The 42 Holy Martyrs of Amorium and Steadfastness
Nothing is truly new new! All our present difficulties in some way have saints that represent the same struggles and make us relate to our own times. In some ways, things are often less “bloody” in our days, but there does exist a blood-less martyrdom.
The holy 42 martyrs that we celebrate today lived during the reign of the iconoclast Emperor Theophilus and were Byzantine senior officials. When the city of Amorium in Phrygia was occupied by the Arabs in 838 AD, the 42 officers and notables of Amorium were taken as hostages. They were then imprisoned in Samarra.
The city of Amorium is today in Turkey and called Hisar.
Deprived of even water, they prayed to God to deem them worthy to receive the wreath of martyrdom. A few days later they were brought to the caliph, who in a friendly manner promised to restore them to their posts if they converted to Islam.
The saints with one mind confessed their faith in Christ the Saviour and refused to convert to Islam. The Caliph angrily ordered their beheading.
