St. Tarachus

St. Tarachus (died c. 304) was, according to his ancient and detailed acts, an older man — a Roman veteran soldier of Cilician origin — who, together with his younger companions Probus and Andronicus, was arrested during the persecution of Diocletian in Cilicia (in present-day Turkey). The account of their trials preserves what purports to be the record of their interrogations before the Roman governor, in which the three steadfastly confessed Christ and refused to sacrifice to the gods.

Subjected repeatedly to brutal tortures over the course of successive hearings, they remained unshaken, answering their judge with courage and even with wit, and were finally condemned to death in the amphitheater, where they were dispatched by the sword when the wild beasts would not harm them. Their relics were reverently recovered by Christians. Venerated together in both East and West, the three are honored as martyrs whose steadfastness under prolonged suffering became a celebrated example of Christian endurance.