Martyr Chariton

Chariton is a martyr commemorated in the Orthodox Church on September 9. The synaxarion preserves only the barest record of him: he endured martyrdom together with a companion named Staton, at a time and place that are not recorded. The repository's own account adds that he was beheaded for Christ, though no source supplies the circumstances, the persecution, or the era in which this took place.

Nothing further is known of Chariton's origins, life, or the details of his suffering. Such terse entries are common in the Orthodox calendar, where the names of confessors and martyrs were carried forward in the liturgical commemoration even after the narrative of their lives had been lost. The shared notice with Staton indicates that the two were remembered as companions in martyrdom.

This Chariton should not be confused with the Venerable Chariton the Confessor, Abbot of Palestine, a far better-documented saint commemorated on September 28, nor with the Martyr Chariton who suffered alongside Saint Justin the Philosopher and is commemorated on June 1. The September 9 Chariton is a distinct figure whose memory survives chiefly in the date of his commemoration and the name of his fellow martyr.