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St. torment. Trophimus and Theophilus, and the other thirteen with them These holy martyrs and true servants of Christ suffered in Lycia in 305, during the Diocletian persecution. When they refused to sacrifice to idols, they were hanged and shaved with iron, beaten with a stone, and then their legs were broken with it. Finally they were beheaded. Holy Martyr Apollinaria, bishop Ravenskiy Apollinaris was one of the disciples of St. Apostle Peter, who followed him to Rome and whom Apostle Peter sent to the city of Ravenna, so that he would preach the faith of Christ there, and ordain him as a bishop of the future Christian Church. God blessed the very beginning of the activity of the new preacher of the Gospel with success. Arriving in Ravenna, Apollinaris stayed in the house of a warrior named Irenaeus. In a conversation with him, he told him about the purpose of his arrival in this city and told the warrior about Jesus Christ and about His Divine power that saves every person who believes in Him. “I have a son suffering from blindness,” said Irenaeus, “if God – Christ, about whom you tell me, can heal him, then I will believe in Him as the true God... With undoubted faith in the help of the merciful and almighty God, Apollinaris called the blind young man and in the name of Jesus Christ healed him, praying to God that the spiritual vision of the people of that city would be enlightened and that they would know the true God. Amazed by the miraculous healing of the blind man, Irenaeus and all his household believed in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and accepted St. baptism in a river near Ravenna. Apollinaris, staying in the house of Irenaeus, continued to enlighten those who turned to Christ with the Gospel teaching. Following this, Apollinaris healed the sick wife of one tribune, who also believed in Christ with his entire family, and Apollinaris, settling in his house, taught them about Christ, by whose power incomprehensible miracles are available to believers. He also taught other residents of Ravenna, who gathered in the house of the tribune to hear the preacher of the new teaching, marked by such wonderful evidence of its truth, and thus a church was established in this house, in which Bishop Apollinaris celebrated the liturgy, communing the believers with the Divine Mysteries. From among those who believed, he appointed elders and deacons, and the number of followers of Christ spread in the city. This could not be kept secret from the pagan authorities for long. The city commander was informed about the preacher of a new and already persecuted teaching, and when Apollinaris, called by the commander, refused, at his request, to worship idols and boldly objected to the pagan that “it would be better to distribute to the poor all the silver and gold that served as decoration for the idol temple,” he was given over to torture, after which he, who seemed already dead, was pulled out outside the city and thrown on the seashore. Christians hid him in the house of a pious woman, where, with the help of God and through their efforts, the confessor, tortured by the pagans, recovered and continued his hierarchical activities. After some time, God glorified her with a new miracle: the return of the gift of speech to the dumb, which again attracted many people to the true God. The news of this infuriated the pagans, who thought that Apollinaris was no longer alive, and the city authorities, having found him, subjected him to new tortures: they beat the saint, put him on hot coals, but, without defeating his firmness, they dragged him with his legs bound outside the city, threatening to kill him if he returned to the city to confuse the people with his teaching and miracles... But is any kind of fear able to curb lips dedicated to proclaiming the truth? – Lying down, covered with wounds, Apollinaris continued to teach the believers who came to him and served him. A small church was created on the seashore, in which the saint served as soon as he recovered from suffering, and baptized those whom he again converted to Christ in the sea, and taught them, and healed their mental and physical illnesses in the name of that God, for whose confession he had already accepted so much sorrow and torment. The patience of the active preacher did not tire, nor did the malice of those persecuting him, and finally new persecutions forced him to retire to neighboring regions, where he also led the people to the knowledge of the true God. Meanwhile, a new ruler was appointed to Ravenna, and after some time the saint returned there to his spiritual children and continued his holy work among them all the more safely and successfully because God helped him - by resurrecting the daughter of the new ruler of the city, convert his entire house to Christianity and attract many new followers to Christ. When, however, rumors about the successes of Christianity in Ravenna reached Rome, then from here a new commander was sent to replace the one who had converted to Christianity, who, after vainly forcing the bishop to renounce the faith of Christ, put him to torture. Again Apollinaris suffered seriously; all wounded, they poured boiling water over him, beat him with stones on his lips, who did not cease to confess the truth, and finally they imprisoned him, where they tortured him with hunger. Fearing, however, popular indignation, the saint was not put to death, but was secretly exiled on a ship to a distant confinement. After several days of sailing, the ship on which Apollinaris was was broken by a storm; but he was miraculously saved with a few others whom he converted to Christ. Having reached the shore, Apollinaris wandered to different places, everywhere preaching the crucified Savior and bringing him to Him with a wonderful word and many miracles; Thus, he walked, enlightening the people, through Mysia, Thrace and the banks of the Danube, and after a three-year wandering returned to Ravenna, where Christians joyfully welcomed him, but where he was subjected to new persecution by the pagans. However, Apollinaris still managed to continue his preaching and Christian activities here for several years. Finally, the pagans, having attacked him one day on the road, beat him, inflicted severe wounds on him and left him dead on the road at night. When dawn broke, the saint, barely alive, was raised by Christians and carefully transferred to the house, where he lived for several more days. Anticipating his imminent death, Apollinaris used the last part of his life and his last strength to convince the Christians who gathered daily around their dying shepherd not to deviate from the faith; predicted many persecutions of the Church and, finally, its future triumph throughout the world... He died peacefully and quietly around the year 75 AD. His death according to acts (very ancient) was July 23rd. His body rests in Ravenna in the church named after him, and his honest hand is in Rome in the church named after him. The time of his episcopate is believed by some to be about 20 years, by others - about 28. St. Herman, archbishop. Kazansky. See about him on November 6th.