2018 – THE YEAR DEDICATED TO CELEBRATE SAINTS EPICTETUS AND ASTION

2018 will be a year dedicated to the celebration of the christian heritage of the Romanian people and will also mark the latinity, continuity and the two millennia of Christian life on Dobrogea (Dobruja) by placing at the fore of national and international attention the sacred heritage of Holy Martyrs Epictetus and Astion, has decided the academic council of The Institute of International Relations and Economic Cooperation of Romania (IRICE).

Saints Martyrs Epictetus and Astion are proof even today, two millenniums  after their sacrifice on the long-term presence of Christian faith on the lands of Dobrogea  and are a birth certificate of Romanian Christianity and an irrefutable evidence of the exceptional duration of Christianity on our lands.

 

They are also a perfect example of sacrifice and life offered in the service of Our Savior Jesus Christ, has highlighted their significance Professor Dr. Anton Caragea – IRICE President.

We are marking this year 100 years since the unification of Romania (1918) and we must also mark down for posterity our creative potential and not overlook that we are the beneficiaries of two millennia of Christian legacy and over 2.100 years of statehood, this are fundamental dates of the historical evolution of Romanian people.

Murighiol Cathedral dedicated to Saints Martyrs Epictetus and Astion.

 

In this perspective, the  Saints Martyrs Epictetus and Astion role is a fundamental one as we are speaking of the oldest historically proven martyrs of the Church on the territory of Romania, they are not only teaching us on the uninterrupted continuity of civilization on the banks of Danube, but also are offering us a lesson on the love for Christ of our people, even more resounding as we are having here saints registered in the Catholic and Orthodox pantheon  so truly universal saints testifying for the Holy Church in his wholeness, saints that are making Romania proud of his legacy, concluded the historical presentation of the moment Professor Dr. Anton Caragea.

The Halmyris-Murighiol fortification today. A central point of the map of cultural and historical treasures of Dobrogea (Dobruja).

 

The focal point of the celebrations for 2018 THE YEAR OF SAINTS MARTYRS EPICTETUS AND ASTION will take place on July 8, 2018 on Murighiol (former roman city of Halmyris) in the cathedral of Saints Epictetus and Astion with a special mass taking place in the honor of the holy martyrs of Christian faith and of Romanian dedication: saints EPICTETUS and ASTION.

 

 

The excavated ruins of the Roman Cathedral built on VIII century on the spot where Saints Epictetus and Astion  suffered martyrdom for their faith in Jesus Christ in  290 after Chr.

 

 

ON SAINTS MARTYRS EPICTETUS AND ASTION.

It is the celebration of the oldest holy martyrs known as the territory of Dobrogea, Epictetus and Astion, the Orthodox Church commemorates on 8 July. Description of life and their passion was kept in the Acts of the Martyrs with large details.
They are known as saints Halmyris, the ancient Christian city located on the banks of the Danube that was called in ancient times “Almyra”. They suffered a martyr’s death during fierce persecution against the Christian church triggered by Emperor Diocletian (244-311) on 8 July 290. Surely they are the martyrs old Dobrogea certified undoubtedly springs hagyographic.

 

Life and their passion have given in the Acts of the Martyrs, but unfortunately, their holy martyr act we were kept only in a later century copy. XV, located in the Church of the Saviour in Utrecht and was published in 1615 by Jesuit scholar Herbert Rosweyde († 1629).

In 1921, Benedictine Dom Germain Morin discovered in remembrance of martyrology Ieronimian St. Epictetus and Astion on May 23 in “The S.S. Epicteto presbytero et Astion monachu martyribus Almiridensibus in Scythia “, confirming the veracity of statements he Acta Sanctorum, edited by N. Rosweyde, mentioned above.

 

Acta Sanctorum took passages from a study of its impact on the two saints and martyrs renowned researcher and historian Netzhammer Raymund (1862-1945), Catholic archbishop arrived in Bucharest and left posterity work Epiktet und Astion, diokletianische Martyrer I Danaudelta, Zug. 1937.

HISTORICAL LANDMARKS.

 

Saints Epictetus and Astion from Halmyris

Saint Epictetus, priest, and Saint Astion, (improperly said) monk, originals from Asia Minor, were martyrs for Christ in the 3rd century in Scytia Minor (the today Romanian region Dobruja-Dobrogea, situated between Danube and the Black Sea).

They were originally from Little Asia.

Information about their lives is known only from a copy of a 15th century manuscript kept in the archive of the Savior Church in Utrecht, published in 1615 by the Jesuit monk Herbert Rosweyde, the initiator of the hagiographic collections Acta Sanctorum, under the title “SS. Epicteto presbytero et Astion monacho, martirybus Almiridiensibus in Scythia “.