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| Sts. Mark, Soterichos and Valentina (Feast Day - October 24) |
Verses
The three contestants have the earth as a memorial,
Crying aloud their renowned pains.
These holy martyrs, having first lived in piety, and proclaimed Christ to all, converting many unbelievers to the Lord, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, were held by the impious Greeks, and suffered many tortures. Their bodies were pierced with nails. Then they were dragged along the ground and mercilessly kicked by men, women and children. Thus they delivered their holy and blessed souls to God.
A pious Christian man, who feared God, and encouraged these martyrs towards martyrdom, out of love and honor took up the sacred relics of the martyrs from Asia Minor, and moved them to the island of Thasos, where he laid them with honors. And until today they gush forth miracles for the faithful. The faithful man who moved them was named Terentianos.*
Notes:
* The iambic verses come from the Synaxarion of Constantinople and written by St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite, where these Saints are commemorated on October 24th, while their brief life comes from the Menologion of Basil II, where they are commemorated on October 26th. Also, in the Menologion of Basil II, Valentina is given a female name, while in the Synaxarion of Constantinople it is the male name Valentino.
