Hieromartyr 3rd century

Martyrs Jeremiah and Archilias

Also known as Jeremiah · Archilias the Presbyter

Two early martyrs, Jeremiah and the presbyter Archilias, mentioned by St Gregory the Dialogist. Little of their lives survives.

Feast Day

April 6

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Life

Jeremiah and Archilias are early Christian martyrs commemorated together in the Orthodox calendar on April 6. According to the surviving notices, they suffered martyrdom in the third century, and are associated with a Roman context. Archilias was a presbyter and is accordingly venerated as a hieromartyr, while Jeremiah is remembered as a martyr.

Almost nothing of their lives has been preserved. The synaxarion records that they were mentioned by Saint Gregory the Dialogist (Gregory the Great), but no surviving account gives the place or manner of their martyrdom or any further biographical detail. They remain among the many early witnesses known to the Church chiefly by name, rank, and commemoration.

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Sources and Attestation

The principal notice of Jeremiah and Archilias is a brief synaxarion entry, which states only that they suffered in the third century and that they were mentioned by Saint Gregory the Dialogist. The priest's name also appears in the forms Archilius and Alchimius.

Liturgical calendars of the Eastern Orthodox Church list them on April 6 as 'Hieromartyr Archilias, Priest, and Martyr Jeremiah, of Rome,' which preserves the Roman association and the third-century dating. Beyond these short notices no detailed account of their lives survives.

Notes

Archilias is a presbyter (priest), hence Hieromartyr; Jeremiah a Martyr. Mentioned by St Gregory Dialogus. Region uncertain (Roman context inferred from Gregory the Dialogist).

Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints