Presbyter
The holy martyrs Trophimus and Phalus, native brothers and presbyters, served in Laodicea of Caria. During the persecutions of Christians under Emperor Diocletian and his co-ruler Maximian, the brothers were taken into custody and brought to trial before the governor Asclepiodotus. He ordered the saints to be beaten with stones, but the stones thrown at the saints flew back and struck those who threw them. After a second interrogation, the holy brothers were sentenced to crucifixion. As they went to their execution, they praised God for being deemed worthy, like the Savior, of a death on the cross. Hanging on the cross, they continued their preaching, while their courageous mother stood at the foot of the crosses. A Jewish woman, bowing down to the saints, exclaimed: 'Blessed are the mothers who bore such sons.' When the martyrs surrendered their spirits to God, the prison guard reported that he saw the souls of the holy brothers ascending to heaven accompanied by three Angels. The people did not leave the bodies of the holy martyrs all night. In the morning, the wife of the torturer Asclepiodotus came to the place of execution with incense and a precious covering. She told the people that she had seen the holy martyrs and Angels sent to punish her husband in a dream during the night.
The mother of the martyrs and two Christians named Zosimus and Artemius buried the holy brothers in their hometown of Stratonice. The torturer Asclepiodotus soon fell ill and died a terrible death.
