The life of St Eleutherius the Cubicularius
He kept a hidden church at his own house, where he prayed through the night with fasting and tears.
A servant, moved by envy, betrayed him to the emperor, reporting that his master had become a Christian, built a church, and turned from the imperial order. The emperor came to see for himself, found the hidden church, and tried at first to win Eleutherius back with flattering words rather than threats. When persuasion failed, he ordered the saint beheaded and his body left for the dogs and birds. A Christian priest recovered the body, anointed it with myrrh, and buried it with honor. The sources name the ruler under whom he suffered inconsistently, and disagree on some particulars of his life, but agree in the essential shape of his witness. The Church keeps a second commemoration of him as well, in the summer.
