The holy servant of God Cyrus was born and educated in the Egyptian country, in the city of Alexandria founded by Alexander the Great. According to his knowledge, he was a famous physician and cured bodily diseases completely free of charge, and with his divinely inspired words and the example of his virtuous life he cured the spiritual ailments of people. Visiting the sick, he offered them not the advice of Galen or Hippocrates, but the instructions of the holy apostles and prophets on how to protect themselves from sinful ailments, which are the cause of bodily diseases. Mental illnesses are more serious ailments compared to all diseases of the body; When the soul suffers greatly from sins, it often happens that the body also falls ill with a bad disease, permitted by God as a punishment for sins.
By thus teaching the sick, and also by preaching to them the Divine teaching, Saint Cyrus brought many pagans to the knowledge of the True God and made them Christians, healing both their souls and bodies with his art.
At that time, the wicked king Diocletian reigned, who raised a persecution against Christians. Saint Cyrus was accused before the governor of the city of being a Christian and of instructing many in the Christian faith. The governor immediately ordered him to be arrested. Upon learning of this, Saint Cyrus fled the city, left Egypt, and went to Arabia. He did this not out of fear of torture or death for Christ, but following the words of Christ: "when they persecute you from one city, flee to another", out of a desire to continue his help to his neighbors, and partly, wanting to better prepare himself for suffering for his Lord in the monastic vocation. Therefore, as soon as he arrived in Arabia, he accepted the monastic angelic image.
His very arrival in Arabia happened by a special providence of God, so that he could bring many to Christ there, deliver them from the sinful service of idols and instruct them on the path of salvation. He also left his medical art there, because he received from God the gift of miracles and no longer with medicines and herbs, but with prayers and with a word, he healed all kinds of diseases. Through these miracles, the name of Christ was glorified, and a great multitude of idolaters, having abandoned their errors, turned to Christ, the True God.
At that time, Saint John lived in Edessa - a pious Christian who had an honorable military rank. When Diocletian's persecution of Christians began, he left his military rank and the glory of this world, his fatherland, home, relatives and wealth, considering all this to be vanity, and went to Jerusalem, where, after some time had passed, he heard about Saint Cyrus and the miracles he had performed, the fame of which spread everywhere. He was overcome by a strong desire to see Saint Cyrus and to live together with this great servant of God. For this purpose, John first went to Alexandria, but not finding him there, he diligently inquired where he was. Then, having learned that he lived in Arabia, John set out there and, having found him, became attached to him with all his soul and became both an eyewitness to his miracles and a zealous imitator of his virtuous life.
At the same time, a God-loving woman named Athanasius was seized to be tortured for the sake of Christ, with her three daughters: Theoctista, Theodotia and Eudoxia, and was taken to the city of Canopus, where the pagan priest Cassian lived, and the city governor was Syrian.
Hearing about this, Saints Cyrus and John began to fear that the young virgins would fall away from Christ, out of fear of the threats of torture and because of the temptation of seductive promises, especially since they were very young: the eldest, Theoctista, was fifteen years old. years, the second - Theodotia - thirteen, and the youngest - Eudoxia - eleven. Saint Cyrus also doubted the firmness of their mother Athanasius, fearing that for the sake of her daughters - lest they be subjected to severe tortures and not look mercilessly at their shed blood, she might incline to pagan wickedness; for it is known how mothers, obeying their natural feeling, suffer with heartache for their children.
Therefore he set out for this city to confirm the girls and their mother in the confession of the Christian faith and to prepare them for fearless and courageous bearing of torture. Saint Cyrus was followed by Saint John, and together they set out for the city of Canopus. Having appeared to Athanasius and her daughters, who were in prison, they, with extensive divinely inspired words, confirmed them in their love for the Lord Jesus Christ and zealously persuaded them to surrender their souls for Him. This was immediately reported to the governor of the city, Sirian. One of the pagans came to him and said to him:
- Some unknown people have appeared in our city: one is in monastic clothes, the other in military clothes. They persuade the detained virgins not to worship our gods, but to remain in their impious faith, that is, not to obey the king's orders. They persuade them to worship only a certain Jesus and to pay divine honors to Him, disregarding death.
