Saint Leonidas, the leader of a women’s spiritual choir in the Peloponnese, during the persecutions of Emperor Decius (c. 250), was arrested together with his singers in Troezen for openly confessing the Christian faith. Brought before the governor Venustus in Corinth, he rejected the offer to sacrifice to the pagan gods, despite promises of wealth and glory. After cruel tortures, which included flaying and burning with torches, the saint remained unshaken.
The seven virgins from the choir also courageously confessed their faith in Christ. By the court’s sentence, the martyrs were taken out to sea and drowned, with stones tied around their necks. Before his death, Leonidas called this a second baptism. Their bodies were later recovered by Christians and buried in the place where a church was subsequently built.
