Martyr Julian of Tarsus (Cilicia)

Martyr Julian was born in the city of Anazarbus in Cilicia to a pagan senator and his Christian wife Asclepiodota. After his father's death, his mother moved with him to Tarsus, where she baptized and raised him in the Christian faith. At the age of 18, during the persecution of Emperor Diocletian, he was seized and for a whole year was led through the cities of Cilicia, subjected to torture and pressed to renounce Christ. In the city of Aegae he was forced to eat meat sacrificed to idols and drink the blood of the victims.

His mother Asclepiodota, who had accompanied him the whole time, was also brought before the governor Marcian, confessed Christ, and was martyred — her feet were cut off, from which she died. Julian was then sewn into a sack with sand and venomous creatures (scorpions and snakes) and thrown into the sea (c. 305). His body was washed ashore near Alexandria; a devout Christian widow buried him with honor. His relics were later translated to Antioch, where St. John Chrysostom delivered a homily in his honor (mentioned in his 47th homily).

His feast is kept on June 21/July 4.

IMPORTANT CORRECTION: the original stub contained a gross internal error — under the male name "Julian" and slug "julian_of_cilicia" it listed the female name "Juliana of Cilicia" with feminine-gendered category fields; no separate saint "Juliana of Cilicia" was found in any source. The genuine identity has been established — Martyr Julian of Tarsus (Anazarbus), who suffered c. 305. Category righteous→martyr, category_gender f→m.