Today, Monday, August 26, according to the calendar, the memory of Saints Hadrian and Natalia is commemorated.

The names celebrating today are as follows:

-Adriani, Andrianni, Andriana, Adriana, Adrianos
-Natalia, Natalina, Natalie, Natalie

Saints Hadrian and Natalia

Saints Hadrian and Natalia lived in Nicomedia during the reign of Emperor Maximian in the early fourth century. The then 28-year-old Hadrian was a bodyguard of the Roman emperor Galerius and head of the praetorium.

It is said that as Christians passed by him ready to testify, he asked them the reward they expected to receive from God. They answered the eyes have not seen, nor the ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for those who love him (1 Corinthians 2:09).

Hadrian was so surprised by their courage that he publicly confessed his faith, although he himself had not yet been baptized. Then he was also imprisoned. His wife Natalia went there to support him and tell him not to bend. Then, after both became Christians and after enduring many and horrible tortures, he gave up his spirit in Nicomedia.

The executioners wanted to burn the bodies of the dead, but a storm arose and the fire was extinguished. Natalia discovered one of Hadrian’s hands. Later, the Christians took Hadrian’s body and buried it in the suburbs of Byzantium, in Argyroupoli. Natalia went to live there, and when she herself died, she was buried with the martyrs.