A Saint that led to a Chain of Events

Little is known about today's saint but enough to know that he gave up everything by his works of mercy.  God does not ask us to give up our lives to death every day but he does ask us to give of ourselves through works of mercy (corporal and spiritual).

St. Samuel of Cilicia

Feast day:  February 16
Born:  ??
Died:  309
Egypt

Samuel (along with others) visited Christians condemned to work in the mines of Cilicia during an emperor persecution.  There desire was to comfort them in their suffering due to their harsh conditions.

Upon one of their visits, they were apprehended at the gates of Caesarea in Palestine, and they were brought before the governor (Firmilian).  They were quickly accused of being Christians. They were all tortured and then beheaded.

This led to the following chain of events that further shows the strength of the early Christians.  A servant (Porphyry) demanded that the bodies be buried, and he was also tortured and then burned to death when it was found that he was a Christian.  Then Seleucus, who witnessed this martyrdom and applauded Porphyry's constancy in the face of this terrible death.  He was then arrested by the soldiers involved in the execution, brought before the governor, and was beheaded at the governor's order.

We might not know details of any of these martyrs before their persecution, but we do know that they must have had extreme faith in God to make this choice to be a witness.  May we take the time to consider what we might do when we see others persecuted today.