Mocius (Mucius, el, Ο Άγιος Μώκιος , died 288–295), also known as "the Holy Hieromartyr", was a priest of Roman ancestry who lived in

Amphipolis Amphipolis ( ell, Αμφίπολη, translit=Amfipoli; grc, Ἀμφίπολις, translit=Amphipolis) is a municipality in the Serres (regional unit), Serres regional unit, Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, Greece. The seat of the municipality is ...

, Macedonia and became an Orthodox

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 ...

Life

During a persecution against Christians under the emperor

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 ...

(284-305), St Mocius exhorted the pagans who had assembled for the pagan festival of

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...

(Bacchus), to abandon the customs which accompanied this celebration. He urged them to repent, be converted to Christianity, and be baptized."Hieromartyr Mocius the Presbyter of Amphipolis in Macedonia", Orthodox Church in America
/ref> At the temple of Dionysus, he destroyed a statue of the god. Mocius was brought to trial before the governor of Laodicea and subjected to torture. After this he was put into a red-hot oven, where he remained unharmed, but the flames coming out of the oven scorched the governor. Then he was given to wild beasts to be eaten, but they did not touch him. The lions lay down at his feet. The people, seeing such miracles, urged that the saint be set free. The governor ordered the saint to be sent to the city of

Perinthus Perinthus or Perinthos ( grc, ἡ Πέρινθος) was a great and flourishing town of ancient Thrace, situated on the Propontis. According to John Tzetzes, it bore at an early period the name of Mygdonia (Μυγδονία). It lay 22 miles west ...

, and from there to Byzantium, where St Mocius was beheaded. His

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

is May 11.

Legacy

The Emperor

Anastasius I Dicorus Anastasius I Dicorus ( grc-gre, Ἀναστάσιος, Anastásios; – 9 July 518) was List of Byzantine emperors, Eastern Roman emperor from 491 to 518. A career civil servant, he came to the throne at the age of 61 after being chosen by t ...

(491-518) built an open air cistern, to supply water to the city of Constantinople (today's Istanbul). It is the third of the Late Roman Period cisterns and the largest in the city, named after the saint who was venerated in a nearby church. In Turkish, it is called "Altı Mermer Çukurbostanı". It has been converted into the Fatih Educational Park, but the ancient walls are still standing."Mocius Cistern", Istanbul
/ref>

References

3rd-century Christian martyrs 3rd-century deaths Saints of Roman Macedonia Year of birth unknown Year of death uncertain {{saint-stub