Commemorated on February13
The glorious and most wonderful life of Saint Martinian is worthwhile to read in its entirety. What did he not endure just to fulfill the commandments of the Lord? At age eighteen, Martinian retreated to a mountain in Cappadocia called the Place of the Ark, where he lived for twenty-five years in fasting, vigils and prayer, struggling with many temptations.
When a woman came to tempt him, Saint Martinian, perceiving that he would succumb to sin with her, leapt into the fire barefoot and remained in the fire until the pain brought tears to his eyes and subdued all lust within himself.
When another temptation erupted, Martinian fled to an isolated rock in the sea and lived there. Following a shipwreck, a young woman swam to this rock. Martinian jumped into the sea to avoid any further temptation, but a dolphin rescued him on its back and by God’s providence brought him to shore. Saint Martinian then decided never to make any place his permanent home, but to continually travel. In two years, he passed through 164 towns, correcting and counseling the people. He finally reached Athens, where he reposed in the year 422.
Saint Zoe and Photina
At first, Zoe was a prostitute and a temptress of St. Martinian. When she saw this ascetic leap into the fire to subdue all lust in himself, she bitterly repented. Zoe retreated to a convent in Bethlehem, where, as a faster and recluse, she heroically lived a life of asceticism. Repenting of all her sins, she received from God the fit of working miracles. St. Photina was cast by the winds of the sea onto the island where St. Martinian had isolated himself. Martinian immediately Feld the island and Photina remained there in fasting and prayer until her death.