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| Holy Martyr Adrian of Rome (Feast Day - August 26) |
Verses
Adrian was decapitated and adorned with a crown,
On the great day of crowning.
On the great day of crowning.
Adrian contested during the reign of Emperor Licinius in 313 while in Byzantium with his brother Dometios, who became the Bishop of Byzantium after Bishop Titus of Byzantium. He was from Rome, the son of Emperor Probus of Rome, who ruled in the year 276. This blessed man longed to be martyred for Christ, so he went to Nicomedia, and rebuked Licinius, because he vainly hindered the Roman armies, with the excuse that he was persecuting Christians. Having been punished by Licinius with various tortures, he was finally beheaded, and in this way the renowned one received the crown of martyrdom. His brother Dometios, the Bishop of Byzantium, took his holy relic and buried it in Argyropolis which was next to Byzantium, where the holy relics of the martyrs Adrian and Natalia can be found, together with the relic of Stachys the Apostle, who was anointed first Bishop of Byzantium by Andrew the First-Called.
