HEAVENLY
BRICKS

Like many of the virgin martyrs , St. Agnes was born to a wealthy noble family. She was raised Christian, but as she started to become of age, many suitors were attracted to her. Agnes, however, had promised her life to God and intended never to marry. One of those suitors was the governor's son, and enraged by the rejection, turned her in to the Roman government, as Christianity was against the law at that time. The Roman governor tried many ways to get her to change her mind and marry his son, but Agnes refused each time. He tried to put her in chains, but she only smiled radiantly. He had her stripped naked in the street to try to embarrass her, but her hair instantly grew long enough to cover her entire body. Anyone who tried to do harm to her were blinded. The governor, feeling he had exhausted all other options, sentenced her to execution. She was tied to a post to be burned, but the fire would not light. Finally, a soldier cut her throat and Agnes bled to death, still smilin

St. Lucian of Antioch was a controversial priest during his lifetime and after. His teachings on literalism formed the basis of the Arian heresy , and he was even the teacher of Arius and several of the other leaders in the movement, though Lucius may not have been an Arian himself. He was also excommunicated for much of his life due to his connection to his bishop, who was a proponent of another heresy. However, even his critics during his life agreed that Lucian was a devout and holy man. His corrected mistranslations of Scripture were later used by St. John Chrysostom and St. Jerome, and he was renowned as a teacher, scholar, and piety. Lucian was eventually arrested by Roman officials for his faith, and starved and tortured for nine years, never recanting his faith. On Theophany, he wished desperately to receive holy communion, and some Christians snuck in the bread and wine for him to bless. He was so weak from his abuse and chained by his jailers that he had to bless the element