Philumenus of Ancyra
The Holy Martyr Philumenus of Ancyra
Martyr · d. c. 274
Commemorated 29 November — Martyrdom at Ancyra under Aurelian
Philumenus of Ancyra was a grain-merchant of the Galatian city of Ancyra (modern Ankara) who suffered for Christ about the year 274, in the persecution of the emperor Aurelian. Denounced to the governor Felix by envious rivals as a Christian, he refused to deny his faith. His torturers drove nails into his hands, feet, and head and forced him to walk, and he died of his wounds, giving up his soul to God. He is commemorated on November 29.
Philumenus lived at Ancyra, the chief city of Galatia in central Asia Minor, and earned his living in the grain and bread trade. His martyrdom is placed in the reign of the emperor Aurelian (270–275), whose latter years saw a renewed pressure upon the Christians of the East. The account preserved in the synaxaria is brief. Certain persons, moved by envy, reported to the provincial governor — named Felix in the notices — that Philumenus was a Christian, and he was brought to trial.
Standing before the judge, Philumenus would not renounce Christ. His confession was answered with a torture at once ingenious and cruel: nails were hammered into his hands, into his feet, and into his head, and in this state he was driven to walk. The holy martyr bore the agony without yielding, and at length died from loss of blood, his endurance complete. The Greek commemorative distich plays on his name — Φιλούμενος, "the beloved" — observing that they pierced the feet of Philumenus with nails, one who loved Christ and was beloved of God.
Feast and commemoration
November 29 (church date; Old Calendar civil December 12), within the Nativity Fast, kept together with the martyr Paramon and the 370 of Bithynia and the venerable Acacius of Sinai. The Greek Menaion of the day gives its proper service to Paramon; Philumenus is named in the synaxarion and honoured with the common hymns of a martyr.
Hymns
Troparion — Tone 4
Thy martyr Philumenus, O Lord, in his contest received the crown of incorruption from Thee our God; for possessed of Thy strength, he cast down the tyrants and broke the feeble insolence of the demons. By his intercessions, O Christ God, save our souls.
Original translation from the Greek
Iconography
Philumenus is shown as a young lay martyr in tunic and himation, holding the cross of confession; where his passion is depicted, the distinguishing detail is the nails driven into his hands, feet, and head. No storable pre-modern icon identified specifically as this Philumenus has been located, and he is listed among the wanted icons.