As Abdas refused to comply, the threat was executed; the churches were demolished, Abdas himself was put to death, and a general persecution began that lasted forty years. Isdegerd died in 421, but his son and successor, Varanes, carried on the persecution with greater fury. The Christians were submitted to the most cruel tortures.
Among those who suffered was St. Benjamin, a deacon, who had been imprisoned a year for his Faith. At the end of this period, an ambassador of the Emperor of Constantinople obtained his release on condition that he would never speak to any of the courtiers about religion.
St. Benjamin, however, declared that it was his duty to preach Christ and that he could not be silent. Although he had been liberated and the agreement made between the ambassador and the Persian authorities, he would not acquiesce in it, and neglected no opportunity of preaching. After untold suffering and tortures, St. Benjamin died a Martyr about the year 420.
