During the reign of Valerian or Diocletian, St. Arcadius was condemned to death by cutting off his limbs joint by joint. Arcadius, with a joyful countenance, surveying his scattered limbs all around him, and offering them to God said, “Happy members, now dear to me, as you at last truly belong to God, being all made a sacrifice to him!” Then turning to the people, he said, “You who have been present at this bloody tragedy, learn that all torments seem as nothing to one who has an everlasting crown before his eyes. Your gods are not gods; renounce their worship. He alone for whom I suffer and die, is the true God. He comforts and upholds me in the condition you see me. To die for him is to live; to suffer for him is to enjoy the greatest delights.”