Saint Manuel

Saint Manuel, a martyr in Chalcedon in 362, along with Saints Sabel and Ishmael, lived under the reign of Julian the Apostate, the last openly pagan Roman emperor who attempted to restore the Roman religion. The holy martyrs and brothers Manuel, Sabel, and Ishmael were natives of Persia, then the Sasanian Empire. Their father was a follower of Zoroastrianism, the majority religion in Persia, while their mother was a Christian, from whom they received their faith. In 362, the Sasanian ruler of Persia, Shapur II, sent them as ambassadors to Chalcedon to the Roman emperor Julian the Apostate to avert an imminent war. While with Julian, they refused to join him in a sacrifice to the Roman deities, and, violating the universally recognized immunity of ambassadors, the emperor ordered their execution. The following year, Julian undertook the war and lost his life. The memory of the saint is celebrated in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches on June 17.