The martyr Hippolytus was the chief of prisons in Rome during the reigns of Decius and Valerian. Converted to Christ by the martyr Lawrence, he buried his body. The emperor detained Hippolytus and, laughing, asked about the body of Lawrence. The saint confessed himself to be a Christian and was cruelly beaten. The emperor ordered him to be dressed in military clothes and summoned him to offer a sacrifice to the gods, but the martyr replied that he was a soldier of Christ and wished to die for Him. His nurse, the martyr Concordia, was beaten to death with lead rods, and all his household was killed before Hippolytus's eyes. He was tied to horses, which dragged him to death on August 13, 258.
At night, the presbyter Justin secretly buried the martyrs at the place of execution. The body of Saint Concordia was thrown into an unclean place. Two Christians, the martyrs Irenaeus and Avundius, learning where the body of Concordia was, buried it next to Saint Hippolytus. For this, they were drowned on August 26. The Christians retrieved the bodies of the martyrs at night and buried them with the relics of Saint Archdeacon Lawrence.
