Martyr
Martyr Emilian of Dorostorum
† 362
Also known as: Емилиан Доростольский
Martyr Emilian of Dorostorum — a Slav, slave of the city prefect Sabbatius in Dorostorum (modern Silistra, Bulgaria); during the reign of Emperor Julian the Apostate he smashed the idols in a pagan temple with a hammer by night, for which he was savagely beaten and sentenced to burning, but the flames spared him — he died lying in prayer on the coals.
Martyr Emilian, a Slav, was a Christian held as a slave by Sabbatius, the city prefect (eparch) of Dorostorum. When Emperor Julian the Apostate's edict revived pagan persecution, Emilian secretly entered a pagan temple by night and smashed the idols with a hammer. When innocent townspeople began to be blamed for this, Emilian openly confessed what he had done.
The governor Capitolinus had him savagely beaten and sentenced him to burning; according to tradition, the flames did not touch him — he lay among the coals in prayer, scorching only the onlookers around him, and so he died.
His relics were later translated to Constantinople, where a church was built in his honor.
His feast is kept on July 18/31.
IMPORTANT DISTINCTION: not to be confused with two other saints named Emilian — St. Emilian the Confessor, Bishop of Cyzicus (8th-9th c., a confessor of the Iconoclast era who died in exile, feast August 8/21) and Hieromartyr Emilian of Trebia (Italy, c. 300, feast August 18/31).