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Irenaeus
Deacon and martyr, with the Roman matron Mustiola, killed at Clusium (Chiusi) in Tuscany, in the reign of the emperor Aurelian, in 273.
Irenaeus was arrested for burying the martyred Felix of Sutri and was slain in the presence of Mustiola. She was beaten to death with a club after spurning the advances of a local magistrate.
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Athanasius
Deacon and martyr, killed at Jerusalem, in 452.
Athanasius denounced Theodosius, a heretic who usurped the see of Jerusalem, formerly held by St Juvenal. Arrested for this act, Athanasius was beheaded.
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Isaurius
Deacon and martyr, with companions, beheaded at Apollonia in Macedonia, in 283-284.
Isaurius and his companions Innocent, Felix, Hermias, Basil, and Peregrinus were Athenians, suffering for Christ in the Macedonian city of Apollonia under the emperor Numerian (283-284). Beheaded with them for believing in Christ were two city officials, Rufus and Ruphinus.
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Fortunato
Deacon and martyr, killed with his bishop Ermacora at Aquileia, near the northern Adriatic coast of Italy, in 1st c.
According to legend, St Mark converted and ordained Ermacora during a mission to northeastern Italy. The cathedral at Udine contains a painting of the two martyrs by Tiepolo (1737).
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Catulinus (also called Cartholinus)
Deacon and martyr, with companions Januarius, Florentius, Julia, and Justa, killed at Carthage in North Africa, under Diocletian, in 303.
Nothing is known of their martyrdom. Their bodies were buried in the basilica of bishop Faustus in Carthage. In praise of Catulinus, St Augustine preached a panegyric to the faithful.
Gundisalvus Hendriquez
Portuguese deacon and martyr, Jesuit scholar, killed with companions in the Canary Islands, on 15 July 1570.
Gundisalvus Hendriquez was a friend and companion of Ignatius de Azevedo (1528-1570), superior and leader of a band of forty Spanish and Portuguese Jesuit missionaries martyred by the Huguenot Jacques Sourie while en route to the West Indies. They were killed by drowning 15 July 1570 in the Canary Islands.
Arsenius the Great
Deacon of Rome and hermit in the desert of Egypt, died c. 449.
Born about 360, Arsenius was the scion of a Roman senatorial family. He had an early career as tutor to the sons of Emperor Theodosius the Great. Pope Damasus I is said to have ordained Arsenius to the diaconate and to have recommended the learned cleric to the emperor. Arsenius later became a hermit at Sketis, in the desert near Alexandria in Egypt, and a disciple of John the Dwarf. After barbarians began to raid the monasteries, Arsenius moved to Troë near Memphis, and he spent fifteen years wandering in the desert. Numbered among the desert fathers, Arsenius wrote a guide to monastic life and a commentary on the gospel according to Luke, which describes the contemplative life.
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Barhadbesciabas (sometimes called Barhadbesaba)
Deacon and martyr of Arbela in Persia, killed by beheading, in 355.
He was caught up in the persecution conducted by Sassanid King Shapur II and was tortured by the governor of the Persian region of Adiaban in modern Iran. Aggai, an apostate Christian, was ordered to behead Barhadbesciabas. He used the ax with such clumsiness that he had to strike the martyr again in order to slay him.
Paul of St Zoilus
Deacon and martyr of Córdoba in Spain and a member of the community of St Zoilus in that city, beheaded in 851.
Paul devoted much of his effort to bringing aid to Christians imprisoned by Muslim officials. Seized by members of the ruling Islamic government, he was beheaded.
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George
Deacon and martyr, monk from Palestine, with four companions, killed at Córdoba in Spain, c. 852.
George and his four companions were martyred under Emir Abd ar-Rahman II. Aurelius and Felix, with their wives, Natalia and Liliosa, were Spaniards whose family backgrounds, although religiously mixed, legally required them to profess Islam. After given four days to recant, they were condemned as apostates for revealing their previously secret Christian faith. Deacon George was a monk from Palestine who was arrested along with the two couples. Though offered a pardon as a foreigner, he chose to denounce Islam again and die with the others.
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Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus
Deacons, companions of Stephen and Philip, died 1st c. (see Acts 6:5).
All except Nicolaus were Hellenistic Jews who became Christians. According to tradition, Prochorus (or Prochoros) accompanied St John the Divine in exile on the island of Patmos. In icons Prochoros is portrayed as a scribe in a cave, taking dictation as John describes his vision of the Apocalypse (Revelation). Prochoros became bishop of Nicomedia and died in peace. Nicanor was stoned to death in Jerusalem. Timon became bishop of Bostra in Arabia and ended his life in martyrdom by fire at the hands of the pagans. Parmenas died in peace in Jerusalem. Nicolaus (or Nikolaos), a pagan from Antioch who became a Jew and then a Christian, was a deacon in Jerusalem.
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