Holy Martyrs Chrysanthus and Daria

April 1 is the feast-day of the holy Martyrs Chrysanthus and Daria (†283) and with them Martyrs Claudius the Tribune, his wife Hilaria, their sons Jason and Maurus, Diodorus the Presbyter and Marianus the Deacon.

The Martyrdom of Sts. Chrysanthus and Daria. Miniature from the Menologion of Basil II, Late tenth—early eleventh centuries     

St. Chrysanthus was born into a noble pagan family. He was the son of Polemius, a Roman senator. The father gave his son a brilliant secular education: Chrysanthus studied many sciences. Finally, he began to study philosophy, but it did not give him answers to many questions. One day, St. Chrysanthus came across a Gospel. The inquisitive young man began to read the Holy Book and realized that the true purpose of human life is getting closer to God. So, St. Chrysanthus went in search of someone who could explain to him the truths of Christianity. Soon, by Divine Providence, St. Chrysanthus met Presbyter Carpophorus who had a long conversation with him and answered his numerous questions in detail. After that they would meet for conversations for several months. Finally, the priest said:

“I see that you are ready to embrace the true faith and receive Holy Baptism now.”

St. Chrysanthus asked him:

“Father, when and where will this happen?”

Looking around, Presbyter Carpophorus said softly:

“Tomorrow morning be in the far cave outside the city.”

The priest would hide in a cave because Christians were being persecuted in those days.

The next morning, trying not to be noticed and not to be seen by his father and the servants, St. Chrysanthus left his home. He went to the priest without hesitation. The young man spent seven days in the cave with Carpophorus who instructed him in the faith. No sooner had St. Chrysanthus crossed the threshold of his house than he was faced with his father’s wrath. St. Chrysanthus did not conceal anything and told his father that from now on he was a Christian.

“Woe to me! Renounce all this immediately!” his father began yelling.

“Father, you can’t make me change my mind. From now on my soul is in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Christ the Pantocrator. Fresco of the fourth-century Roman catacombs     

On hearing his son’s firm response, Senator Polemius decided to influence his child with affection:

“My son, we are rich and noble. You will not need anything: all the pleasures, delights, luxurious food and clothes will be yours. Just abandon your Christian faith and return to our gods.”

“Father, I really love you, but I have come to love the Lord Jesus Christ much more. Don’t ask me to renounce the Truth. All the riches and pleasures of this world are nothing compared to eternal life in the Heavenly Kingdom.”

Seeing that he was failing in his persuasions, Polemius flew into a rage and shouted:

“Then you will immediately be put into prison and starved!”

He gave an order to his servants, and they threw the young man in jail.

However, not only was St. Chrysanthus not upset, but he was happy. He said:

“I thank Thee, O Lord, for training me in fasting and stillness.”

For St. Chrysanthus prison became a place of stillness, and hunger became a condition for bodily fasting for the salvation of his soul, so he was not frustrated by his father’s cruel decision. In prison he prayed and openly preached faith in Jesus Christ to his fellow prisoners and guards. Senator Polemius was informed about what his son was doing in jail. The father saw that starving and confinement did not oppress St. Chrysanthus, but, on the contrary, gave him spiritual strength. Polemius, frowning, mused on how to make his son renounce his faith. Suddenly his face brightened up. Obviously, a new idea came to Polemius’ mind.

Mamertine Prison in Rome     

He ordered his servant to take St. Chrysanthus out of prison, and when he returned, he ordered their grand hall to be beautifully decorated and invited some young ladies.

“My son, I am glad you are back at home. Look at how these beautiful young maidens are looking at you with delight. After everything you’ve gone through in prison, now it is high time for you to enjoy yourself in their company,” Polemius said.

And the father, hugging his son, left the grand hall. St. Chrysanthus immediately called out to the Lord for help and became insensitive to the charms of the invited beauties. More than that, whenever the ladies tried to approach St. Chrysanthus, they began to feel very drowsy, instantly falling asleep right on the carpets of the hall. When in the evening Polemius entered the hall, he was staggered to see an unexpected sight: his son was standing by the window and praying, while the beautiful maidens were sleeping soundly on the carpets.

Polemius was once again overwhelmed by a wave of uncontrollable anger. But without saying a word, he went out of the hall in a frenzy of rage. By the morning, after consulting his entourage, a new plan had matured in his head. He called his son and said to him:

“Chrysanthus, you have already come of age, and you should look for a lady for marriage. A meeting with her will be arranged tomorrow.”

St. Chrysanthus answered nothing. Then Polemius forcibly betrothed his son to a maiden named Daria. She was a pagan, a native of Athens, and knew many sciences, including philosophy. Daria was very beautiful. Polemius hoped that married life with such a beautiful lady would make Chrysanthus forget about Jesus Christ. When Sts. Chrysanthus and Daria stayed alone for the first time, the young man said to her:

“Daria, please hear me out. You are obviously looking forward to a married life like everyone else, but I cannot give it to you because I want to devote my life to Jesus Christ.”

“But you are rich, noble, young and healthy! You are wasting your life by renouncing our gods,” Daria argued.

