Zenobius and Zenobia | |
Titles: | Martyrs |
Birth Date: | 3rd century AD |
Death Date: | c. 290 AD |
Death Place: | Aegae, Cilicia, Roman Empire |
Feast Day: | 30 October |
Venerated In: | Eastern Orthodox Church Catholic Church |
Honorific Prefix: | Saints |
The Holy Martyrs Zenobios and Zenobia (died 290; Greek:Ζηνόβιος καὶ Ζηνοβία; occasionally (and incorrectly) Σινόβιος καὶ Σινοβία; Latin: Zenobius et Zenobia, Slavonic: Зиновій и Зиновія) are recognized by Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church; their day is October 30.[1] [2] [3] [4]
According to the Byzantine hagiography, Zenobius and his sister Zenobia were from Aegae, Cilicia. Zenobios was a physician and because of his divine healing powers he was consecrated bishop of Aegae. They were tortured and beheaded around 290, during Diocletian's persecutions.[5] [6]
It has been argued that the characters are mythological, possibly arisen from the confusion of the reading of martyrologies.[7] Hippolyte Delehaye suggested a possible compilation by an unknown hagiographer who put together parts from the hagiography of Saints Cosmas and Damian with mentions of various saints named Zenobios/Zenobius.