Память святого священномученика Картерия

Saint Carterius lived during the reign of Emperor Diocletian 335 and was a priest and teacher of the Christian faith in Caesarea Cappadocia, under the procurator 336 Urvan. He built a church of God, gathered around him a large flock, which he taught to honor Christ with the Father and the Holy Spirit as the One true God. The zealous servant of Christ was slandered by the procurator; then the blessed priest fled from persecution. But the Lord appeared to him and said: - Go, Carterius, and appear before the procurator. I will be with you; You must suffer much for My name’s sake, and through you many will believe and be saved. The saint, filled with great joy, thanked the Lord and informed the procurator of his whereabouts, after which he was imprisoned. When Saint Carterius was brought to the procurator, he ordered him to make a sacrifice to Serapis 337. Through the prayer of the saint, the idol of this false god was thrown to the ground; then, by order of the procurator, sixteen soldiers began to beat with sticks the confessor of Christ, whom four servants had stretched out on the ground. Then the torturers hung Saint Carterius from a tree, cut off his fingernails and toenails with a razor, and tormented his body with iron hooks. Then the Angel of the Lord appeared to the holy passion-bearer and eased his suffering, and the warrior of Christ remained unharmed during such severe torture. At the order of the tormentor, they removed him from the tree, pierced his feet with iron rods, placed a red-hot opener on his chest, sat him on a red-hot iron chair, and pulled his legs with red-hot iron rods. After this, the blessed sufferer was again thrown into prison. In the evening, our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to His valiant passion-bearer, freed him from his shackles and brought him out of prison. Then many, seeing the holy martyr healed from the wounds inflicted by the persecutors, began to accept holy baptism, receiving at the same time healing from the diseases from which they suffered. Once again captured by his tormentors, Saint Carterius was subjected to new tortures: heavy stones were hung from his hands and feet, and the executioners beat him on the stomach with sticks, burned him with fire, poured sulfur and resin on his gaping wounds, poured molten tin into his mouth, put a white-hot helmet on his head, and finally threw the holy passion-bearer into the fire. Singing songs of thanksgiving to the Lord, Saint Carterius emerged from the flames unharmed. Then one Jew, who was present at the torture, flew into a rage, grabbed a spear and dealt a mortal blow to the ribs of the holy martyr; such a quantity of water flowed from the wound that it flooded the fire; then blood flowed, and the passion-bearer of Christ betrayed his holy soul to God 338. Diocletian reigned from 284 to 305. The procurator himself was in charge of trials in the provinces of the Roman Empire. Subsequently, procurators were sent to the imperial provinces to collect revenues for the emperor's treasury. Minor provinces were governed by procurators. Serapis is an Egyptian deity who was also revered in the Roman Empire in the last years of paganism. He was revered as the god of dead souls and was called upon as a savior from illness and death. You might be interested in: