soul with them, mourned and wept over the graves of his beloved Martyrs, and out of his longing for them he departed to the Lord.
The wondrous Straton from Bithynia was seized by the governor there, and after being tormented with various tortures, they tied his hands to the branches of two cedars, which were forcibly bent towards each other. On letting the trees return to their natural position, the Saint was divided in two, and so he delivered his soul into the hands of God.
Zoticus, Elias and Lucian, in the city of Tomi** by order of the governor Maximus, first suffered various tortures, and then were beheaded.
All of the above Martyrs received a martyric end during the reign of the tyrant Licinius, in the year 315.
Notes:
* The sources for these Saints are very confused as to when they suffered martyrdom and how they related to each other. The account here is from the Synaxarion of Constantinople, which puts them all during the reign of Licinius.
* Today's Constanta in Romania.
