Two Men Who Refused to Sell Their Faith

On November 7 (Oct. 25 o.s.), the Orthodox Church honors the Holy Martyrs Marcian and Martyrius, who suffered for the Christian Faith in about the year 335 A.D. They both came from a noble background and were clerics of the cathedral in Constantinople, Martyrius being a subdeacon and Marcian a reader. Well liked and respected, they served as secretaries (“notaries”) to the Archbishop of Constantinople, St. Paul I the Confessor.

Contrary to popular belief, the First Ecumenical Council did not put an end to the Arian heresy. For decades afterward, Arian bishops continued to plague the Church, often assisted by the Roman emperors themselves. This was the case with one of the sons of St. Constantine the Great – the Emperor Constantius II, under whose reign (337-361) Arianism flourished. St. Paul began his episcopacy in the eastern capital the same year as Constantius came to the throne. He was subjected to constant harassment for upholding Orthodox doctrine, and was thrice deposed and exiled. It was during this third exile that he was martyred, being killed by strangulation.