The Martyrs Epipodius and Alexander suffered for faith in Christ in the city of Lugdunum (now Lyon, France) during the persecutions of Marcus Aurelius (161–180).
They were noble youths who grew up together; from early childhood they were spiritually close, received an education, and were baptized.
Alexander and Epipodius took refuge from the persecutions in the home of a Christian widow, but they were discovered and arrested. During the arrest Epipodius lost a sandal; later the widow kept it as a holy relic.
At interrogation Epipodius and Alexander confessed themselves to be Christians, which drove the judge and the gathered crowd into a rage. The mob burst into furious cries, and the angry judge ordered them separated and Epipodius subjected to torture.
Epipodius, answering the judge’s feigned gentle words, said: “The life you promise me is for me eternal death, and the death you threaten me with is a passage to unending life!” The judge ordered him stretched on the rack and tormented with iron hooks. The people, usually hungry for spectacles, were outraged and demanded that the Christian be set free. Fearing an uprising, the judge ordered Epipodius to be beheaded at once.
The next day the judge ordered Alexander brought in and tried to frighten him with an account of the tortures. Alexander replied: “Do you think to frighten me by recalling sufferings? Know, then, that you only inflame even more my desire to follow after them!” The judge ordered him flogged and then, despairing of breaking the saint, sentenced him to be crucified on a cross.
Pious Christians stole the bodies of both martyrs and hid them in a cave in the environs of Lyon, which became famous because of the miracles that took place there.
