Martyr Papa (Papius) of Laranda and Seleucia

IMPORTANT CORRECTION: the "date" field had remained empty even though the verification_note already stated the correct date (March 16/29) — this discrepancy has been fixed, and the date entered into the structured feast_days field. The previous biography text was merely a fragment of a catalog caption for a miniature in the Menologion of Basil II (Constantinople, 985) — replaced with a full biography.

Martyr Papa (Papius) was an active preacher of Christianity from the city of Laranda (modern Karaman) in Lycaonia (Asia Minor), who converted many pagans to Christ. He was arrested under Emperor Maximian (r. 286–305) by the governor Magnus. He was subjected to cruel torture — beaten, his facial bones broken, his body scraped with iron instruments — then forced to wear nailed footwear and run behind mounted riders for a retrial from Lycaonia through Isauria/Diocaesarea to Seleucia in Isauria.

He died, bound to a barren fig tree and beaten to death; tradition holds the tree later bore fruit. His relics were later translated back to Lycaonia. He is venerated in both Greek and Slavic tradition; included by Cardinal Baronius in the Roman Martyrology. A well-known miniature depicting him survives in the Menologion of Emperor Basil II (985, Vatican Library) — it was precisely this miniature's caption that originally, mistakenly, stood in place of a full biography on this card.

His feast is kept on March 16/29; some sources also note a secondary commemoration on September 14.