The Martyrdom of St . Boctor Ebn Romanus

On this day, the honorable Saint Boctor (Victor) Ebn Romanus, the minister of Emperor Diocletian,was martyred . His mother Martha had reared him in the Christian ethics . He was promoted in the ranksin the kingdom until he became the third in succession . He was then twenty years old .He prayed and fasted much, visited the prisoners and assisted the poor and needy . When they cut offthe head of St . Theodata, the mother of Sts . Cosmas and Damian, no one dared to bury her becausethey feared the Emperor . This Saint went forth and took the body, shrouded it, then buried her, notcaring about the Emperor's order .St . Boctor often admonished his father for worshipping the idols, so his father accused him before theEmperor . The Emperor had him brought and asked him to worship the idols to obey the imperial order .The saint took off his soldier girdle and threw it in his face saying: "Take your gift that you gave me ."His father suggested to the Emperor to send him to Alexandria to be tortured there .On their way, his mother bid him farewell, crying, and he asked her to care for the poor, the widows,and the lonely . When he arrived to Alexandria, the governor Armanius tortured him many tortures,then he sent him to the governor of Ansena, who tortured him also, then cut off his tongue and pluckedout his eyes . The Lord strengthened and comforted him every time . There was a fifteen years old girlwho was watching his torture from the window of her house . She saw a crown coming down over hishead . She confessed that before the governor and all those who were present . The Governor orderedher head to be cut off and also the head of St . Boctor . They received the crown of life in the Kingdomof Heaven .There is a district in Alexandria until now known as El Boctoriah (Victoria), named after this Saint,because probably there was a church on his name in this district .His prayers be with us and Glory be to our God forever . Amen .