Saint Diomedes of Tarsus (Diomede) (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Διομήδης ό Ταρσεύς, d. between 298 and 311 AD) is venerated as a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

and

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

, one of the

Holy Unmercenaries Holy Unmercenaries ( el, Άγιοι Ανάργυροι, Agioi Anárgyroi) is an epithet applied to a number of Christian saints who did not accept payment for good deeds. These include healers or Christian physicians who, in conspicuous oppo ...

Life

Diomedes was born in Tarsus. He was a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

by profession and a zealous Christian evangelist. He traveled a good deal preaching the faith. When he arrived at

Nicaea Nicaea, also known as Nicea or Nikaia (; ; grc-gre, Νίκαια, ) was an ancient Greek city in Bithynia, where located in northwestern Anatolia and is primarily known as the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and seve ...

Diocletian Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...

ordered him arrested. On route to

Nicomedia Nicomedia (; el, Νικομήδεια, ''Nikomedeia''; modern İzmit) was an ancient Greek city located in what is now Turkey. In 286, Nicomedia became the eastern and most senior capital city of the Roman Empire (chosen by the emperor Diocletia ...

, Diomedes paused to pray and then died. The soldiers took his head as proof he had been arrested. One source states, "It is said that when his head was taken to the emperor, that all were blinded, and only after his body has been returned and they had prayed, was their sight restored."

Named for him

His feast day is 16 August (O.S.). There is a

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

of him at the

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

Hilandar The Hilandar Monastery ( sr-cyr, Манастир Хиландар, Manastir Hilandar, , el, Μονή Χιλανδαρίου) is one of the twenty Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Mount Athos in Greece and the only Serbian monastery there. It wa ...

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. The

Diomede Islands , image_name = Diomede Islands Bering Sea Jul 2006.jpg , image_caption = Diomede Islands: Little Diomede (left, U.S.) and Big Diomede (right, Russia) viewed from the north, looking south , map_image = BeringSt-close-VE.jpg , map_ ...

off the coast of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

derive their name from this saint.

Vitus Bering Vitus Jonassen Bering (baptised 5 August 1681 – 19 December 1741),All dates are here given in the Julian calendar, which was in use throughout Russia at the time. also known as Ivan Ivanovich Bering, was a Danish cartographer and explorer in ...

sighted the Diomede Islands on 16 August (O.S., 27 August N.S.) 1728, the day when the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

celebrates the memory of Saint Diomedes during the

Nut Feast of the Saviour The Nut Feast of the Saviour is the third ''spas'' feast of the Saviour which celebrates the Holy Mandylion of the Lord. It is celebrated as the afterfeast of the solemnity of the Dormition. After the Honey Feast of the Saviour and the Apple Fea ...

Saint Diomedes (II)

There is another Saint Diomedes who is celebrated on 2 September. With Julian, Philip, Theodore, Eutychian (Eutykhian), Hesychius (Heyschios), Leonides, Philadelphus (Philadelphos), Menalippus (Melanippos), and Pantagapes (Parthagapa) he was martyred at an unknown date and site. They suffered various forms of

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the State (polity), state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to ...

(

burning at the stake Death by burning (also known as immolation) is an execution and murder method involving combustion or exposure to extreme heat. It has a long history as a form of public capital punishment, and many societies have employed it as a punishment f ...

drowning Drowning is a type of suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where others present are either unaware of the victim's situation or unable to offer a ...

beheading Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...

, or

crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...

References

External links

Saint of the Day, August 16: ''Diomedes of Tarsus''
at ''SaintPatrickDC.org''
Diomedes the Physician & Martyr of Tarsus
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20081231153134/http://users.netmatters.co.uk/davidbryant/C/TropKon/Aug.htm#Aug16 Troparia and Kontakia: August 16, Diomedes {{DEFAULTSORT:Diomedes Saints from Roman Anatolia 4th-century Christian martyrs 4th-century Romans People from Tarsus, Mersin Holy Unmercenaries Year of birth unknown 3rd-century Roman physicians 3rd-century Greek physicians