Anthony, John, and Eustathius (''Eustathios, Eustace''; , ; Martyrs of Vilnius, , ) are saints and martyrs of the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

. Their feast day is celebrated on 14 April in the horologion. They are commemorated on the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

each year on 13 July. They are commemorated with the 4th Tone

Troparion A troparion (Greek , plural: , ; Georgian: , ; Church Slavonic: , ) in Byzantine music and in the religious music of Eastern Orthodox Christianity is a short hymn of one stanza, or organised in more complex forms as series of stanzas. The wi ...

and 3rd Tone

Kontakion A kontakion (Greek , ''kondákion'', plural κοντάκια, ''kondákia'') is a form of hymn in the Byzantine liturgical tradition. The kontakion form originated in Syriac hymnography and gained prominence in Byzantium during the 6th century, ...

in Eastern Orthodoxy.

Life

They were attached to the

Grand Duchy of Moscow The Grand Principality of Moscow, or Muscovy, known as the Principality of Moscow until 1389, was a late medieval Russian monarchy. Its capital was the city of Moscow. Originally established as a minor principality in the 13th century, the gra ...

, and were missionaries dispatched to the court of

Algirdas Algirdas (; , ; – May 1377) was List of Lithuanian monarchs, Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1345 to 1377. With the help of his brother Kęstutis (who defended the western border of the Duchy) he created an empire stretching from the pre ...

(reigned 1345 to 1377), who was the

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

Grand Duke of Lithuania This is a list of Lithuanian monarchs who ruled Lithuania from its inception until the fall of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1795. The Lithuanian monarch bore the title of Grand duke, Grand Duke, with the exception of Mindaugas, who was crown ...

. Algirdas was wed to the Orthodox princess, Maria of Vitebsk, and the three were permitted to minister only to her and banned from

proselytizing Proselytism () is the policy of attempting to convert people's religious or political beliefs. Carrying out attempts to instill beliefs can be called proselytization. Proselytism is illegal in some countries. Some draw distinctions between Chris ...

. Maria requested an Orthodox church to be built. After the death of Maria, Albridas began to support pagan priests who were persecuting against Christians. John and Anthony did not practice the pagan worshipping and were seen observing Orthodox fasting, did not cut their hair like the pagans did, and were hiding the fact they were not pagans. Algridas became suspicious of John and Anthony, so he decided to interrogate them. When they were ordered to eat meat, they refused due to the Orthodox fasting period (also known as

Great Lent Great Lent, or the Great Fast (Greek language, Greek: Μεγάλη Τεσσαρακοστή, ''Megali Tessarakosti'' or Μεγάλη Νηστεία, ''Megali Nisteia'', meaning "Great 40 Days", and "Great Fast", respectively), is the most impor ...

). Eustathius remained free and was separated form the John and Anthony. When they refused, they were tortured and put in prison. On April 14, 1347 Anthony was hanged on an oak tree, one that pagans used to use for worship. Later, John who was in prison, was swarmed by a large crowd of people and strangled to death. His body was hung on the same one as Anthony on April 24, 1347. Both of their bodies were buried by Christians in the Church of Saint Nicholas in Vilnius. Eustathius was beaten with iron rods. Algirdas gave orders to strip Eustathius naked, take him to the streets and pour ice water in his mouth. Later, they broke his ankle bones, ripped his hair and skin from his head, and cut off his nose and ears. Eustathius was then sentenced to death and hanged on the same oak tree that Saint John and Saint Anthony were killed on December 13, 1347. For three days, the bodies were not allowed to be taken down. A church was later built where the martyrs died and an altar table was built on the stump of the

oak tree An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the Fagaceae, beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northe ...

Veneration

Their bodies were in a glass

reliquary A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', ''Chasse (casket), chasse'', or ''phylactery'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary, or the room in which one is stored, may also be called a ''feretory''. Relics may be the purported ...

in the

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

chapel under the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

of the

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

in the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. In 1915, during the invasion of the Germans, these relics were then taken to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Their relics, said to be incorruptible, have since been moved to the main sanctuary of the cathedral. They have also been recognised as saints in the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, after having been added to the

General Roman Calendar The General Roman Calendar (GRC) is the liturgy, liturgical calendar that indicates the dates of celebrations of saints and Sacred mysteries, mysteries of the Lord (Jesus Christ) in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, wherever this liturgic ...

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

in 1969.

References

Literature

* John Meyendorff, The three Lithuanian martyrs: Byzantium and Lithuania in the fourteenth century // St. Vladimir Theological Quarterly, 26 (1982), 29–44

External links

Saint of the Day, April 14: Antony (Kukley), Eustace (Nizilon), and John (Milhey)Martyr Anthony of Vilnius, Lithuania (April 14)
at Orthodox Church in America
Icon
at Orthodox Church in America 14th-century Christian saints 14th century in Lithuania Eastern Orthodoxy in Lithuania Russian saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church 1347 deaths History of Vilnius Lithuanian saints Saints trios 14th-century Eastern Orthodox martyrs Year of birth unknown {{saint-stub