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St. Ischyrion of Egypt

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Saints and feasts

St. Ischyrion of Egypt

Martyr

Ischyrion served an Egyptian magistrate and was killed after refusing to offer pagan sacrifice. Butler follows the account of Dionysius of Alexandria preserved by Eusebius.

Sources

The life below remains the existing Butler-based reading, with its edition citation. The profile preserves the feast date and source title already listed in the library. Additional personal dates and historical details are shown only when separately documented.

Ancient witness: Dionysius of Alexandria
Butler follows the account preserved by Eusebius; the city is not named.

Butler sourceAlban Butler, The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, Volume XII (December), Thomas Richardson and Son, Derby, for the Catholic Book Society, 1846; December 22, “St Ischyrion, Martyr,” pp. 337-339.

Butler’s Lives of the Saints (1846)Alban Butler, The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, Volume XII (December), Thomas Richardson and Son, Derby, for the Catholic Book Society, 1846; December 22, “St Ischyrion, Martyr,” pp. 337-339.

The reading

ⓘ Butler source

Alban Butler, The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, Volume XII (December), Thomas Richardson and Son, Derby, for the Catholic Book Society, 1846; December 22, “St Ischyrion, Martyr,” pp. 337-339.

Ischyrion held a subordinate position in the service of an Egyptian magistrate. Butler follows Dionysius of Alexandria, whose account was preserved by Eusebius. The city in which he lived is not named in that testimony.

His master commanded him to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. Ischyrion refused, and neither insults nor threats changed his confession. The magistrate’s anger ended in a violent attack that killed the Christian who served him.

Butler draws from this short account a reflection on the dignity of holiness in every condition of life. Ischyrion’s place in society did not prevent him from giving a courageous witness to Christ. His refusal to sacrifice showed that faithful service to another person could not require disobedience to God.

Historical note

An original Novena Regina reading adapted and summarized from the cited pre-1962 source. This is not a transcription of Butler’s words.

The source does not name Ischyrion’s city. His employment is a biographical fact, not evidence of patronage.

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