Historical Context
The martyrs suffered under the Emperor Decius (reigned 249–251), whose reign saw one of the most systematic persecutions of Christians in the pre-Nicene period. Sources place the deaths around the year 250, in Lampsacus in the region of Mysia on the Hellespont and in the city of Athens.
By tradition Peter was brought before the prefect Optimines (also rendered Optimus, or Optimines) and commanded to sacrifice to the goddess Aphrodite. He refused, declaring publicly that a Christian would not bow before the idol of such a figure. For this he was subjected to severe torments — crushed and broken with chains and pieces of wood upon a torture-wheel — and died of his injuries.
The Conversion of the Soldiers
According to the synaxarion, the soldiers Andrew and Paul had been transferred from Mesopotamia and came to Athens with their unit under their commander. There they were assigned to arrest and guard two Christian captives, the man Dionysius and the virgin Christina.
Through their close contact with Christina, who taught them of Christ and his Resurrection by her faith, patience, and endurance, both soldiers were converted to Christianity. When all four — Dionysius, Andrew, Paul, and Christina — were brought before the prefect and confessed Christ, refusing to sacrifice, the three men were ordered bound by the feet, dragged to the place of execution, and stoned to death.
The Martyrdom of Christina
Christina, said in the accounts to have been a young woman of about sixteen (some traditions give a different age), witnessed the proceedings against her companions. The synaxarion relates that she rebuked an apostate named Nikomachus (Nichomachus), who had denied Christ and agreed to sacrifice; immediately afterward he was seized by a terrible frenzy and died, foaming at the mouth, before completing the sacrifice.
After Christina was condemned by the prefect, she was handed over to be abused, but by tradition an angel appeared and frightened her abusers away, leaving her unharmed. She was subsequently beheaded by the prefect's order.
Related Commemoration
In the Greek tradition, three further martyrs are commemorated on the same day (May 18): Heraclius (Herakleios), Paulinus (Paulinos), and Benedimus (Venedimos, also rendered Benedict). By these accounts they were preachers at Athens who turned many pagans from idolatry to Christ.
The synaxarion relates that they were arrested and tortured, cast into a burning furnace from which they emerged unharmed by the grace of God, and were finally beheaded. They are listed alongside the five in the fuller Greek and Romanian calendars of the day.
Relics & Shrines
By a Western tradition, relics associated with these martyrs of Lampsacus are housed at the Abbey of Flône in Belgium, where they are recorded as having been kept since 1922.