When Syrian heard about this, he was filled with rage and ordered the two men to be immediately arrested and brought to him. Saints Cyrus and John were immediately arrested and presented before the impious judge for questioning. He asked them:
- Are you really trying, wretched enemies of our gods, to seduce the virgins and increase the number of Christians by all sorts of tricks in order to humiliate our king? If you have been foolish until now, at least now abandon your false faith, filled with all kinds of sorcery, and try to appease the gods with prayers and sacrifices, so that you may not only be delivered from the torments prepared for you, but also be honored by us. And if you do not do this, you will know the fury and the implacable anger not only of Syrian or Diocletian, but also of the very gods whom you blaspheme, you will know the gods, although they are the most merciful avengers of their dishonor.
To this the saints Cyrus and John replied:
- We are not in the habit of talking much. Know for certain that we will never desire your empty honors, nor will we deny Christ, even if we have to suffer for Him.
Then Syrianus was inflamed with even greater anger, gnashed his teeth and said:
- You wicked ones should be grateful to the judge for his love of humanity. If you have at least a little sense, renounce your error, so that you may be saved from a terrible punishment. But since I see nothing in you but pride, disobedience and vain arrogance, there is no need to waste many words; we must rather get down to business. Then you will receive the reward you desire and will obey the king's command, even if against your will.
Having said this, he ordered the virgins and their mother to be brought, and in front of them he began to torture the holy martyrs Cyrus and John in various ways: he beat them with whips, broke their bones with thick rods, burned them with candles, and poured vinegar and salt on the burned places, then rubbed them with the sharp edges of a hairbrush, and doused their feet with boiling tar. Having used against them all the means of torture invented by rage, he did not miss a single one of them, in order to avenge their courage and break their courage, and to frighten the young virgins and their mother, who were watching the fierce torture. But the godless torturer did not succeed in anything: he neither wavered the courage of the holy sufferers, nor frightened the virgins and their mother.
Then he ordered the saints to be untied and began to torture Saint Athanasius and her daughters. After long tortures, he was filled with great shame, since the weak female sex did not differ in any way in the manly bearing of suffering from the unwavering and unyielding holy men - Cyrus and John. They had the same faith and love for Christ, endured the same suffering for Him, and showed, with God's help, the same courage. They suffered as if in foreign bodies, without paying the slightest attention to the suffering. They fixed their gaze on their beloved Bridegroom, Christ God, who looked upon the sufferings of His brides from the height of His glory and gave them His help. The torturer ordered the holy martyrs to be untied from the instruments of torture and sentenced them to be beheaded with the sword. They went to their deaths joyfully, as if they were going to a wedding. The honest heads of the blessed mother Athanasius and her three blessed daughters: Theoctista, Theodotia and Eudoxia were cut off with the sword.
After their beheading, Saints Cyrus and John were again interrogated. The torturer addressed them with a long speech, supposedly showing concern for their health, showed them gifts, then promised them new tortures and finally threatened them with death. When he saw that he was wasting his time in vain, he pronounced the following final decision:
"Cyrus, a follower of the Galilean Teacher, and John, his co-religionist, who despised the royal command and refused to offer sacrifices to the great gods, according to the royal law, we command that they be beheaded."
Having captured the martyrs, the soldiers cut off their heads in the same place where the holy virgins and their mother laid down their souls for their Lord. This happened on the 31st day of January. Secret Christians took their bodies and buried them with reverence in separate graves in the church of "Holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark": in one grave - the holy martyrs Cyrus and John, and in the other - Saint Athanasius and her daughters.
Many years later, during the reign of the pious Tsar Theodosius the Younger, the holy Patriarch Cyril of Alexandria, by God's command through an angel, transferred the relics of the holy martyrs Cyrus and John to a village called Manutin, in order to drive out many demons from there, for the glory of Christ our God, glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen.