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Hieromartyr Athenogenes and his Ten Disciples; Virginmartyr Julia

July 15, 2026 · 1 min read

Orthodox Calendar, July 16 Hieromartyr Athenogenes and his Ten Disciples Hieromartyr Athenogenes and his Ten Disciples suffered for Christ during the persecution of Christians in the city of Sebastea in Cappadocia. The governor Philomachos arranged a large festival in honor of the pagan gods and called upon the citizens of Sebastea to offer sacrifice to the idols.

Most of the inhabitants of Sebastea were Christians, and refused to participate in the impious celebration. Soldiers were ordered to kill those who resisted, and so many Christians received a martyr’s crown.

It came to the governor’s attention that Christianity was spreading because of the grace-filled preaching of Bishop Athenogenes. Soldiers were ordered to find the Elder and arrest him. Bishop Athenogenes and ten of his disciples lived in a small monastery not far from the city.

The soldiers did not find the bishop there, so they arrested his disciples. The governor ordered that they be bound with chains and thrown into prison.

Saint Athenogenes was arrested when he came to Sebastea to inform the judge that those who had been jailed were innocent. While in prison, Saint Athenogenes encouraged his spiritual…

Source: Basilica News Agency (English) · Read the full story →

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Paul Smith

The part that stuck with me is how Athenogenes walked straight into the city to tell the governor his disciples were innocent even though he knew what would happen. That’s real fatherly courage. I wonder what the monastery looked like — probably nothing fancy, just a few cells and a chapel out in the hills.

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ლელა ნოზაძე

Well described by Paul, that Athenagenes came to the city to save his disciples. I also liked that as a real fatherly responsibility. And the monastery would be really simple, like a side house of our village church.

Вера Новикова

Yes, Pavel, this passage about how he himself came to the judge for his disciples also caught my attention. I wasn’t afraid, although I understood how it would end. And the monastery, probably, really was simple, like those wooden houses at our Yaroslavl churches, where the priests and mothers live.