3628 Martyrs who suffered at Nicomedia

During the reign of the Roman emperors Diocletian and Maximian, 3618 martyrs suffered for Christ in Nicomedia, who had come from Alexandria. The murderers of Saint Peter, the Archbishop of Alexandria, believed in the Lord and, taking their wives and children with them, voluntarily went to Nicomedia to be martyred. They came to the king, exclaiming: "We are Christians!" Diocletian, upon hearing this, was bewildered and, unable to persuade them to renounce Christ, ordered them to be beheaded and their bodies thrown into mountain ravines. Many years later, their holy relics were found thanks to the miracles that followed the holy martyrs.