12 May 2026 (MIA)

Macedonian Orthodox Church Calendar

The Nine Holy Martyrs of Cyzicus

These nine courageous martyrs, burning with love for Christ, refused to offer sacrifice to idols or to deny Christ the Lord, for which they were harshly tortured and finally beheaded. In the time of the Emperor Constantine, a church was built in Cyzicus in honour of these martyrs, and their uncorrupted relics were laid there. Their names were Theognis, Rufus, Antipater, Theostoichus, Artemas, Magnus, Theodotus, Thaumasilas and Philemon. They all scorned the temporal for the sake of the eternal, and the corruptible for the incorruptible. Therefore the Lord brought them into His eternal family and crowned them with wreaths of unfading glory. They suffered with honor and were glorified in the 3rd century.

Catholic Calendar

St. Nereus and Achilleus

Martyrs of the Roman military. Members of the elite Praetorian Guard, they were reputedly baptised by St. Peter, exiled from Rome with St. Flavia Domitilla, and eventually beheaded.