Born in Samosata, Syria, he received an extensive education in his youth. He distributed his possessions among the poor and supported himself by composing edifying works. Working from the Hebrew text, he corrected many passages in the Holy Scriptures that had been distorted by heretics. He was ordained a presbyter in Antioch. During the persecution of Christians under Maximian, he was denounced by a heretical priest named Pancratius. At that time, two boys—who refused to eat food offered to idols—were cast into a scalding bath, where they perished; meanwhile, Pelagia, a virgin and disciple of Lucian, threw herself from a rooftop to escape the clutches of lecherous men. Lucian was taken to Nicomedia and brought before the Emperor. Along the way, he converted 40 soldiers to Christ; all of them met a martyr’s end. Saint Lucian surrendered his soul to God while in prison in the year 311.

Venerable Euthymius the New.