Saint Martyr Akilina, a native of the Phoenician city of Byblos, suffered under Emperor Diocletian. At the age of 12, she urged her peers, who were pagans, to turn to Christ. Upon the denunciation of a servant of the governor Volusian, she firmly confessed her faith and refused to renounce Christ. After tortures, including scourging and the drilling of her head with heated rods, the martyr fell dead. However, an Angel appeared to her and resurrected her. Akilina again stood before Volusian, who, frightened, ordered her to be guarded. In the morning, she was sentenced to death as a sorceress. The martyr prayed and thanked God, after which she surrendered her spirit to God. The executioner, frightened, beheaded her after her death. The Christians buried her body with honor, and later her relics were transferred to Constantinople and placed in the church built in her honor.
