26 August/8 September

The spouses Adrian and Natalia lived in the city of Nicomedia in the Bythinian province of Asia Minor. Adrian was a pagan and a dignitary of Emperor Maximian Galerius (305­311 AD), a persecutor of Christians. Natalia was a secret Christian. During the persecutions, twenty three believers hid in a cave near Nicomedia. They were caught, judged, tortured and urged to offer sacrifice to the gods. Then they were brought to the court of justice in order to record their names. Adrian, the head of the court, was there, who asked them what reward they expected from their God for their tortures. They answered him: "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him" (I Corinthians 2:9). Upon hearing this, Adrian said to the scribes: "Record my name also together with them, because I too am a Christian". Adrian was put into prison. The Emperor counseled him to strike his name from the list of Christians and to beg forgiveness. Adrian assured him that he had not lost his mind, but had acted thus according to his own conviction. He was then twenty eight years of age.

Having learned what had happened, Natalia hurried to the prison, where she encouraged Adrian to be manful. When the imprisoned Christians were sentenced to death, Adrian was released for a brief time to go home, so that he might inform his wife of this. On seeing Adrian, Natalia was afraid that he had renounced Christ and did not let him into the house.

Upon returning to the prison, Adrian, together with the other martyrs, was subjected to terrible tortures: the arms and legs of the martyrs were broken by a heavy hammer, from which they died amidst terrible sufferings. When Adrian's turn came, his wife feared most of all that her husband would become faint­hearted and renounce Christ. She strengthened Adrian and held on to his arms and legs while the executioner broke them with a hammer. Saint Adrian died together with the rest of the martyrs in 304 AD. When they began to burn their bodies, a thunderstorm arose and the furnace was extinguished; lightning killed several of the executioners.

A millenary of the army wanted to marry Natalia, who was still young and rich. Even before Adrian's death, Natalia had asked him to pray that she not be forced to marry. Now Adrian appeared to her in a dream and said that soon she would follow after him. And thus it happened: Natalia died on her husband's grave in the outskirts of the city of Byzantium, where the faithful had transferred his body.