The life of St Thalelaeus of Aegae
He confessed his faith openly, declaring himself ready to die for Christ, and was subjected to a long series of tortures: an attempt to bore through his knees was foiled, tradition holds, when the executioners were made to strike a block of wood instead; two of his own torturers, Alexander and Asterius, were so moved by what they witnessed that they confessed Christ themselves and were put to death alongside him. He is said to have been thrown into the sea and to wild beasts, surviving both, before finally being beheaded.
Thalelaeus practiced medicine without charge to the poor throughout his short life, and the Church remembers him among its unmercenary physicians, invoked in the prayers for anointing the sick. His relics were kept in Constantinople and were reported to work healings for centuries afterward. He died for Christ in the year 284.
