Florus and Laurus of Illyria

Martyr

Commemorated August 18

The brothers Ss Florus and Laurus of Illyria were martyred for their faith in second-century Illyria. They are commemorated on August 18 .
The martyrs Florus and Laurus of Illyria were twin brothers and stone sculptors by profession. They learned their art from Proclos and Maximos . When their teachers suffered martyrdom, they left Byzantium and went to take up their abode in the city of Ulpiana in Dardania of Illyricum . They were forced by a prince to build a pagan temple. During the construction a splinter of stone flew into the eye of the son of a pagan priest. Florus and Laurus prayed for the boy, made the sign of the cross over his eye, and he was immediately healed. The governor had them arrested and buried alive in a dry well. The date of their repose is during the 2nd Century. A century later horses were noted to be drinking from the spot of the well and their incorrupt relics were discovered. They were then translated to Constantinople.