August 8, 2019

Holy Martyrs Eleutherios, Leonidos and the Holy Infants


Verses

Both athletes did not sacrifice to error,
Those in error condemned them to be punished in flames.

The Holy Martyrs Eleutherios, Leonidos and the Holy Infants* met their end by fire. Their Synaxis was celebrated in the Church of Saint Irene far off by Justinian.

Notes:

* The Holy Infants could refer to the Holy Innocents massacred in Bethlehem after Christ was born. In 1404 the Castilian ambassador Gonzalez de Clavijo claimed to have seen relics of the Holy Innocents in Galata, and perhaps was referring to these Holy Infants, whose memory was celebrated with the Holy Martyrs Eleutherios and Leonidos in the same church because portions of their relics were all there.

** This probably refers to the sixth century Church of Saint Irene in Galata built by Emperor Justinian, on the site of present-day Arap Camii.