Saint Stephanida witnessed the martyrdom at Damascus of the Holy Martyr Victor, a soldier, during the reign of the emperor Marcus Aurelius the Philosopher (161-180). He was tortured, but he came through all the torments unharmed. By the power of prayer, he was victorious over a sorcerer, who from that point gave up give sorcery and became a Christian. Witnessing the miracle worked by the Lord through Saint Victor, Stephanida, the young Christian wife of one of the torturers, openly glorified Christ, for which she was condemned to a cruel death. She was tied to two palm trees bent to the ground, which when released, sprung back and tore her apart.
Peter the Athonite († before 883) is reputed to have been the first hermit to settle upon the Mount Athos. Peter is known to history primarily through unattributable legend. It is recorded that Peter was once a soldier who, through the miraculous aid of St. Nicholas and St. Simeon the Righteous, was freed from a Muslim military prison. From prison, St. Peter traveled to New Rome to fulfill a promise to God that he would take the monastic habit. It is held that Peter received his habit from the Pope himself who also formed the saint in monastic discipline. Receiving a vision of the Blessed Virgin and Theotokos Mary, Peter traveled to Mt. Athos and there lived for some fifty years.
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