The holy Martyrs of Numidia.
During the reign of the Emperor Valerian, many Christians perished, among them Saint Cyprian of Carthage in the year 258. Not long after, Marianus, a reader, and James, a deacon, were arrested in Cirta in Numidia (modern-day Algeria) and tortured. Marianus was hung on the rack till he bled, and hung not by his hands, but by the joints of his fingers, to increase the pain; and unequal weights were fastened to his body to pull it in different directions. In his torments, he had a vision of Saint Cyprian, who had been martyred not long before, stretching out his hand and smiling at him.
The Bishops Agapius and Secundinus had been martyred some time before; Saint Agapius appeared to James in prison, foretelling his martyrdom. With many other Christians, Marianus and James were taken to Lambesa, eighty miles away, to a place through which a river valley ran with high banks on either side, so that the heights on both sides were as a theater for the pagans who were to watch. Because of the many Christians to be beheaded, they were arranged in rows, so that the headsman passed by them lopping off one head after another as efficiently as possible. Saints Marianus and James are commemorated on April 30; Saints Agapius and Secundinus, their spiritual daughters the virgins Tertulla and Antonia, and the soldier Emilian, who had all been martyred before, are commemorated on April 29.
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