The Orthodox calendar of saints contains more than a thousand names of saints who suffered during persecutions at the dawn of the Christian era. Virtually every day of the church calendar is dedicated to the memory of one of these early martyrs. The Apostles, Saint George the Victorious, Demetrius of Thessaloniki, Panteleimon the Healer, Theodore Stratelates, Catherine, Barbara, Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia, Irenaeus of Lyons, and many other renowned ascetics endured persecution during the first four centuries of Christianity, an era of the harshest trials. To learn more about them and the spiritual atmosphere in which the Orthodox faith was born, watch “Witnesses of Christ: Martyrs of the First Centuries” online on ivi.
