3rd century
A devout merchant who used his trade to draw others to Christ and, openly confessing the faith, was stoned to death under Decius.
The Holy Martyr Maximus
Maximus was a layman and a merchant who suffered for Christ during the persecution under the emperor Decius in the middle of the third century. A devout Christian, he did not keep the faith to himself but used the dealings of his trade to draw others to Christ, leading many of the pagans among whom he moved to belief and to baptism.
According to the synaxarion, when a crowd of pagans gathered to offer a human sacrifice, Maximus came forward and openly denounced their impiety, calling their idols soulless creations of human hands. Enraged at his confession, the crowd stoned him to death. He is commemorated on May 14, and is distinct from the Martyr Maximus of Ephesus honored on April 30.
The brief account preserved in the Orthodox calendar describes Maximus as a merchant of the third century, living under the emperor Decius, whose reign was marked by a systematic persecution of Christians. Rather than conceal his faith, Maximus made his commercial life an occasion for the Gospel, leading many of the pagans he encountered to faith in Christ and persuading them to receive baptism.
The synaxarion relates that when pagans assembled to carry out a human sacrifice to their gods, Maximus boldly intervened, loudly denouncing their error and declaring their idols to be soulless things made by men. The frenzied crowd turned on him and put him to death by stoning, and the Church numbers him among the martyrs.
Distinct from Martyr Maximus of Ephesus (Apr 30).