Martyr
Martyrs Martyrs of Asia Minor (Mark of Claudiopolis and companions)
† ок. 284-305 (гонение Диоклитиана)
Martyrs of Asia Minor — the shepherd Mark, beheaded at Claudiopolis for confessing Christ; three blacksmith brothers from the village of Katalita — Alexander, Alpheus, and Zosimas — converted by a miracle while forging instruments for his torture; and the youths and maidens Nikon, Neon, and Heliodorus, converted by the miraculous shattering of idols in the temple of Artemis where Mark's head was brought — all of whom suffered under the persecution of Emperor Diocletian in Pisidia (Asia Minor), depicted in the famous Menologion of Basil II (985, Vatican Library).
During the reign of Emperor Diocletian (284-305), in Pisidia, in the region of Antioch, a simple shepherd named Mark tended his flock. Having openly confessed Christ, he was seized. Thirty soldiers sent to arrest him were themselves converted to Christ, moved by his faith, and were beheaded at Nicaea; Mark himself, after torture, was beheaded at Claudiopolis.
Three blacksmith brothers from the village of Katalita — Alexander, Alpheus, and Zosimas — were ordered to forge instruments for Mark's execution; but their tools suddenly melted, and their hands seemed to go numb — at that moment a voice called them to share in the martyr's suffering. They believed and, after torment, were killed by having molten tin poured down their throats.
When Mark's severed head was brought into a pagan temple of Artemis, the idols within crumbled to dust — a miracle witnessed by the youths and maidens Nikon, Neon, and Heliodorus, along with others; believing, they too suffered martyrdom in the district of Maromylia.
The Church later preserved a single narrative of the three sequential episodes of one shared feat, but divided the commemoration in the Slavic menologion into three separate days: September 21/October 4 (Mark of Claudiopolis), September 28/October 11 (Alexander, Alpheus, Zosimas), and July 13/26 (Nikon, Neon, Heliodorus, and others).
The event is depicted in the famous Menologion of Basil II — a Constantinopolitan illuminated manuscript created in 985 for Emperor Basil II Bulgaroktonos (now in the Vatican Library, Vat. gr. 1613), where all seven names appear under a single miniature, reflecting the unity of the original narrative.
IMPORTANT CORRECTION: a previous note erroneously identified these martyrs with the "Nine Martyrs of Cyzicus" — a separate, independent group of Asia Minor martyrs with a different roster of names and a feast day of April 29; these are distinct, non-overlapping groups.