Saints Floros and Lavros
Date of celebration: 18/08
Saints Floros and Lavros were twin brothers and were inseparably united by their warm faith and love for Christ. They came from Byzantium and had been taught Christianity and the art of stonemasonry by Saints Proclus (or Patroklos according to Saint Nicodemus) and Maximus, who also suffered martyrdom for Christ.
After the death of their teachers, Floros and Lavros left for Illyria and chose as their place of residence the city of Ulpiana. In this city they worked on their art, but at the same time through it they tried to spread the Gospel.
There was also a priest of idols there, named Merentios. His son Athanasios became blind in one eye, for which medical science could not find a cure. Then he approached the two artisan brothers, who by invoking the name of Christ healed the eye of the pagan priest’s son, with the result that both of them believed in Christ.
As soon as the prefect of Lykon learned of this, he arrested the two brothers and, after torturing them horribly, threw them into a well, where they gave up their spirits. In this way, the two artisan brothers entered the eternal city, “whose craftsman and creator is God” (To the Hebrews Epistle, x’ 10). Whose craftsman and builder is this God. Their remains were collected by faithful Christians and taken to Vasilevousa.
