St Haralambos

Haralambos — 'shining with joy,' as his name means — was a priest of Magnesia in Asia Minor, martyred under the emperor Septimius Severus in 202. Tradition holds that he was one hundred and thirteen years old when he was arrested, which would make him among the oldest of the Church's martyrs. His later Greek passion narrative tells of tortures patiently endured, of tormentors converted by his gentleness, and of his serene reply to the governor: 'You do not know the good my old age can do.' As with many early martyrs, the historical core — an aged priest faithful unto death in the Severan persecution — is clothed in details recorded long afterward, which the Church receives as testimony of love rather than court record. Devotion to Haralambos is immense, especially in Greece, where he is invoked against plague and famine; his skull is treasured at the Monastery of St Stephen at Meteora.