Biography
Adrian and Natalia of Nicomedia
About Adrian and Natalia of Nicomedia
The available account of Adrian and Natalia comes through a church tradition preserved by the Orthodox Church in America. It identifies them as a married couple living in Nicomedia during the reign of Maximian and says they had been married for one year. The same narrative describes twenty-three Christians brought before a praetor for questioning. Adrian, identified there as head of the praetorium, asks the prisoners what reward they expect for their suffering. Their answer leads him to ask that his own name be recorded among the Christians.The OCA account says the authorities imprisoned Adrian, while Natalia, secretly Christian, came to encourage him. It recounts that Adrian was briefly released to tell her the date of his execution and that she at first mistook his return for a renunciation. The story then describes his torture and execution with other prisoners. These episodes are presented as details of the received passion, not as independently verified records of the court proceedings.Natalia remains an active figure in the story. The narrative says she feared being compelled into another marriage after Adrian’s death and later hid herself in Byzantium when a commander sought to marry her. It also describes her care for Adrian’s remains. Such details should be read as part of the hagiographic tradition surrounding the pair. The OCA commemorates Adrian and Natalia together with twenty-three companions on August 26, in the Eastern Orthodox tradition.
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