Martyr Zeno of Gaza

The Martyr Zeno of Gaza suffered for Christ around the year 362, during the reign of the Emperor Julian the Apostate, in a fierce pagan persecution of Christians. Together with his brothers Eusebius and Nestabus, he lived in the city of Gaza. When Julian permitted pagans to take revenge on Christians for the destruction of idol temples, an enraged mob seized the three brothers and subjected them to horrific torments in the city's theater: they were dragged along the ground, pierced with weaving implements, and scalded with boiling water. After their torture, the martyrs' bodies were burned and their bones mixed with those of animals so that Christians could not gather them for veneration. A young man named Nestor suffered alongside the brothers; beaten and imprisoned, he was released on account of his youth but died three days later of his wounds, as a confessor. A pious woman secretly collected the martyrs' remains and gave them to a kinsman of the brothers, also named Zeno, who later became Bishop of Anthedon and built a chapel to house their relics. The Church honors the memory of the Martyrs Eusebius, Nestabus, Zeno, and the Confessor Nestor of Gaza.