Elias and four companions,Daniel,Isaiah,Jeremiah (also known asJeremy andJeremias), andSamuel wereEgyptianmartyrs. Theirfeast day is February 16.
DuringMaximinus'persecution, a number ofChristians were condemned for life to slavery in the copper mines ofRoman Cilicia. Elias and his companions visited them to provide comfort.[1]
Upon their return toEgypt in 309, they were stopped at the gates ofCaesarea,Palestine, and questioned. Upon confessing the reason for their journey, they were arrested.[2] The following day they, along withPamphilus who had also been caught up in the persecutions, were brought before theprovincialgovernorFirmilian.[3]
Accused of being Christians, they were racked and interrogated. Elias and his friends identified themselves by their baptismal names and their country as "Jerusalem", a reference to the Christians' heavenly Jerusalem. The city of Jerusalem had been sacked byTitus and later rebuilt asAelia Capitolina. Firmilian had them further tortured to discover the location of their true country, and at last, tired with tormenting them, condemned them to be beheaded.[4]
When Porphyry, a servant of Pamphilus, demanded that the bodies be buried, he was tortured and thenburned to death when it was found that he was a Christian.[3] St. Seleucus witnessed his death and was overheard applauding Porphyry's constancy in the face of this terrible death; whereupon he was arrested by thesoldiers involved in theexecution, brought before the governor, and beheaded at Firmilian's order.[5] ThehistorianEusebius was inCaesarea, and gave a vivid account of their martyrdom by torture and beheading.[1]
