Orthodox · 3rd century
Martyr Epimachus of Alexandria
Commemorated: November 13 (October 31, Old Style)
Life
Epimachus was an Egyptian Christian who, his Life says, lived for years as a hermit on a mountain near Pelusium. Hearing that the Christians of Alexandria were being persecuted under Decius and that many were giving way, he went to the city, entered a temple during a festival and threw down the idols.
Brought before the governor Apellianus, he tried to strike him and was held back. In prison he encouraged the other Christians, and he was then tortured and put to death, c. 250. His relics were later taken to Rome, where the Roman Martyrology records that they were laid on the Via Latina beside those of the martyr Gordian.
Places
- Place of birth: Pelusium
Retold briefly in our own words from: the Lives of the Saints by St Dimitry of Rostov (1902–1916); the Roman Martyrology (1916).
The commemorations of the day: Ponomar (ponomar.net), CC BY-SA 3.0.
Places and years: Wikidata (CC0), each saint matched by hand.