St. Acacius was a native of Cappadocia and as a youth joined the Roman army during the reign of Emperor Hadrian. He eventually attained the rank of captain.

One day, when leading his troops against the enemy, he heard a voice saying to him, "Call on the God of Catholics!" This was the beginning of his conversion. Shortly thereafter, Acacius was instructed and received Baptism, becoming a member of the mystical Body of Christ - the Catholic Church. Filled with a zeal and love for his friends, the captain sought to share his newfound treasure with the pagan soldiers in the Roman army.

Eventually though, the emperor heard of this converting happening among his troops and he immediately had Acacius thrown into prison. But when the brave captain refused to sacrifice to the pagan idols, he was placed upon the torturer’s rack, bound to a post and scourged. When all these tortures failed to change his mind, the prisoner was brought before the tribune, or colonel, Bibianus. The pagan asked Acacius what his name was and which country he was from.

"My name is Catholic," the saint replied, "because I am a follower of Christ, but men call me Acacius. My country is Cappadocia. There my parents lived; there I was converted to the Christian faith, and was so inspired by the combats and sufferings of the Catholic martyrs that I am resolved to shed my blood for Christ to attain Heaven."

Then Bibianus ordered him to be beaten with leaden clubs, after which he was loaded with chains and returned to the prison. After Acacius had been in prison seven days, Bibianus was called to Byzantium. But this was not the end of Acacius’ persecution, for the tribune ordered all of his prisoners to be taken to Byzantium as well. On the journey, Acacius suffered greatly. His entire body was covered with wounds and his chains aggravated and intensified his injuries. In addition to that, the roads were very hard to travel on and the guards were especially cruel to the new Catholic. Poor Acacius felt as if he was dying.

During this painful journey, as he was praying to God for strength, a voice from the clouds answered him, "Acacius, be firm!" Everyone heard it and the soldiers of the guard were terrified. They asked each other, "What is this! How can the clouds have a voice?" Many of the other prisoners were converted by the heavenly voice. And the next day, some of the converts were given a vision of a number of men in shining armor speaking to Acacius, washing his wounds and healing them. As a result of this miraculous healing, not even a scar remained on the saint’s body.

After he arrived in Byzantium, the saint was again cast into prison, and after seven days dragged before the judge. Again, neither promises nor the most cruel torments shook the brave man’s constancy. Faced with this defeat, the judge sent the prisoner to Flaccius, the proconsul of Thracia. This would be a new pagan lord that could vent his hatred against the Catholic.

Flaccius had Acacius imprisoned for five days. During this time, the proconsul read the records of all the prisoner’s former trials and tortures. God will have the final word, though, and Acacius had already suffered enough and proven himself worthy of the reward awaiting him. There were no more torments executed on the prisoner. Instead, Flaccius simply ordered for him to be beheaded and Acacius was able to receive his long cherished desire - death for Christ! Thus his life on earth ended and his everlasting one began, the bliss of which he is still enjoying, on May 8 in the year 311.