Saints Varsis and Evlogius, bishops of Edessa, and Protogenius, bishop of Carra, suffered from the Arians at the end of the 4th century. Emperor Valens, seeking to establish Arianism, brutally persecuted the Orthodox. Varsis was exiled from Edessa to the island of Arad, then to Oxyrhynchus, and finally to the city of Phenon, where he died in 378.
In Edessa, Valens appointed the Arian Lupus as bishop, which provoked protests from the Orthodox. They gathered outside the city for worship. The emperor ordered the eparch Modest to execute all Orthodox who came to the service. However, despite the eparch's warning, the believers came to pray, wishing to accept a martyr's death. Modest, seeing a woman with a child, returned and convinced the emperor to cancel the execution order, extending it only to the clergy.
The clergy, led by Evlogius, refused to enter into communion with Lupus, after which 80 priests were sent into exile in Thrace. The Orthodox met them with honors, as confessors, and provided them with everything necessary. The emperor, learning of this, ordered the martyrs to be dispersed to different places.
