Hieromartyr Basil, Presbyter of Ancyra
Under Emperor Constantius, Basil endured and suffered much at the hands of the Arians. At that time he was renown as a great zealot of Orthodoxy and a true shepherd of his entrusted flock in Ancyra. When Julian the Apostate ascended the throne, he began to persecute Christians. Because Basil openly unmasked this latest impurity and strengthened his people in the Faith, he was cast into prison. When Emperor Julian came to Ancyra, Basil was brought before him and the emperor tried to persuade him to abandon his faith in Christ, promising him honors and riches. Basil answered the emperor; "I believe in my Christ, Whom you denied and Who gave you this earthly kingdom; but, that will be taken away from you, shortly. Have you no shame of the sacred altar under which you were saved when they sought to kill you as an eight year old child? That is why this temporary kingdom will be taken from you shortly and your body will not be buried when your soul is violently wrested from you in bitter pains." Julian became enraged and ordered that seven strips of skin be pealed from his body everyday. The tormentors did this for several days. When Basil appeared again before the emperor, he took a belt of his own skin and threw it into the face of Julian and crying out to him said, "Take it, Julian, and eat if this kind of food is sweet to you but, for me, Christ is Life." This incident was proclaimed throughout the towns, and the emperor, out of shame, secretly departed from Ancyra to Antioch. They continued to torture Basil with red hot irons until he gave up his soul to God, for Whom he suffered in the year 363 A.D.
Saint Drosida
Drosida was the daughter of Emperor Trajan. She was captured with five other women at night while they were gathering the bodies of the tortured martyrs for Christ. For this she was severely disfigured by the emperor. Those five women were horribly tortured and, in the end, were thrown into a vat of molten copper, where they gave up their souls to their Lord. Drosida remained under the strict guard of the emperor. She escaped from the palace and baptized herself in a river. After eight days she gave up her soul to God.
Venerable Martyr, Euthymius
Euthymius was born in the village of Dimitsana in the Peloponnese. As a child, Euthymius lived as a Christian but, later on, he went to Romania where he gave himself over to a life of great debauchery. In this debauchery an evil spirit lead him to become a Muslim. As soon as he did that, Euthymius began to repent bitterly. He again returned to the Faith of Christ and was tonsured a monk in Athos, the Holy Mountain. After several years spent in strict fasting and prayer, he decided to die for Christ. With the blessing of his spiritual father, he traveled to Constantinople where he succeeded somehow to come before the Grand Vezir. Euthymius began to cross himself, to praise Christ and to insult Mohammed in the presence of the Vezir. After prolonged torture he was sentenced to death and beheaded on Palm Sunday, March 22, 1814 A.D. Many miraculous healings of the sick occurred over his relics. His honorable head is preserved in the Russian Monastery of St. Panteteimom (Pantaleon) in the Holy Mountain. And so, this twenty-year old youth, at first, died to Christ and after that died for Christ.