Great martyr
Encyclopedia
Great Martyr or Great-Martyr is a classification of saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

s who are venerated
Veneration
Veneration , or veneration of saints, is a special act of honoring a saint: an angel, or a dead person who has been identified by a church committee as singular in the traditions of the religion. It is practiced by the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic, and Eastern Catholic Churches...

 in the Eastern Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...

 and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Rite of Constantinople.

Generally speaking, a Great Martyr is a martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...

 who has undergone excruciating torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...

s—often performing miracle
Miracle
A miracle often denotes an event attributed to divine intervention. Alternatively, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. Others suggest that a god may work with the laws...

s and converting unbelievers to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 in the process—and who has attained widespread veneration throughout the Church. These saints are often from the 1st centuries of the Church, before the Edict of Milan
Edict of Milan
The Edict of Milan was a letter signed by emperors Constantine I and Licinius that proclaimed religious toleration in the Roman Empire...

. This term is usually not applied to saints who could be better described as hieromartyr
Hieromartyr
In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, a hieromartyr is a martyr who was also one of the clergy . In like manner a priest-monk is often called a hieromonk....

s (martyred clergy) or protomartyrs (the first martyr in a given region).

Partial list of Great Martyrs

  • Saint Anastasia
  • Saint Apostolos of St. Laurence
  • Saint Artermius
    Artemius
    Artemius , known as Challita in the Maronite tradition, was a general of the Roman Empire, dux Aegypti . He is considered a saint by the Orthodox Church, with the name of Artemius of Antioch,...

  • Saint Barbara
    Saint Barbara
    Saint Barbara, , Feast Day December 4, known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an early Christian saint and martyr....

  • Prince Bidzin, Prince Elizbar, and Prince Shalva of Georgia
  • Saint Catherine of Alexandria
  • Saint Christina
    Christina of Bolsena
    Saint Christina of Bolsena, also known as Christina of Tyre, or in the Eastern Orthodox Church as Christina the Great Martyr, is venerated as a Christian martyr of the 3rd century....

  • Saint Demetrius
  • Saint Euphemia
    Saint Euphemia
    The Great Martyr Euphemia , known as the All-praised in the Orthodox Church is a Christian saint, who was martyred for her faith at Chalcedon, c. 304-307 AD.-Hagiography:...

  • Saint George
    Saint George
    Saint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...

  • Saint George the New at Sophia (1515)
  • Saint Haralambos
  • Saint Irene
    Saint Irene
    Saint Irene may refer to:* Irene of Thessalonica, one of the virgin sisters, feast day April 3* Irene of Rome , wife of martyr Saint Castulus, feast day January 22* Irene of Tomar Saint Irene may refer to:* Irene of Thessalonica, one of the virgin sisters, feast day April 3* Irene of Rome (died c....

  • John the New of Suceava
    Suceava
    Suceava is the Suceava County seat in Bukovina, Moldavia region, in north-eastern Romania. The city was the capital of the Principality of Moldavia from 1388 to 1565.-History:...

  • Ketevan, Queen of Georgia
  • Kostanti-Kakhay
    Kostanti-Kakhay
    Kostanti-Kakhay, Kostanti-Kaxay , or Kostanti Kakhi was a Christian Georgian nobleman from Kartli, who was seized captive by the Abbasid general Bugha al-Kabir during his 853 expedition into the Caucasus. He was subsequently put to death, at the age of 85, for refusing to convert to Islam...

    , of Georgia
    Georgia (country)
    Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

  • Saint Lazar of Serbia
  • Saint Marina
    Saint Marina
    Saint Marina may refer to:*Saint Margaret of Antioch, also known as Saint Margaret the Virgin, Saint Marina the Martyr or Agia Marina by the Orthodox Church...

  • Saint Mercurius
    Saint Mercurius
    Great-martyr Mercurius was a Christian saint and martyr. Born Philopater in the city of Eskentos in Cappadocia, Eastern Asia Minor, his original name means "lover of the Father"...

  • Saint Michael-Gobron
    Gobron
    Gobron also known as Mikel-Gobron or Michael-Gobron was a Christian Georgian military commander who led the defense of the fortress of Q'ueli against the Sajid emir of Azerbaijan. When the fortress fell after a 28-day-long siege, Gobron was captured and beheaded, having rejected inducements to...

     of Georgia
  • Saint Panteleimon
  • Saint Paraskeva
  • Saint Phanourios
    Phanourios (saint)
    Phanourios the Great Martyr & Newly Appeared of Rhodes is recognized as a saint by the Greek Orthodox church. He is commemorated on August 27....

  • Saint Procopius
    Procopius of Scythopolis
    Procopius of Scythopolis is venerated as an early martyr and saint. Eusebius of Caesarea writes of his martyrdom, which occurred during the persecution of Diocletian, and states that “he was born at Jerusalem, but had gone to live in Scythopolis, where he held three ecclesiastical offices...

  • Saint Sabbas the Goth
    Sabbas the Goth
    Sabbas the Goth is a martyr and Christian saint.He was born in 334 to Christian parents in a village in the Buzău river valley and lived in what is now the Wallachia region in Romania...

  • Theodore Gavra of Atran in Chaldea
  • Saint Theodore Stratelates
    Theodore Stratelates
    Theodore Stratelates , also known as Theodore of Heraclea, is a martyr and Warrior Saint venerated with the title Great-martyr in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Catholic and Roman Catholic Churches....

  • Saint Theodore Tyro
  • Saint Tryphon
  • Xenia of Peloponnesus
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