Martyrs Adrian and Natalia and 23 Martyrs suffering with them in Nicomedia

Adrian was a young officer at Nicomedia under Emperor Maximian, married a short time to Natalia, who was secretly a Christian. According to their Life, he was watching twenty-three Christians being tortured and asked them what reward they hoped for; struck by their answer, he had his own name written down with theirs and was imprisoned. Natalia visited him in prison and encouraged him. When the martyrs' legs were broken on an anvil, she asked to have Adrian's done first so that he would not falter, and she kept his severed hand. She took the martyrs' bodies to Argyropolis near Byzantium, where she died soon afterwards, c. 305–311.