St. Holy Martyrs Achepsima, Joseph and Aitala; Placement of the relics of St. Great Mc. George in Lidatranslated

Orthodox calendar, November 3 St. Holy Martyrs Achepsima, Joseph and Aitala The Holy Martyrs Achepsima the Bishop, Joseph the Priest and Aitala the Deacon were servants of the Orthodox Church in Persia and they suffered for our Lord Jesus Christ in the year 380, the 70th year of the reign of King Sapor II (310-381).

The persecution started 40 years earlier continued with the same ferocity. In 347, King Sapor II issued a new decree by which he intensified the persecution against Christians. Achepsimas, Bishop of Honitea (Assyria), although he was more than 80 years old, was bound in chains and sent to the governor of Arbeles.

Priest Joseph from Bet-Catuba and deacon Aitala from Bet-Nuhadra were arrested with him. Urged to sacrifice to the sun, they refused, being subjected to torture for three years. In the end they suffered martyrdom, testifying to the last moment their faith in our Savior Jesus Christ.

Tropar Voice 4

Your martyrs, Lord, in their sufferings, obtained the crowns of incorruptibility from You, our God. Because having Your strength, they defeated the tormentors; they also crushed the helpless demons...