Martyr
Martyr Julitta of Tarsus
† ок. 304–305
Martyr Julitta of Tarsus — mother of the 3-year-old Martyr Cyricus (see the separate entry martyr_cyricus), who fled with her son from Diocletian's persecution, was seized at Tarsus, and beheaded after her son's death.
St. Julitta was a Christian noblewoman of Iconium in Lycaonia who, left an early widow, was raising her three-year-old son Cyricus. During Diocletian's persecution she fled her home city with her son and two trusted servants, concealing her rank while hiding first in Seleucia and then in Tarsus of Cilicia.
Around 305 she was recognized, arrested, and brought before the governor Alexander; throughout her interrogation and torture she repeated, "I am a Christian and will not sacrifice to demons." As she watched, the governor hurled her struggling son down stone steps to his death.
Julitta gave thanks that her child had been crowned with martyrdom before her, and was then herself tortured at length and beheaded with a sword. The relics of mother and son were uncovered under St. Constantine the Great and later translated to Auxerre in Gaul, where their cult spread widely.
Her feast is kept on July 15/28 — the same date as her son, already covered in this database (martyr_cyricus).