Martyr Сакердон Севастийский

Martyr Sacerdos (Sakerdon) of Sebaste was one of the Forty Soldier-Martyrs who suffered for Christ around the year 320 in the city of Sebaste in Lesser Armenia, under the emperor Licinius. All forty were soldiers of the Twelfth "Thundering" Legion who refused to offer pagan sacrifice at the order of the commander Agricolaus. For confessing their faith, they were stripped and made to stand overnight on the ice of a lake near the city, while a warm bathhouse was kept ready on the shore for any who might recant — yet only one soldier weakened, dying the instant he entered the bath. A guard named Aglaius, witnessing a miraculous light and crowns descending upon the martyrs, believed in Christ, undressed, and joined them in the lake, restoring their number to forty. At dawn the survivors were killed and their bodies burned; their bones were thrown into a river but later gathered by the faithful and honorably buried. Sacerdos is venerated by the Church among the martyrs, as one of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste. Their feast is celebrated on March 9/22.