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Three men who held positions of responsibility in an early church 
fellowship, were tortured and killed in the year 304 during the 
horrific reign of the Emperor Diocletian. 

They were men of conscience who, before they died, retained a 
supernatural spirit of thanksgiving in the midst of great pain and 
suffering.

Their church was in a place called Heraclea. They were Philip, a 
virtuous bishop; Severus, a priest; and Hermes, a deacon who had 
once been the city's magistrate but then decided it would be more 
fitting for a churchman to earn his own wages than to live off the 
state. 

When it was known that persecutions were close at hand, and his 
friends urged him to run from the Roman reach, Bishop Philip 
chose instead to stay in faithfulness and patience for as long as 
possible. At that point, his death by torture was almost assured.

The duty of local governors was to act as emissaries of the 
emperor. The first such official we meet in this story is Bassus, 
who carried out his assignments, even if he didn't like them; the 
worst will be Justin, who apparently really enjoyed his work. 

First of all, Bassus sent an officer to close up the door to the 
church. Philip said to the functionary, "Do you imagine that God 
dwells within walls, and not rather in the hearts of men?"

And Philip, with his church sealed off from him, simply moved 
his flock's worship out of doors. 

The next day, more officers came, tasked with sealing the 
congregation's sacred books and vessels as well. While they 
worked, Philip leaned against the barred door of the church, 
watched, and spoke words of encouragement. 

It was of course impossible not to notice officially that the 
church was still meeting. So Bassus sent a message to Philip: 
"You know that the emperor has forbidden your assemblies. Give 
up to me the vessels of gold and silver which you use and the 
books which you read."

Philip's answer was that he was willing to acquiesce when it came 
to tangible items like ewers and urns. But as for the Scriptures, 
that was a different matter. Not unreasonably, he explained, "The 
vessels we will give you, for it is not by precious metal but by 
charity that God is honored. But the sacred books it becomes 
neither you to demand nor me to surrender."

Matters had begun to heat up in earnest. At this point, the 
governor called in the state executioners, and Philip was tortured 
for his recalcitrance. It is said that he bore up amazingly well, 
showing incredible patience and courage. 

Then the deacon Hermes stepped up and explained to Governor 
Bassus that, though he take away all the sacred writings, yet he 
could never destroy the Word of God. Hermes was scourged for 
his pains; and was escorted by the governor's assistant, one 
Publius, to the place where it had been found that the church's 
vessels and books had been secreted. When Publius made to carry 
them away, Hermes moved to stop him, and had his face bloodied 
as a result. But Bassus reprimanded Publius for being over-
zealous, and ordered that Hermes' wounds should be seen to.

Nevertheless, Bassus proceeded with the imperial program: The 
prisoners were brought to a public place and detained there while 
their church was stripped of its belongings and its books burned 
in a blazing fire so hot and high that it frightened the onlookers. 

Then Bassus played his last card: Pointing to a majestic statue 
of one of the Roman gods, he told the bishop that if he would just 
go through the motions of sacrificing to the idols and the emperor, 
things would go better for him. He tried to persuade him to at least 
reach out and touch the statue of Hercules that stood there in the 
square. 

When Philip, apparently with a streak of humor, pointed out that 
he knew such images had value, but that it was strictly limited to 
those who got paid for sculpting them, we can almost hear Bassus 
sigh. He turned to appeal to someone else: To Hermes the deacon 
he offered, "If your bishop will sacrifice, will you at least 
follow his example?" The answer, of course, was a firm No.

Finally, the governor gave up, and the prisoners went back to their 
confinement.

Before long, Bassus's term of office was up, and he was succeeded 
by one Justin, a violent man who had none of the reasonableness 
in his makeup that had caused Bassus to at least try persuasion. 

To Justin's threats of torture, Bishop Philip's answer was simple: 
"You may torment. But you will not conquer. There is no power 
that could induce me to sacrifice to false gods."

That was all Justin had been waiting for. He gave orders that 
Philip was to be handled with exceeding roughness; his feet tied,
he was aggressively dragged along over sharp stones. Bruised and 
torn, he was then returned to the dungeon. His parishioners came 
to tenderly carry him. 

Enter Severus the priest. He had at first hidden himself, but then 
surrendered to the authorities, knowing he would receive the same 
sort of treatment as Philip and Hermes. He did.

For seven months more, the three were kept imprisoned. Then 
Justin held another "examination," and watched while his minions 
beat Philip into a pulpy mass of humanity. Back in the dungeon, 
the martyrs-to-be gave joyful thanks that their final victory 
was beginning. After three more days of the same treatment, 
first Philip and Hermes and then Severus were burned to death, 
with their hands tied behind them and their feet and legs buried 
in a ditch of earth. 

The chronicles set forth how, for as long as they could speak, they 
continued to pronounce words of praise and thanksgiving to God; 
and that those who loved them rejoiced in the glory that had been 
theirs, and the martyrs' raiment they were sure to receive.

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