Memory of Martyr Thalelaeus

The Church celebrates the memory of Martyr Thalelaeus and the Translation of the holy relics of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, who took part in the First Council of Nicaea, is also commemorated.

Saint Thalelaeus lived during the reign of Emperor Numerian and came from Lebanon (Phoenicia). He studied medicine and served his suffering fellow human being with love, patience and charity. They denounced Saint Thalelaeus for being Christian, and the ruler Theodoros asked him to sacrifice to idols. The saint resisted with unparalleled steadfast faith in the Risen Lord. As a result, he was brutally tortured. Finally, after they hanged him, they believed he died, but the saint was still alive glorifying God.

Bearing witness to the miracle, his executioners Alexandros and Asterios publicly confessed their faith in the Lord. The ruler tortured them to death for their conversion to Christianity.

Then the pagan ruler decided to torture St. Thalelaeus himself, but he was stuck on the throne and could not get up. Then the saint felt sorry for him and prayed for him.

Seeing this miracle, many pagans believed in God and rejected the idols. However, being arrogant and jealous, the ruler insisted in his disbelief. He then ordered that the saint be thrown into the sea, but he was saved, and then he was thrown into the wild beasts, but he was once again saved.

Eventually, he was beheaded and thus received the crown of martyrdom

Source: Church of Cyprus