JULY 22

Day 22: Saint Lucius, or Nohra (which means Light).

Saint Nohra was born in Persia. Other sources claim that he was born in a town nearby Alexandria (Egypt) in a wealth pagan family. His intelligence and vast knowledge could not but show him how silly and baseless the pagan religions were; which he disregarded and learned about the Christian faith from a scientist friend of his, and got baptized along with his father. He then took his time studying the Holy Scriptures and interpreting them, and started spending more and more time in prayer and meditations. After his parents passed away, he became a priest and distributed all his wealth to the needy, and consecrated his whole life to the Gospel, converting many pagans to Christ, supported by the miracles God performed through him. Through his good example and touching words, Nohra was a light among his people, leading many to Christ the source of every goodness. His name Nohra in Aramaic, or Lucius in Latin, which means light, described adequately what he did. Nohra is quite popular in Lebanon as the patron of sight; where he has many churches dedicated to his name.

Under the persecutions led by King Maxim against the Christians, Saint Nohra went out along the Phoenician coast, through Akka, Tyre, Byblos, Batroun, and Tripoli, defending the faithful Christians and encouraging them to enduring this passing suffering, and converting many other pagans to the true faith in Christ. Governor Rofianos arrested him and brought him to a pagan temple to worship the idols there. As Saint Nohra made the sign of the cross, a voice was heard: “you had put me to shame, O Nohra”; to this the saint answered back: “May you be in shame for ever.” This enraged the governor who ordered his soldiers to handcuff him and drag him to the jail. Now around forty of these soldiers had denied their Christian faith, being afraid of the torture. Nohra knew this and encouraged them by his example and words, and thus they confessed publicly that they are Christians; which made the pagans to attack and kill some of them, and jail others; while saint Nohra’s legs and rips were broken on a torture machine, before he was thrown in the prison, where he remained praying.

Few days later the king’s minister came to see him in the prison. As soon as saint Nohra saw him, he shouted up: “I am Christian”. The minister was astonished to witness such courage and patient, and asked him where are you from, what do you do as a job, who are your parents? But the only response he could get from Nohra was: “I am Christian.” Thus Nohra was beheaded and ended as a martyr toward the end of the third century. Historians dispute over the place of his martyrdom. One traditions says that he was killed in Asmar-Jbeil town in Batroun, Lebanon, where he broke down the idols of the pagan temple there. May his prayer be with us. Amen.