Martyr
Martyr Crescens of Myra
III–IV век
Martyr Crescens of Myra — a noble youth from Myra in Lycia who openly urged townspeople to abandon idolatry, refused to sacrifice even for appearances, and was burned alive in a furnace.
The martyr Crescens came from a noble family and lived in Myra of Lycia. When he saw a crowd of townspeople heading to a pagan temple, he began urging them to abandon idolatry and turn to Christ.
On learning of this, the local ruler — who knew Crescens's noble parents and wished to spare them — had him brought in for questioning, but Crescens refused to give his family's name, saying only that he was a Christian. When offered the chance to sacrifice to idols merely for appearances while remaining a Christian in his heart, he refused, declaring that the body cannot act contrary to what the soul believes.
He was subjected to severe torture (beating and scraping of the flesh) and finally burned alive in a furnace.
His feast is kept on April 13/26.
NOTE: explicitly distinguished from the separate, independent St. Crescens of Galatia (Apostle of the Seventy, disciple of Paul, 2 Timothy 4:10) — different saints, different categories. The entry's former sole image turned out to depict entirely unrelated Western saints ("...LIRA OF BYBLOS" and "SAINT VERONICA") — removed.