The life of Thyrsus, Leucis and Callinicus
Thyrsus, still a catechumen at the time, was moved by Leucius's courage to confess Christ as well; he mocked the worship of idols made of wood and stone, echoing the prophet Jeremiah, and endured severe torture, including the loss of his eyes and teeth. Church tradition holds that his prayer toppled a statue of Apollo in a pagan temple, and that he was baptized before his death. Callinicus, a pagan priest who witnessed these events, was converted and confessed Christ, and was beheaded for it. Other companions, among them Philemon and Apollonius, are honored together with them in the fuller menaion tradition for this day, though this account keeps to the three most closely tied to the story as it has come down. Their relics were later enshrined near Constantinople, where a church was built in Thyrsus's honor.
