Orthodox icon | Saint Martyrs Julitta and Cyricus | 24919

Saint Julitta came from a noble family of Iconium. She widowed at a young age and devoted herself piously to the upbringing of her three-year-old son Cyricus (Quiricus). At the time of Diocletian’s persecution (303-305), when the Roman governor Dometian6s in the province of Lycaonia began to attack the Christians with persistent anger, she fled with the child and two servants to Seleucia in Isauria and then on to Tarsus in Cilicia. When she got there, the imperial envoy Alexandros began the pursuit. When the arrival of this noble woman was reported to him, he had her arrested and brought to his court with her son in her arms. Both suffered martyrdom. Her feast day is July 15. They serve as patrons of protection for families and for sick children.