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Holy Martyr Plato     12/1/2013

Saint Plato lived at the city of Ancyra in Galatia. He was born and raised in the Christian spirit. Ever since his young age he demonstrated an advanced perfection in all Christian virtues. He did not attempt to conceal his faith in Christ, but confessed it openly, denouncing the idolaters for their worshipping the dead idols instead of the living Creator. Because of this he was brought to trial before the Governor Agrippinus who put him to cruel tortures. When the Governor began advising him to escape death penalty and to preserve his life by worshipping the idols, Plato answered him: “There are two deaths, temporal and eternal, as there are two lives, the temporal and the eternal one.” Then Agrippinus put him to terrible tortures again. By his order the soldiers put red-hot iron on his body; then they flayed his skin. The martyr shouted to the torturer:” You may put me to even more brutal tortures, so that your inhumanity and my patience can be clearly seen.” When the torturer referred to Plato the philosopher as a pagan, the tortured answered:” Neither I resemble Plato, nor he resembles me, apart from our names. I teach and I learn the wisdom of Christ, and he teaches the wisdom which before God is folly.” They threw him into prison for eighteen more days without bread and water. The soldiers were astonished to see how long he could leave deprived of everything, and Plato said to them: “You satiate with meat, and I with prayer, wine makes you merry, and me – Christ, the true vine“. After other tortures, he was beheaded about the year 266, when he received the crown of martyr’s glory.