Synaxarium

On this day, the venerable saint Bektar son of Romanos, minister of King Diocletian, was martyred. His mother, Marta, raised him on Christian principles, and he rose in the ranks of the kingdom until he became third in rank. At that time, he was twenty years old and was much given to fasting, prayer, visiting prisoners, and helping the weak and poor. When the head of Saint Theodora, mother of Saints Cosmas and Damian, was cut off, no one dared to bury her for fear of the king. This saint advanced, took the body, buried it, and interred it, disregarding the king's order.

He often made his father weep over his worship of idols. He was betrayed to the king, who summoned him and demanded that he worship the idols in obedience to the royal command. The saint took the military belt and threw it in his face, saying, "Take your gift that you gave me," and threw it before him. His father advised the king to send him to Alexandria to be tortured there. While they were taking him, his mother wept and he entrusted her with the care of the poor, widows, and the needy. When he reached Alexandria, the governor Armanius tortured him severely, then sent him to the governor of Ansena, who also tortured him, then cut out his tongue and gouged out his eyes. The Lord strengthened and gave him patience each time. A fifteen-year-old girl watched him from her window during the torture and saw a crown descending upon his head. She confessed this before the governor and the gathered crowd, so the governor ordered her beheading along with the beheading of Saint Bektar. They both received the crown of life in the kingdom of heaven.

There is a district in Alexandria still known as Al-Bektaria, named after this saint, indicating that there was a church in his name in that district.

May their prayers be with us, and glory be to our Lord always. Amen.