Martyr
Martyrs Gurias, Samonas and Habib
III — нач. IV в.
Also known as: Мученики и исповедники Гурий, Самон и Авив Едесские, Гурий, Самона и Авив, Мчч. Гурий, Самон и Авив, Едесские мученики и исповедники
Martyrs and confessors of Edessa: Gurias and Samonas were beheaded under Diocletian, and the deacon Habib was burned under Licinius and buried in the same tomb. They are venerated as protectors of marriage and family; the Nativity Fast begins on their feast day.
Gurias, Samonas and Habib are martyrs and confessors of Edessa in Mesopotamia (modern Şanlıurfa, Turkey), among the best-known Syrian saints. They suffered at different times, but Church tradition has long joined them in a single commemoration; sources date their deaths between 293 and 322.
Gurias and Samonas, friends and preachers of the Gospel, were arrested during the persecution of Diocletian. Refusing to sacrifice to idols, they were hung by their hands with a heavy stone tied to their feet, kept for months in a cramped prison, and finally beheaded outside the city at night.
Years later, under Licinius, Habib, a deacon of the Edessan Church, gave himself up so that others would not suffer on his account. He confessed Christ and was burned alive; his body was found unharmed and buried in the same tomb as Gurias and Samonas.
A church was built over their relics in Edessa. The story of the miracle worked for Euphemia, a girl deceived by a Gothic soldier who had sworn an oath at the martyrs' tomb, made them protectors of marriage and family. Their feast is 15 (28) November, the first day of the Nativity Fast.