Martyr Laodicius the Keeper of the Prison

Commemorated on May 13.

Saint Glyceria was tortured at Heraclea in Thrace during a persecution against Christians under the emperor Antoninus (138-161).The martyr was then thrown into prison onto sharp stones. She prayed incessantly, and at midnight an angel appeared in the prison and healed her of her wounds.

When the jailer Laodicius came for the saint in the morning, he did not recognize her. Thinking that the martyr had been taken away, he feared he would be punished for letting her escape. He wanted to kill himself, but Saint Glyceria stopped him. Shaken by the miracle, Laodicius believed in the true God, and he entreated the saint to pray that he might suffer and die for Christ with her.

“Follow Christ and you will be saved,” the holy martyr replied. Laodicius placed upon himself the chains with which the saint was bound, and at the trial he told the prefect and everyone present about the miraculous healing of Saint Glyceria by an angel, then he confessed himself a Christian.

The newly chosen one of God was beheaded by the sword. Christians secretly took up his remains, and reverently buried them.