On November 18/December 1, our Holy Orthodox Church commemorates two saints who didn't know each other in life, but who shared the same conviction for standing up for Christ and His teachings. On this day, we commemorate the Martyrs Plato and Romanus.

     Plato lived in the 3rd century in Galatia. At a time when it was dangerous to do so, he openly practiced his Christian faith. He denounced the pagans for thier idol worship, for which he was arrested and brought before the governor. He was severely tortured, but still would not agree to worship the Roman gods. When the governor commented that he had the same name as a famous pagan philosopher, he repied: "I am not like Plato, nor he like me. I learn and teach the wisdom that is of Christ, while he taught the wisdom that is folly before God." Plato was finally beheaded in 266 AD.

     Romanus was a deacon of the Church in Caesarea and preached the gospel in Antioch as well. When he saw the governor of Antioch entering a pagan temple to offer sacrifice to the Roman gods, Romanus confronted him with these words: "You sin, O governor, when you go to the idols. They are not gods, for Christ is the only true God."Enraged, the governor cast him into prison and ordered him to be tortured. Romanus was first sentenced to be burned alive, but a sudden rain extinguished the fire. The saint immediately began glorifying Christ and ridiculing the pagan gods. The governor then ordered the tongue of Romanus to be cut out, but miraculously, this did not prevent him from continuing to loudly praise God. His life finally ended when the prison guards strangled him to death.

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