Catholic holidays - Feast Day of Saint Apollonia

Apollonia of Alexandria is a Christian martyr who was tortured by pagans who demanded that she renounce her religious beliefs Due to the threat of burning, she committed suicide by jumping into the fire on February 9, 248 (according to other sources - 249) This date marks the Feast of Saint Apollonia among Catholics Eusebius Pamphilus of Caesarea talks about the torment of the ascetic in “Ecclesiastical History” Greek historian and theologian, born in 265, wrote a fundamental work on the history of Christianity In his “Ecclesiastical History” there is a letter from the Patriarch of Alexandria Dionysius I the Great (246-265) In it, he tells the Bishop of Antioch Fabio about the persecution of early Christians in Ancient Rome during the era of Emperor Delius Dionysius gives a list of victims captured by the pagans Among them was the “wonderful old virgin woman,” who was Apollonia Her tormentors knocked out all her teeth and threatened to burn her alive for refusing to utter blasphemous words against Christ According to legend, Apollonia of Alexandria was not afraid of death - she moved away from the fire and, after praying, ran into the fire In honor of this act of the ascetic, a memorable date appeared in the Catholic church calendar - February 9 and Feast Day of Saint Apollonia The nature of the torment and the circumstances of the tragic death of the saint determined the set of attributes related to her - tongs and teeth In honor of Apollonia, February 9 became International Dentist Day The death of the saint occurred several years before the appearance of the edicts on the persecution of Christians in 257 and 258 Believers were forbidden to hold meetings there, and clergy who were caught were imprisoned Christians were a threat to the existing cult of the emperor, so they were persecuted both under Delius and under Nero, Marcus Aurelius, Trajan, Valerian, Dicletian and other rulers of Ancient Rome During the first 300 years of the church's existence, all its followers were martyrs to one degree or another Before Saint Apollonia, the apostles Peter and Paul, John the Theologian, Ignatius the God-Bearer, Semyon, and Justin the Philosopher became victims of the pagans Christians were scourged, stoned, thrown into boiling tar, members of the upper classes were beheaded, and after death their bodies were deprived of burial Believers' property was taken away, houses of worship were confiscated, and cemeteries were closed Delius' accession to the throne was marked by increased persecution of Christians who refused to participate in pagan sacrifices and worship pagan gods In addition to Apollonia, Bishop Sextus II of Rome and 4 of his deacons, as well as Saint Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, suffered martyrdom during this period History has shown that sacrifices in the name of Christ and his faith were not in vain The number of martyrs who died in the first 300 years of the church's existence is in the tens of thousands Many of the ascetics were canonized as saints One of its representatives among Catholics is Apollonia of Alexandria, the day of remembrance, which is celebrated annually on February 9