The Holy Martyr Philosophos

Commemorated on May 31

The Holy Martyr Philosophos suffered for Christ in Alexandria during the persecution by the emperor Decius (249-251). They urged the youth to recant from Christ, but he remained steadfast. Then the torturers decided to dispose him towards sinfulness. They led the saint into a flowery garden and left him bound alone with a profligate woman. In order not to yield to sin, the saint bit his tongue and by this pain of suffering defended himself from fleshly passion. He spit out his bloody tongue in the face of the profligate. The executioners, seeing the bravery and fearlessness of the martyr, beheaded the saint with a sword.