Страдание святого мученика Сильвана, епископа Кесийского 2965 и с ним сорока мучеников

The holy martyr Silvanus came from the outskirts of the city of Gaza 2966 and was at first a warrior. Subsequently, he left the army of the earthly king for the Christian faith and became a warrior of the heavenly king - Christ, which is why he was awarded the grace of the priesthood: he was first a presbyter, and then a bishop. Standing at the head of the Church of Christ, he turned many non-believers to the true God with his teaching words. For this, zealous worshipers of idols seized him and brought him to the city of Caesarea for trial in 2967. Here he was first severely beaten, then hanged and his body was planed, and finally he was sentenced to work in the copper mines 2968. While performing these works, the holy martyr reached the point of complete exhaustion, but he incessantly confessed Christ as God, for which the pagans cut off his head with a sword, as well as forty other martyrs who were instructed by him in the faith of Christ 2969. The holy hieromartyr Silvanus is called Bishop of Kesia, i.e. Caesarea, at the place where he was sentenced to hard labor, and at the place of service he was Gaza (or near Gaza), as indicated in the Chetya-Minea. The ancient Philistine city of Gaza was located in Palestine and was located near the southern border of Judea, near the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. From the 4th century Gaza was already a Christian city; in the 7th century it was conquered by the Mohammedans. The city of Caesarea, once the seat of the Roman procurators of Palestine, was located within ancient Samaria on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Eusebius, a contemporary of the holy martyrs, says that Silvanus was condemned to work in the mines of the city of Fen, which, according to some, was located in the deserts of Arabia, and according to Eusebius - in Palestine. The holy martyrs died in 311. You might be interested in: