Hierarchs celebrate patronal feast at Halmyris Monastery, site of Saints Epictetus and Astion’s martyrdom

Archbishop Casian of the Lower Danube and Bishop Visarion of Tulcea celebrated the Divine Liturgy on Wednesday at Halmyris Monastery in Tulcea County on the patronal feast of Saints Epictetus and Astion.

Archbishop Casian highlighted the decisive role the witness of the two holy martyrs played in the spread of Christianity, noting that “through their testimony, as many as 1,000 people from this city were converted to the Christian faith.”

“The places sanctified by the blood of the martyrs—especially here, where Saints Epictetus and Astion suffered in the third century in the prosperous city of Halmyris—teach us many lessons, including the healing of numerous sick people,” His Eminence told Trinitas TV .

The Archbishop of the Lower Danube also recalled the conversion of Saint Astion’s parents:

“This is the earliest recorded account of a family—a father and a mother—who, before the holy relics of their son, received catechetical instruction from a priest, were baptised, and thus a new Christian family was born at the very place of martyrdom.”

He added:

“We have preserved this understanding in the Holy Mystery of Marriage, where the martyrs’ faithfulness to Christ is…