Today the Church honors Sts. Bassa and her children, Theognis, Agapius and Pistus, Martyrs.
Orate pro nobis.
St. Bassa lived in the city of Macedonian Edessa and she was married to a pagan priest. From childhood she had been raised in the Christian Faith, but had an arranged marriage to a pagan of high standing, a priest. Though married into a pagan priestly family, she passed on the Christian Faith to her sons, who were baptized into the Body of Christ..
During the reign of the co-emperor Maximian Galerius (305-311), the husband denounced his wife and children to the governor of the region. It is unclear why he would do this, knowing that she was a Christian when they married. Most likely it is because she had her children baptized and had instructed them in the Christian Faith secretly.
In spite of threats of torture and death, the boys refused to offer sacrifice to idols, so they were tortured and put to death. The eldest son, Theognis, was raked with iron claws, then he was beheaded. The skin of the young Agapius was flayed from head to chest, but the martyr did not utter a sound. The youngest son Pistus was tortured and beheaded, just as his brothers had been. One account says that the three brothers suffered at Edessa in Macedonia. Another account says they died at Larissa in Thessaly, their homeland. That a father could do this to his own children shows how much he was in the grip of demons.
Saint Bassa was thrown into prison and was weakened by hunger, but she said that an angel strengthened her with heavenly food. Under successive tortures she remained unharmed by fire, water, and ravenous beasts. When they brought her to a pagan temple, she rebuked the powers of evil and the Lord shattered the statue of Zeus. Then they threw the martyr into a whirlpool in the sea. But to everyone’s surprise a ship sailed up, and three radiant men pulled her up into their boat and returned her to land. She was seized again by the governor’s soldiers. After eight days, Saint Bassa came by ship to the governor of the island of Alona, not far from Cyzicus, in the Propontis or Sea of Marmora. After beating her with rods, they beheaded her. They died in 305 AD.
Almighty God, who gave to your servants Bassa, Theognis, Agapius, and Pistus boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
