Martyr Serapion of Alexandria

IMPORTANT NOTE: several saints of the Orthodox Church bear the name Serapion (martyrs, hierarchs, ascetics); this stub contained no date or other clue allowing certain identification. The image — a young man in a cloak holding only a cross, with no episcopal or monastic markers — points specifically to a lay martyr rather than a bishop or monk, ruling out candidates such as St. Serapion of Thmuis or Venerable Serapion the Sindonite (the latter died peacefully, not as a martyr).

Saint Martyr Serapion suffered in Alexandria, Egypt, together with Kronides and Leontius around 237 under Emperor Maximinus Thrax. After prolonged torture, the martyrs' hands and feet were bound and they were thrown into the sea; their bodies were miraculously washed ashore by the waves, where Christians buried them.

IMPORTANT NOTE: another candidate with similar but not identical iconography exists — "Serapion the New," burned alive under Emperor Severus after confessing his faith before the magistrate Aquila (feast July 12/25, together with Sts. Proclus and Hilarius); in the absence of further identifying details in the image, the Alexandrian group was chosen as the more widely attested option in Russian tradition.

His feast is kept on September 13/26.