The martyrdom of Mar Kuriakos and his mother Julitta (304 A.D)

As the Assyrian Church of the East worldwide commemorates the martyrdom of Mar Kuriakos and his mother, let us look upon and be encouraged by the faith of this blessed three-year old martyr and his mother as we learn from their pious plight to death and how we can apply this same zealous faith to our lives as Christians of the 21^st century.

Julitta was of noble birth. She was widowed young, and left with a newborn child, Kyriakos. She lived in Iconium, a city of Lycaonia, and was a very devout Christian. She had her son baptised immediately after his birth and, when he was three years old, instructed him in the Faith and taught him to pray insofar as a child of that age is capable of learning.

The mother and child were martyred during the last particularly fierce persecutions of Christians under the Emperor Diocletian (284-305). In order to escape persecution, she took refuge at Tarsus in Cilicia with her child, who was then three years old. She was recognized as a Christian and reported to the authorities, and brought before the tribunal of the prefect Alexander. Because her two servants took flight, she had to bring her small son with her.

When Julitta refused to pray to the idols, the prefect Alexander took the child from her arms and ordered her to be whipped with raw thongs. At the sight of his mother’s tortures, Kuriakos began to cry out and shed tears. Alexander, who was holding the child in his lap, tried to quiet him with caresses and kind words. But the small child repulsed these blandishments with honor and scratched Alexander’s face with his nails, crying out, “I am a Christian!”

In astonishment, the prefect asked him who had taught him to speak. And the child answered, “Thy lack of wit is a wonder to me, that, seeing my age, you need ask who instructed me in the knowledge of the true God!” And he repeated the words, “I am a Christian!”

“But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say.

Matthew 10:19"

Enraged, Alexander raised the child and hurled him down, dashing his head on the steps of the tribunal. Julitta, filled with joy, gave thanks to God that her son had gone before her into the heavenly realm. She herself was then flayed, plunged in boiling pitch, and at last beheaded. 

To prevent them from being buried by the Christians, the prefect ordered their bodies to be cut in pieces and scattered in different places. But an Angel collected the members, the Golden Legend tells us, and they were buried by the Christians under the cover of the night. Later, when peace was restored to the Church, an aged serving woman made known the resting place of the two bodies.

This year, the commemoration of Mar Kuriakos and his mother falls on the 12^th July. Let us look to the faith of these blessed martyrs’ who endured persecution in the name of the Lord Jesus, and aim to adopt the same faithful attitude; with the fear of God, unrelenting faith in every challenging situation and zeal for upholding His truth no matter what modern day persecutions confront us.

“ Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. ¹⁰ At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹ Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. ¹² Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. ¹³  But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. ¹⁴ This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

Matthew 24:9-14

May the prayers of the martyrs Mar Kuriakos and his mother bless you and your family.

The Martyrdom of Mar Kuriakos and his mother Julitta 304 A.D.