Christian martyrs and saints Sergius and Bacchus

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[color=rgb(255,0,0)][b]The story of the martyrs Sergius and Bacchus[/b][/color][b][color=rgb(0,0,0)].[b] [/b]([/color]died c. 303[color=rgb(0,0,0)],[/color] Resafe[color=rgb(0,0,0)],[/color] Syria[color=rgb(0,0,0)]; [/color]feast day October 7[color=rgb(0,0,0)]),[/color][/b][color=rgb(255,0,0)][b] among the earliest and most celebrated Christian martyrs[/b][/color][color=rgb(0,0,0)][b],[/b][/color][color=rgb(255,0,0)][b] originally commemorated in the Eastern and Western churches[/b][/color][b]:[/b][/size][/font][/color]
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[b]The saints' story is told in the Greek text known as The Passion of Sergius and Bacchus.[/b][/size][/font][/color]
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Sergius and Bacchus were Roman citizens and high-ranking officers of the Roman Army, but their covert Christianity was discovered when they attempted to avoid accompanying a Roman official into a pagan temple with the rest of his bodyguard. After they persisted in refusing to sacrifice to Jupiter in Galerius' company, they were publicly humiliated by being chained, dressed in female attire and paraded around town. Galerius then sent them to Barbalissos in Mesopotamia to be tried by Antiochus, the military commander there and an old friend of Sergius. Antiochus could not convince them to give up their faith, however, and Bacchus was beaten to death.[/size][/font][/color]
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[b]The next day Bacchus' spirit appeared to Sergius and encouraged him to remain strong [color=rgb(255,0,0)]so they could be together forever[/color]. [/b][/size][/font][/color]
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[color=rgb(34,34,34)][font='Helvetica Neue'][size=4][b]Meanwhile the blessed Serge, deeply depressed and heartsick over the loss of Bacchus, wept and cried out, "No longer, brother and fellow soldier, will we chant together, 'Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!' You have been unyoked from me and gone up to heaven, leaving me alone on earth, bereft [literally, "made single"], without comfort."[/b] After he uttered these things, the same night the blessed Bacchus suddenly appeared to him with a face as radiant as an angel's, wearing an officer's uniform, and spoke to him. "[/size][/font][/color][color=#ff0000][font='Helvetica Neue'][size=4][b]Why do you grieve and mourn, brother? If I have been taken from you in body, I am still with you in the bond of union, chanting and reciting, 'I will run the way of your commandments, when have enlarged my heart.' Hurry then, yourself, brother, through beautiful and perfect confession to pursue and obtain me, when finishing the course. For the crown of justice for me is with you.''[/b][/size][/font][/color][color=rgb(34,34,34)][font='Helvetica Neue'][size=4] At daybreak when he rose he related to those who were with him how he had seen the blessed Bacchus in the night and in what sort of garb.[/size][/font][/color][/size][/font][/color]
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Over the next days, Sergius was also brutally tortured and finally executed at Resafa (known in Roman times as Sergiopolis), where his death was marked by miraculous happenings.[/size][/font][/color]
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[b]Sergius and Bacchus were very popular throughout Late Antiquity, and churches in their honor were built in several cities, including Constantinople and Rome. [color=rgb(255,0,0)]The love between the two is strongly emphasized[/color] in their hagiographies and traditions, making them one of the most famous examples of paired saints.[/b][/size][/font][/color]
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Considerable posthumous homage has been paid the martyrs. In 431 Alexander, metropolitan of Hierapolis, restored the church over Sergius’ grave, and shortly afterward Risafe became a bishopric. The Byzantine emperor Justinian I changed the name of Risafe to Sergiopolis, making it an archdiocese, and in honour of Sergius he had churches built at Constantinople (now Istanbul) and at Acre in Palestine.[/size][/font][/color]
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[b]The church at Resafe became famous in the East as a major pilgrimage site. Sergius and Bacchus were designated protectors of the Byzantine army, and numerous Eastern sanctuaries and churches were subsequently dedicated to them. Their veneration is old, and a mass ascribed to Pope St. Gelasius I is assigned to them. Christian desert nomads regard Sergius as their patron saint.[/b][/size][/font][/color]