♱Daily Synaxarium ♱Friday, July 17, 2026translated

On this day, the Holy Church commemorates:

*The glorious martyr Marina. *Our venerable father in Saints Euphrasius, Bishop of Eunopolis (Paphlagonia). *Saint Lazarus of Mount Gelasius. *The righteous Saint Leonid of Novgorod. *The righteous Saint Irenerchus of Russia. *Martyrs of Celi, Speratus and his company.

✤ Saints Speratus and his companions, martyrs of Scilly (180 AD) ✤

These saints died during the time of Commodus Caesar, the insane son of Marcus Aurelius, around the year 180 AD. Their acts of martyrdom are among the oldest and authentic that have come down to us. Seli, he thinks, is a small town in North Africa. Their works have reached us in Latin. Below is the full text:

“When Prescenes, for the second time, and Claudianus were consuls, on the seventeenth day of July, in Carthage, Speratus, Nartzalus, Citinus, Donata, Sconda, and Vestia were arrested in the courtroom.

Saturninus (acting consul): You can be pardoned by our Emperor, if you come to your senses. Spiratus: We never did anything bad, nor did we commit ourselves to error, nor did we speak ill, but when we were treated badly, we gave thanks, because we owed our Caesar. Saturninus: We are also religious, and our religion is simple. We swear by the genius of our Lord the Emperor, and we pray for his good, as you, too, should do. Spiratus: If you would pay me your attention, in peace, I would explain to you the secret of simplicity. Saturninus: I will not...