The Martyrs hold the most important position in our Church, because it is founded on their testimony, torture, blood and their very lives. The so-called "Testimonies" are the biographies of the Martyrs of our Church, which narrate their heroic confessions to Christ and their unimaginable sufferings from the eternal Christian fighters.
The female Martyrs were just as heroic as the men, and in many cases surpassed them in courage, heroism and daring, in the face of their cruel tormentors! One of them is the great martyr Kyriaki, a fragrant flower of faith, piety, purity, heroism and determination of the ancient Church.
He was born in Nicomedia in Asia Minor and lived on 4ο century AD, from Greek Christian and pious parents. They were very rich, but had no child. For this reason, they constantly prayed to God to grant them the gift of childbearing. God heard their prayers and indeed gave them a cute little girl, who was born on Sunday and that is why they named her Sunday, which means dedicated to the Lord, just like His holy day.
Kyriaki grew up in the piety of her family. From an early age she acquired a strong faith in God and an immense love for Christ. He endowed her with rare physical beauty and excessive kindness of soul, so that she stood out from all the other girls in the big city where she lived. Early on she had decided to devote herself completely to Christ, preserving her virginity for Christ the Bridegroom. Let us not forget that for the Christian there are two paths: the path of virginity and the path of marriage. Both paths are blessed and equal for our Church.
When she reached marriageable age, many suitors, desiring the beauty of her body and soul, asked her to marry her. But she politely pushed them away, confessing her choice to be engaged throughout her life to Christ and to serve His Church in the faces of the suffering people.
But the life of Christians at that time was not easy, because the Church of Christ was under persecution. For three hundred years the corrupt pagan Roman state persecuted Christians to the point of annihilation. The totally corrupt emperors, not having the slightest moral restraint, issued decrees, by which they prohibited the practice of Christian worship under penalty of death. Those Christians who were arrested and refused to sign a document renouncing their faith and did not sacrifice to the pagan "gods" were subjected to horrible tortures, in order to deny their faith and be killed if they persisted.
In the years that Kyriaki lived, the emperor of Rome was the ferocious Diocletian, who in 303 AD ordered the most terrible persecution, worse than all the previous ones. The unscrupulous priests of the obscurantist oracles of Clarion and Didymaeus Apollo of Asia Minor had convinced the superstitious emperor that the Christians were mixed and that the "gods" because of this mixing left the state. In order to regain their "favour" the Christians had to disappear! Diocletian was convinced. Thousands of Christians were arrested and subjected to horrible tortures and shed their blood for Christ. Civil servants and soldiers were losing their positions and being killed. Books were being burned, properties were being confiscated, temples were being demolished!
A certain pagan magistrate of Nicomedia wanted to betroth Sunday to his son. When she refused, he denounced her and her parents to the authorities as Christians. The emperor himself ordered them to be subjected to severe torture. They were beaten continuously until the soldiers stopped the beating due to fatigue. But neither the threats nor the flattery of the pagans brought any effect. So they decided to send her parents into exile in Melitini, Armenia, and on Sunday she was sent to the equally brutal Maximianus for interrogation.
The saint confessed her faith in Christ with much courage. For her confession she was handed over to uncouth soldiers to be tortured, but she remained steadfast in her faith. One night, in her dark prison, she heard the voice of God encouraging her "Do not be afraid Sunday of torture, my spirit is with you"! Then she was handed over to the brutal prefect of Bithynia, Hilarion, to torture her even more, with the intention of making her repent. Hilarion ordered that she be burned daily with lighted torches and that she be hung by her hair for days. But God miraculously healed her wounds, so that many pagans would believe and be led to martyrdom!
Finally they led her to an adjacent pagan temple to sacrifice to the idols. When they brought her to this den of demons, she begged Christ to help her. And the miracle happened: a strong earthquake toppled the statues of the "gods", which became rubble. But the event enraged the pagan priests and deacons. So they lit a fire beside the altar and let it burn. But the flames did not burn her! After that, and at the instigation of the unscrupulous heathen priests, they beheaded her. He was only 21 years old! She did not succumb to the horrible tortures and did not betray her holy faith. She left for Upper Jerusalem as a pure and beautiful bride of Christ, and her blessed soul was united with her Bridegroom eternally! Her memory is celebrated on July 7.
