Martyr
Martyr Claudius of Cilicia
† ок. 285 (при Диоклетиане)
Martyr Claudius of Cilicia — together with his brothers Asterius and Neon and his sister Theonilla, of Isaurian origin from Laranda, betrayed to torture by their own stepmother, who refused to share the inheritance with them; the brothers were crucified on stakes outside the city, and Theonilla was tortured to death and thrown into the sea, during the persecution of Emperor Diocletian.
Martyrs Claudius, Asterius, and Neon were blood brothers of Isaurian origin, natives of the city of Laranda (a region on the border of Isauria and Cilicia, Asia Minor), and their sister Theonilla. After their father's death, their stepmother, unwilling to share the inheritance with the children of the first marriage, denounced them to the governor of Cilicia, Lysias, as Christians.
During the persecution of Emperor Diocletian (284-305), the brothers were seized and, for refusing to renounce Christ, crucified on stakes outside the city walls. Theonilla was subjected to no less cruel torture and was drowned in the sea.
Their feast is kept on October 29/November 11.
NOTE: the original stub was an unprocessed image caption from pravicon.com for a miniature from the Menologion of Basil II (Constantinople, 985, Vatican Library), where the sister's name was given in the corrupted form "Fonilla" — corrected to "Theonilla" per the established spelling.