The Martyrdom of the Holy Notaries

The persecution grew more violent and led to deeds of blood. Among those killed were Martyrius and Marcian. They had lived in Paul’s house, and Macedonius handed them over to the governor on the charge that they had murdered Hermogenes and stirred up the earlier riot against him. Martyrius was a subdeacon, and Marcian a singer and a reader of Holy Scripture. [a]

Their tomb is famous. It stands outside the walls of Constantinople as a memorial of the martyrs, in a house of prayer that was begun by John and finished by Sisinnius, both of whom later presided over the church of Constantinople. For though men had unjustly judged them to have no part in the honors of martyrdom, God honored them. The very place where those led out to death had been beheaded, which people had once avoided because of ghosts, was now purified; those under the power of demons were freed from that affliction; and many other remarkable miracles were done at the tomb. This is what should be said about Martyrius and Marcian. If what I have told seems hardly believable, it is easy to ask for further information from those who know the circumstances more exactly; and perhaps far more wonderful things are told about them than those I have set down.