The Holy Hieromartyr Haralambos

Haralambos is a compound word: it means “shine from happiness”, as it comes from the words χαρά (happiness) and  λάμπω lambo ( a verb which means to shine).

Name Haralambos refers to a Saint of the Greek Orthodox Church, Agios Haralambos. He lived at the 2nd
Century AD, when the Emperor was Septimus Severus. He was a Priest in Magnesia, in Greece and was preaching the new religion. Severus started a persecution against the Christians, and he asked Haralambos to stop preaching and adopt paganism. When Haralambos refused, he was arrested and imprisoned. Severus ordered to torture Haralambos and the guards started flaying him alive. Haralambos was enduring the tortures praying to God, and some of his guards actually started believing in the new religion. Severus was pretty much frustrated and ordered to put nails in Haralambos body and lead him to Rome in this condition. According to the tradition Haralambos endured that too and when he arrived in Rome, Severus ordered his guards to put him on a spit and skewer him over the fire. Haralambos managed to survive this as well;  he revealed to the Emperor  that he was 113 years old and  he lived with the grace of God. Severus had him decapitated and Haralambos became a Saint for the Greek Orthodox Church.

St. Haralampus is commemorated on February 10th, with the exception when this date falls on the Saturday of the Souls preceding Lent or on Clean Monday (the first day of Lent), in which case the feast is celebrated on February 9th.