4th century
Saint Mark of Arethusa
Bishop of Arethusa tortured by pagans under Julian the Apostate, whose endurance moved his own persecutors.
Biography
Mark was bishop of Arethusa and lived in the time of Constantine the Great and his successors, taking part in several councils, such as Antioch in 341 and Seleucia in 358. He once tore down a pagan temple and built a church in its place.
When Julian the Apostate became emperor, Mark was arrested for this, scourged, and thrown into filthy ditches; tradition holds that he was then smeared with honey and hung upside down in the sun to be stung by bees and wasps. His endurance moved even his persecutors, who repented and learned the faith from him.