Great martyr

The allocation in the process of the formation of general church veneration of the martyrs of a separate category of great martyrs occurred as a result of the establishment of especially solemn services as persons of noble origin ^[4] . The cult of the special veneration of the great martyrs gave rise to the emergence of popular beliefs associated with them and numerous legendary material that entered their hagiography . For example, there are numerous versions of the life and miracles of St. George the Victorious , which already at the end of the 5th century led to the fact that Pope Gelasius in his decree rejects acts of martyrdom of St. George as heretical falsification and attributes George to the saints, who are better known to God than to people ^[5] .

The final division of saints according to the faces of holiness was formed only in the 7th – 8th centuries. By this time, the understanding of the epithet “the great martyr” in the Orthodox East was transformed: it began to be perceived as a sign of especially grievous torment (eg, John Sochavsky, who suffered in the XIV century ^[6] .). However, some local Churches (in particular, the Georgian , Serbian ) retained the name “great martyrs” of noble persons (in modern Russian calendars they are called martyrs).

The "rudiments" of the initial understanding of the term are preserved in early Christian literature (for example, St. John Chrysostom in the laudatory word calls the Holy Martyr Antioch Drosida , daughter of Emperor Trajan ^[7] ), which in the modern Russian church calendar is called a martyr ^[8] .

There are no Russian saints called great martyrs ^[9] .

In modern Russian Orthodox consciousness, reflected by many modern sources, the concept of “great martyr” is associated more with particularly grave and prolonged (compared to “just” martyrs ) sufferings endured for faith ^{[7] [10]} , rather than with high descent or office ( san). At the same time, there is a tradition to call the great martyrs precisely people of noble origin who suffered for Christ:

“It is generally accepted that a great martyr is that saint who has undergone some special, great torment. But in the Orthodox tradition, the great martyr is a martyr of noble birth, one of the great people who suffered for Christ. The commoners who received martyrdom were glorified by the Church as martyrs , persons in the holy dignity as holy martyrs , monks as martyrs , and the great martyr , in turn, is a man of noble origin. ”

- Bishop Jonah (Cherepanov) . Why is it wrong to call the royal martyrs martyrs

It is this understanding, although already with the influence of a new interpretation of the term, is reflected in Dahl:

Great martyr m. the grandeur given by the church to the holy martyrs of a high kind or dignity, who took great torment for Christ.

- The Great // Dal V.I. Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language

Kuznetsov’s Explanatory Dictionary contains a similar definition ^[11] .

1st century

• Irina Makedonskaya († end of I - beginning of II centuries)

2nd century

• Eustathius Placida († 118 year )

III century

• Mercury of Caesarea († 252 year )
• Marina of Antioch ( Margarita in the West) († 275 year )
• Mina Kotuansky († 288 year )
• Procopius († 290 year )
• Paraskeva of Iconium († III century)

III — IV century

• Athanasius († III — IV century)

4th century

• George the Victorious († 303 year )
• Euphemia the All-Glorious († 303 year )
• Dimitri Solunsky († 304 year )
• Anastasia the Decisive († 304 year )
• Panteleimon († c. 305 years )
• Catherine of Alexandria († 305 year )
• Theodore Tyrone († 306 year )
• Barbara Iliopolskaya († 306 year )
• Theodore Stratilat († 320 year )
• Artemy of Antioch († 362 year )
• Nikita Gotsky († 372 year )

V century

• Jacob Persianin († 421 year )

XIV century

• John of Sochava († c. 1330 - 1340 )

XVII century

• Ketevana, Queen of Kakheti († 1624 )

XVIII century

• Chris (Zlata) Moglenskaya († 1795 )

(in Russian months - martyrs)

2nd century

• Victor Damascus († II century)

4th century

• Crispina Tagore, African († 304 year )

V century

• Shushanika (Susanna), Princess Ranskaya († 475 year ) (Cargo)

8th century

• David and Konstantin Mkheidze, Princes of Argve († 740 ) (Cargo)
• Eustathius of Apsilius, Harran († 740 year ) (Abkhaz.)

IX century

• Konstantin Kakhi, Prince of Verkhne-Kartalinsky († 842 ) (Cargo)

X century

• Gobron (baptized by Michael), Prince of Kakheti († 914 year ) (Cargo)

XI century

• John-Vladimir, Prince of Serbia († 1016 ) (Serb.)

13th century

• Dimitri Self-sacrifice, Tsar of Iversky († 1289 ) (Cargo)

XIV century

• Blgv. King Stephen Uros III Decan, Serbian († 1331 ) (Serb.)
• Lazarus, blgv. pr., lord and king of Serbia († 1389 ) (Serb.)

XVII century

• Apostle of Constantinople ^[12] († 1686 )

• The Great Martyr and Great Martyr // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Bishop Jonah (Cherepanov) . Why is it wrong to call the royal martyrs martyrs