Hieromartyr Phocas (Greek: Φωκάς) was born in the city of Sinope in northern Turkey. His life and legend may have been a fusion of three men with the same name: a Phocas of Antioch, Phocas, Bishop of Sinope, and Phocas the Gardener. Only the last seems authentic.[4]
Saint Phocas | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Martyr and Bishop of Sinope | |
| Died | 102 Sinope, Bithynia and Pontus, Roman Empire (modern-day Sinop, Turkey) |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Armenian Apostolic Church |
| Feast | 22 September[1][2] Monday after the fourth Sunday of the Exaltation of the Cross (Armenian Apostolic Church)[3] |
| Patronage | Against fires, and help of those drowning.[2] |
His parents, Pamphilus and Maria, were pious Christians.[5] During his adult years he became Bishop of Sinope. At the time of persecution against Christians under the emperor Trajan (98–117), the governor demanded that the saint renounce Christ. After fierce torture they enclosed St Phocas in a hot bath, where he died a martyr's death in the year 117.[2]
A homily in his honour was composed by Saint John Chrysostom on the occasion of the translation of his relics to Constantinople. The translation of his holy relics from Pontus to Constantinople about the year 404 A.D. is celebrated on July 23. His primary feast is on September 22, and he is called a wonderworker.[1][2][6]
The Hieromartyr Phocas is especially venerated as a defender against fires, and also as a helper of the drowning.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek) Ὁ Ἅγιος Φωκᾶς ὁ Ἱερομάρτυρας ὁ Θαυματουργὸς. 22 Σεπτεμβρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
- ^ a b c d e Hieromartyr Phocas the Bishop of Sinope. OCA - Lives of the Saints.
- ^ Domar: the calendrical and liturgical cycle of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church, Armenian Orthodox Theological Research Institute, 2003, p. 513.
- ^ "Phocas of Sinope" The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, 5th ed. (David Farmer, ed.) OUP, 2011 ISBN 9780199596607
- ^ "Memory of Hieromartyr Phocas, Bishop of Sinope, Wonderworker", Orthodox Times, September 22, 2020
- ^ Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, Saint Phocas of Sinope, July 23, 2012.