According to an ancient legend, these seven young Christian men, seeking to escape persecution under the emperor Decius (d. 251), hid in a cavern, where they fell into a miraculous sleep. The emperor ordered them sealed within the cave. There they remained for two hundred years until the cave was unsealed, at which point they awoke, thinking they had only slept a day. When they sent one of their number into town to buy food, he was astonished to discover signs that Christianity—only yesterday a persecuted sect—was now the state religion. Merchants were equally astonished by his ancient coins and asked him the secret of his treasure. He led them to the cave where he and his companions related their remarkable story. They repeated their tale for the bishop, who rejoiced in this miraculous sign and called down God’s blessings. At this point, the seven martyrs gave up their spirits. Their bodies were placed in golden caskets, and their cave became at last their grave.  

The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus are included in the Roman martyrology. Though St. Gregory of Tours related their story in the sixth century, the most popular version appears in the medieval Golden Legend of Blessed Jacobus de Voragine.  

“Believe us, for forsooth our Lord hath raised us before the day of the great resurrection. And to the end that thou believe firmly the resurrection of the dead people, verily we be raised as ye here see, and live.” —St. Maximian, one of the Seven Sleepers, from The Golden Legend