“What gods are you talking about? Are earth, water, and fire gods? How can a person of sound judgment worship the elements?”

St. Daria and the Lion. Bas-relief at the Abbey of Sts. Chrysanthus and Daria in Bad Münstereifel , Germany     

“Then what do you believe in?” The maiden wondered, with her eyes filled with tears.

“Stop crying, Daria,” St. Chrysanthus proceeded affectionately. “Listen to how the soul will be separated from the body and how the Last Judgment of the Lord will take place.”

And St. Chrysanthus told St. Daria everything that Priest Carpophorus, his teacher, had told him. St. Daria listened to him with her eyes wide open and holding her breath. The teaching about Jesus Christ touched the maiden’s heart very much. St. Daria heard the Word of Truth from the young man and wholeheartedly came to believe in Jesus Christ. After the young man had finished speaking, she exclaimed:

“I want to be a Christian too!”

“You will certainly be one,” St. Chrysanthus said confidently.

St. Chrysanthus baptized St. Daria in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Chrysanthus and Daria decided to live in celibacy, pretending to be married, and prepare for a chaste marriage in Heaven. They began to preach the faith in Jesus Christ zealously among the Roman youth and persuaded many to convert to the Christian faith. Many young men and women began to keep chastity for the sake of the Lord. After some time, St. Chrysanthus established a community for young men who longed to devote their lives to God. And St. Daria gathered around herself maidens and women who decided to serve the Lord Jesus Christ as well.

The pagans reported all this to the governor of Rome. They stated that Chrysanthus and Daria had turned many people away from worshipping the Roman gods and had taught them the Christian faith. The prefect of Rome immediately ordered Sts. Chrysanthus and Daria to be arrested. Tribune Claudius ordered Chrysanthus to be brought to the temple of the pagan god Jupiter to offer there a sacrifice. The saint refused:

“I will never offer sacrifice to pagan gods. There is only one God—our Lord Jesus Christ.”

After these brave words, St. Chrysanthus was brutally tortured. He was bound with bull’s sinews, but the Lord miraculously freed him from his bonds. Then the saint was put into prison, which was illuminated by Divine Light. Then he was beaten with rods, which suddenly turned into soft feathers.   

Sts. Chrysanthus and Daria, Claudius the Tribune and those with them     

Seeing these miracles of God, Claudius the Tribune together with his family acknowledged the power of the Lord. As a result, Tribune Claudius himself, his wife Hilaria, their sons Jason and Maurus, and all the tribune’s soldiers asked St. Chrysanthus to instruct them in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. All of them were baptized, gave thanks to the Lord and declared:

“Now we are also ready to suffer any torments for the sake of Jesus Christ. Glory to Thee, O Lord!”

The converts’ punishment for abandoning paganism came in an instant. Claudius was thrown into the sea with a stone tied around his neck, and his sons and soldiers were beheaded. At night, the Christians of Rome buried the bodies of those killed for the faith of Christ in an underground cave. Claudius’ widow, Hilaria, stayed there to pray at the graves of her husband and sons. But she also didn’t have long to live. Soon soldiers came to kill her, too. Hilaria asked them:

“Before my death, before I depart to the Lord, allow me to offer up a prayer over the graves of my loved ones for the last time.”

Having prayed fervently before her beheading, Hilaria was martyred. Her maids buried her on the site of her martyrdom. Soon a small church was built there.

The Roman Emperor ordered St. Chrysanthus to be thrown into the filthy and stinking Mamertine Prison, and ordered St. Daria to be taken to a brothel. But the Lord saved His faithful children: He surrounded St. Chrysanthus with fragrance and sent a lion to guard St. Daria.

When a depraved man approached St. Daria in the brothel with impure intent, the lion rushed to eat him, but the maiden told the lion meekly:

“Don’t touch him.”

Then she spoke to the lecher, who was very terrified and dumbstruck by this scene. After their conversation, he became a Christian. And the same thing occurred to each man who wanted to approach St. Daria.

The prefect was informed of what was happening in Daria’s room. Enraged, he ordered that the doorway of the maiden’s bedroom be set on fire. St. Daria commanded the lion:

“Now go hence. You have served me faithfully.”

She prepared herself for her martyrdom.

Finally, Sts. Chrysanthus and Daria were thrown into a deep pit and buried alive with earth and stones. Thus in the year 283 they suffered martyrdom and received crowns of victory from the Lord.

Sts. Chrysanthus and Daria. A book miniature. France, the fourteenth century     

The next year, some Christians came to the site where the martyrs had given up their souls to the Lord. Then a service was celebrated in the cave: the Divine Liturgy was served by Presbyter Diodorus and Deacon Marianus. Suddenly, on the orders of the authorities, soldiers blocked up the entrance to the cave and buried the cave itself with earth. All those who had come were able to receive Holy Communion, and then passed on to the Heavenly Kingdom, having commended their pure souls to the Lord.

The holy Martyrs Chrysanthus and Daria are commemorated together with the Martyrs Claudius the Tribune, his wife Hilaria, their sons Jason and Maurus, Diodorus the Presbyter and Marianus the Deacon.