A Christian of Cilicia who went about turning the heathen from their idols, and being seized was made to run in iron shoes until he was burned for Christ at Gangra.
Feast Day
July 29
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Callinicus was an early Christian martyr who, according to the synaxarion tradition, came from Cilicia in Asia Minor and was raised in the Christian faith from childhood. Renouncing worldly concerns, he traveled through the cities and villages preaching the Gospel and turning pagans from the worship of idols.
Seized during one of the persecutions of the early Church, he was tortured and made to walk in nailed iron sandals on a forced march, and was finally put to death by fire at Gangra. He is commemorated by the Orthodox Church on July 29.
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Preaching and Arrest
The accounts relate that Callinicus, a native of Cilicia, devoted himself to evangelism, traveling through the cities and villages of Asia Minor to proclaim Jesus Christ and His teaching to the pagans, and converting many to the faith.
He was apprehended in Ancyra, a city of Galatia, and brought before a governor named Sacerdonus (also given as Sacerdos), described in the synaxaria as a fierce persecutor of Christians. The governor first attempted persuasion and then demanded that Callinicus offer sacrifice to the idols. The saint refused.
Tortures and Martyrdom
According to the synaxarion, the officials beat the saint with ox thongs and tore at his body with iron hooks. They then fastened upon his feet sandals fitted with sharp nails and drove him with whips along the road toward Gangra.
The tradition relates that during the march the soldiers escorting him suffered from thirst, and Callinicus, taking pity on his tormentors, caused a spring of water to gush forth from a stone, so that some of the soldiers were moved to compassion for their prisoner.
On reaching Gangra he was cast into fire and gave up his soul to God. The accounts add that his body was found unharmed by the flames and was reverently buried by the faithful.
