Deacon-Martyr
Martyr Euplus the Archdeacon
✓ Comprehensive Orthodox source review completed
The deacon of Catania who carried the Holy Gospels and proclaimed Christ before his judges.
Core account checked against Orthodox Church in America — Martyr Euplus the Archdeacon, Orthodox Church in America — Martyr Euplus the Archdeacon, The Prologue from Ohrid — August 11. Additional ecclesiastical references appear below.
Life and Witness
The Deacon with the Gospel
Saint Euplus served as a deacon at Catania in Sicily during the persecution of Diocletian and Maximian. He carried the Holy Gospels and read them publicly despite imperial orders against Christian Scripture.
Arrested with the book in his hands, he confessed that he had received the Gospel as the law of his Lord and would not surrender it.
Imprisonment and Martyrdom
Euplus endured interrogation, torture and imprisonment. Even in suffering he continued to proclaim Christ and strengthen those who heard him.
Before execution, the Gospel was hung around his neck. He prayed, gave thanks to God and was beheaded, sealing his ministry of the written word through martyrdom.
Veneration and Feast
Catania preserved the memory of the holy deacon, and his veneration spread in both East and West. His life calls Christians to receive Scripture within obedience to Christ and the worshipping Church.
August 11 — Holy Martyr and Archdeacon Euplus of Catania.
From the Orthodox Synaxarion
The Prologue from Ohrid emphasizes Saint Euplus’s inseparable attachment to the Gospel book. He was arrested while proclaiming it and carried it at his martyrdom, showing that his diaconal service and confession flowed from the word of Christ.
Historical Record and Ecclesiastical Tradition
The account of Euplus's arrest at Catania while carrying and proclaiming the Gospel belongs to the ancient martyrological tradition of the Diocletian persecution. His trial speeches, torments and final procession with the Gospel book are presented as testimony of the martyr acts, not as episodes recorded in canonical Scripture.
Biographical information on this page is based exclusively on the Orthodox ecclesiastical sources listed below.
Orthodox Church in America — Martyr Euplus the ArchdeaconOrthodox Church in America — Martyr Euplus the ArchdeaconThe Prologue from Ohrid — August 11The Prologue from Ohrid — August 11