Mocius

Mocius also refers to Mozi of China.

Painting showing the Martyrs Silvanus the Bishop of Emesa, Luke the deacon, and Mocius from the Menologion of Basil II (c. 1000 AD)

Mocius (Mucius, Greek: Ο Άγιος Μώκιος , died 288-295), also known as "the Holy Hieromartyr", was of Roman ancestry, and a priest in Amphipolis, Macedonia who became an Orthodox saint.

Life

During a persecution against Christians under the emperor Diocletian (284-305), St Mocius exhorted the pagans who had assembled for the pagan festival of Dionysus (Bacchus), to abandon the customs which accompanied this celebration. He urged them to repent, be converted to Christianity, and be baptized.^[1] 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 Perinth, and from there to Byzantium, where St Mocius was beheaded.^[1]

His feast day is May 11.^[2]

Legacy

The Emperor Anastasius I Dicorus (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. ^[3]

References

1. "Hieromartyr Mocius the Presbyter of Amphipolis in Macedonia", Orthodox Church in America
2. (Greek) Ὁ Ἅγιος Μώκιος ὁ Ἱερομάρτυρας. 11 Μαΐου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
3. "Mocius Cistern", Istanbul