Martyr Eugenius of Sebaste

Martyr Eugenius was a soldier and one of the Five Martyrs of Sebaste who suffered under Emperor Diocletian. When the imprisoned presbyter Auxentius inspired the military commander Eustratius to openly confess Christ before Agricolaus, governor of Sebaste, Eugenius joined the confession alongside the soldier Mardarius, crying out that he too was a Christian.

For this, Eugenius was subjected to brutal torture along with his companions: his tongue was torn out, his arms and legs were cut off, and he was finally beheaded with the sword.

The bodies of all five martyrs — Eustratius, Auxentius, Eugenius, Mardarius, and Orestes — were cast into the sea but later miraculously recovered and honorably buried; a church was later built in their memory near Constantinople, within the grounds of the Olympus monastery.

His feast is kept on December 13/26 — see also the separate database entry for Martyr Auxentius of Sebaste (martyr_auxentius) from the same group.