Saint of the Day – 17 March – Saint Paul (Died c760) Monk, Martyr. For defending Sacred Images, Paul was Martyred by being burned alive. Originally from Greece, Paul worked, suffered and died in Constantinople.
The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Constantinople, St Paul, Martyr, who was burned alive under Constantine Copronymus, for defending the veneration of Holy Images.”
This day commemorate a Martyr named Paul, burned alive for his fidelity to the cult of images.
Constantinople was the site of the Martyrdom and the period of Constantine Copronymus (741-775) as the time of its occurrence. The true identity of the Martyr remembered today can be learned from the Acts of Saint Stephen the Younger, composed by the contemporary Deacon Stephen.
According to this source, while Stephen and other confessors were in prison, a certain Anthony, originally from Crete, who had already suffered much for his faith, stood up and began to recount the atrocious tortures endured by the Monk Paul in Cyprus for his fidelity to the veneration of Sacred images.
He was arrested by the Governor Theophanes Lardothyros and having remained steadfast in his profession of faith, he had first been horribly tortured, his flesh stripped with iron combs, then suspended head downward and burned alive over a slow fire.
Since the Martyrdom of Stephen and his companions occurred around 764, it is possible that Paul died around 760.
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