Soldier & Martyr
Holy Martyr Varus (Ouaros)
The hidden Christian who served imprisoned believers and then openly joined their confession of Christ.
Core account checked against Orthodox Church in America — Martyr Varus and seven Monastic Martyrs with him, Orthodox Church in America — Blessed Cleopatra with her son John, Orthodox Synaxarion — Saint Ouaros. Additional ecclesiastical references appear below.
Life and Witness
A Soldier and a Hidden Christian
Saint Varus, also called Ouaros, served as a Roman soldier in Egypt during the persecutions of the late third and early fourth centuries. He believed in Christ but initially concealed his faith from his military superiors.
His first acts of witness were works of mercy. He visited imprisoned Christians at night, brought food, tended their wounds and offered encouragement. While others awaited suffering, he used the freedom available to him to serve them.
Fear and the Prayer of the Prisoners
The fuller Orthodox tradition remembers that Varus feared his own weakness under torture. He asked the imprisoned ascetics to pray that he might receive strength to remain faithful to Christ. His courage grew within this companionship and prayer.
His Life therefore does not begin with a man untouched by fear. It begins with a Christian who recognized his need for help and continued to act mercifully while seeking the grace to confess his faith openly.
The Empty Place among the Ascetics
The Greek Synaxarion describes a company of seven ascetics, one of whom died from the hardships of captivity before the others were brought before the judge. When the missing prisoner was asked for, Varus stepped forward and publicly declared his Christian faith.
The shorter OCA Life presents seven imprisoned monastic teachers and emphasizes his decision to accompany them to their execution. These accounts preserve the same central witness while differing in the detail of the company’s number: Varus freely joined those he had previously helped in secret.
Martyrdom for Christ
His officers tried to turn him from his decision. Varus instead asked for the prayers of the ascetics and endured the violence inflicted upon him. According to the received Life, he died under torture without renouncing Christ.
The remaining ascetics were subsequently beheaded. Christians buried the martyrs reverently. The soldier’s hidden service had become a public confession sealed by his death.
Blessed Cleopatra and the Holy Relics
Blessed Cleopatra witnessed his suffering and honored his body. She later carried his relics to her homeland in Palestine and buried them reverently. Her devotion forms the next chapter of the saint’s received Life.
The account of Cleopatra and her son John is preserved separately in the Orthodox calendar. Their remembrance shows how the veneration of the martyr continued through the prayer and care of a Christian household.
The Death of John and a Mother’s Consolation
Cleopatra’s beloved son John died, leaving her in deep grief. She prayed before the martyr’s relics and asked for her son to be restored to her. According to the Orthodox Life, Varus and John appeared to her in a dream, radiant and crowned.
The vision reassured her that her son had been received into the heavenly Kingdom. Cleopatra then lived beside the church she had built over their remains, giving her possessions to the poor and dedicating herself to prayer and fasting. The OCA account places her repose seven years later.
Prayer, Hope and Commemoration
Later Orthodox devotion has associated Saint Varus with prayer for the departed. The Life of Cleopatra particularly expresses consolation in bereavement and hope in God’s mercy. This remembrance should not be turned into a mechanical promise concerning the fate of an individual soul.
The Orthodox Church commemorates Saint Varus and his companions on October 19, together with Blessed Cleopatra and John. The Greek Synaxarion also records a portion of the saint’s relics at Kykkos Monastery in Cyprus. His Life joins quiet charity, prayer for courage and steadfast confession. Holy Martyr Varus, pray to God for us.
Biographical information on this page is based exclusively on the Orthodox ecclesiastical sources listed below.
Orthodox Church in America — Martyr Varus and seven Monastic Martyrs with himOrthodox Church in America — Blessed Cleopatra with her son JohnOrthodox Synaxarion — Saint Ouaros