Leontius, Dometius, Terentius and Domninus
The Holy Martyrs Leontius, Dometius, Terentius and Domninus
Martyr
Commemorated 16 October — Perfected by fire
Leontius, Dometius, Terentius and Domninus are four martyrs commemorated together in the Greek synaxarion of October 16, in the company of the day's chief saint, Longinus the Centurion. Their whole surviving record is the synaxarion notice and its verses, which are addressed to Leontius as the leader of the band and play on his name: with his three fellow-contestants he went lion-like into the midst of the fire. Where and when the four suffered is not transmitted; the Church knows them by their names, their unity, and their death by burning.
The record of these martyrs is a synaxarion notice, and this entry keeps to it. The Synaxarion of Constantinople, followed by the Greek Menaion, sets down for October 16 "the memory of the holy Martyrs Leontius, Dometius, Terentius and Domninus," with a distich addressed to Leontius: having three fellow-athletes with him, he sprang "lion-like" (the verses pun on Λεόντιος and λέων, lion) into the midst of the pyre. From the verses it is gathered that the four were perfected by fire, Leontius at their head; the notice transmits neither place, nor persecutor, nor year, and none is asserted here.
Feast and commemoration
October 16 (church date; Old Calendar civil October 29), in the Greek synaxarion of the day, third among its notices — after Longinus the Centurion and the two soldiers martyred with him, and before the venerable Malus. The commemoration is transmitted in the Greek tradition; the OCA and Russian calendar pages for the day, checked live, do not list the four. No proper service is appointed; the common of martyrs is used where their memory is kept liturgically.
Hymns
Troparion — Tone 4 (from the common of several martyrs)
Thy Martyrs, O Lord, by their contest received incorruptible crowns from thee, our God; for possessing thy strength they cast down the tyrants and broke the powerless insolence of the demons. By their intercessions, O Christ God, save our souls.
Original translation from the Greek
Iconography
No icon of the four is known to this collection: the Menologion of Basil II transmits only the Longinus miniature for October 16 (verified by autopsy of the Vatican digitisation), and no later image of this company has been found. The subject, were it painted, would follow the menologion convention for martyrs by fire: the company standing in prayer amid the flames.
Disputed questions
- Not to be confused with the many other martyrs of these common names in the calendar: among others, the Leontius who suffered with Cronides and Serapion at Alexandria (September 13); the martyr Domninus of Thessalonica (October 1, Greek synaxarion — a separate martyr, whose entry is pending); the great-martyr Dometius of Persia (August 7); and Terentius the companion of Neonilla (October 28). Each is a distinct commemoration; only the shared names connect them.