The Holy Martyr Glyceria and her jailer Martyr Laodicius, at Heraclea (138)
Glyceria was the daughter of a Roman governor. Becoming impoverished after her father’s death, Glyceria settled in Trajanopolis in Thrace. During the reign of the wicked Emperor Antoninus, Glyceria was taken to offer sacrifices to the idol of Zeus. She traced the sign of the Cross on her forehead, and when the Prefect Sabinus asked where her lamp was (for all of them carried lamps in their hands), Glyceria pointed to the Cross on her forehead and said: “This is my lamp.” As a result of her prayer, lightning struck the idol and smashed it to pieces. The prefect became angry and ordered her flogged and thrown into prison. He sealed the doors to the prison, determined to starve the virgin to death. However, an angel of God appeared to Glyceria and supplied heavenly food to her. After some time, when the prefect thought that the virgin must have died from hunger, he opened the doors of the prison and was astonished to see her healthy, radi- ant and joyful. Witnessing this miracle, Laodicius the jailer confessed Christ the Lord and was immediately beheaded.
After that, Glyceria was thrown into a fiery furnace but remained unharmed by the fire. Standing in the midst of the fire and remembering the miracle of the three youths in the Babylonian furnace, Glyceria praised the Lord. Finally she was thrown to the lions. While praying to God, this holy virgin gave up her soul to the Lord, for Whom she had bravely endured many tortures. She suffered honorably in the year 177. A healing myrrh flowed from her relics, which healed the sick of the gravest diseases.
