Anthony, John, and Eustathius (Eustathios, Eustace; Russian: Антоний, Иоанн and Евстафий, Lithuanian: Antanas, Jonas ir Eustachijus; Martyrs of Vilnius, Russian: Виленские мученики, Lithuanian: Vilniaus kankiniai) are saints and martyrs of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Their feast day is celebrated on 14 April in the horologion. They are commemorated on the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Vilnius each year on 13 July.^[1] They are commemorated with the 4th Tone Troparion and 3rd Tone Kontakion in Eastern Orthodoxy.^[2]

They were attached to the Grand Duchy of Moscow, and were missionaries dispatched to the court of Algirdas (reigned 1345 to 1377^[3]), who was the pagan Grand Duke of Lithuania. Algirdas was wed to the Orthodox princess, Maria of Vitebsk, and the three were permitted to minister only to her and banned from proselytizing. Maria requested an Orthodox church to be built.^[4] After the death of Maria, Albridas began to support pagan priests who were persecuting against Christians.^[5]

John and Anthony did not practice the pagan worshipping and were seen observing Orthodox fasting, did not cut their hair like the pagans did, and were hiding the fact they were not pagans. Algridas became suspicious of John and Anthony, so he decided to interrogate them. When they were ordered to eat meat, they refused due to the Orthodox fasting period (also known as Great Lent). Eustathius remained free and was separated form the John and Anthony.^[5]

When they refused, they were tortured and put in prison. On April 14, 1347 Anthony was hanged on an oak tree, one that pagans used to use for worship. Later, John who was in prison, was swarmed by a large crowd of people and strangled to death. His body was hung on the same one as Anthony on April 24, 1347. Both of their bodies were buried by Christians in the Church of Saint Nicholas.^[5]

Eustathius was beaten with iron rods. Algirdas gave orders to strip Eustathius naked, take him to the streets and pour ice water in his mouth. Later, they broke his ankle bones, ripped his hair and skin from his head, and cut off his nose and ears. Eustathius was then sentenced to death and hanged on the same oak tree that Saint John and Saint Anthony were killed on December 13, 1347. For three days, the bodies were not allowed to be taken down. A church was later built where the martyrs died and an altar table was built on the stump of the oak tree.^[5]

Their bodies were in a glass reliquary in the crypt chapel under the altar of the cathedral in the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Vilnius, Lithuania. In 1915, during the invasion of the Germans, these relics were then taken to Moscow. Their relics, said to be incorruptible, have since been moved to the main sanctuary of the cathedral.

They have also been recognised as saints in the Roman Catholic Church, after having been added to the General Roman Calendar by Pope Paul VI in 1969.^[6]

• John Meyendorff, The three Lithuanian martyrs: Byzantium and Lithuania in the fourteenth century // St. Vladimir Theological Quarterly, 26 (1982), 29–44

• Saint of the Day, April 14: Antony (Kukley), Eustace (Nizilon), and John (Milhey)
• Martyr Anthony of Vilnius, Lithuania (April 14) at Orthodox Church in America
• Icon at Orthodox Church in America