Hieromartyr Hypatius the Bishop of Gangra
Hypatius was born in Cilicia and was the bishop of Gangra. He was present at the First Ecumenical Council (Nicaea, 325. A.D.) and was renowned throughout because of his pious and saintly life and his miracle-working. The Emperor Constantius ordered that a likeness of Hypatius be made during the saint's lifetime. The emperor kept this likeness in his palace as a weapon against all adverse powers. Once upon returning from Constantinople, Hypatius was attacked in a narrow gorge by Novatian heretics and, along with others, was hurled to the ground in mud. At that moment a woman from that group struck him in the head with a stone and, thus, the saint died. Immediately that woman went insane and took that same stone and struck herself with it. When they took her to the grave of St. Hypatius, he interceded before God on her behalf. She was healed by the great compassionate soul of Hypatius and lived the remainder of her life in repentance and prayer. St. Hypatius died and took up habitation in the eternal Kingdom of Christ the God, in the year 326 A.D.
Saint Jonah, Metropolitan of Moscow
Jonah was born in the province of Kostrom. In his twelfth year he was tonsured a monk and as such lived for a long time in the Simonov Monastery in Moscow. At the time of Metropolitan Photius, Jonah became Bishop of Ryazn. When Photius died, Jonah was elected as metropolitan and sent to the patriarch in Constantinople for approval and consecration. At the same time, Isidorus, a Bulgarian by descent, outwitted Jonah and arrived before him in Constantinople and was consecrated as the Metropolitan of the Russians. Jonah returned to his cathedral in Ryazn. Isidorus, the malicious one, ended his incumbency of the Metropolitan See nefariously. Isidorus attended the Council of Florence (1439 A.D.) and then, after three years, returned to Moscow. Everyone attacked him as an apostate from Orthodoxy and banished him. It is unknown where he ended his life. Jonah, the good and wise shepherd, ascended the throne of the Metropolitan See. He was a great worker of miracles, "a discerner," and a spiritual director. When the Agarians surrounded Moscow, Jonah repelled them through his prayers. In his later years he wished that he could be afflicted by an illness so that he could suffer pain and that, through pain, completely purify himself before his departure to the other world. According to his wishes, God permitted a sore on his foot, which was preceded by a vision to a certain priest, James. The saint died from these wounds and took up habitation among the heavenly citizens on March 31, 1461 A.D. Many miracles have occurred over his relics. A certain mute, John by name, was brought before the relics of the saint. John kissed the hand of Jonah and, as he related later, the hand grabbed him by the tongue and he felt a sharp pain. When the hand released his tongue, John returned to those people who brought him and began to talk as though he was never a mute.
Hieromartyr Audas
Audas was a bishop of the city of Susa. He was beheaded for Christ in the year 418 A.D. in Persia by Emperor Yezdegird. His deacon, St. Benjamin, was released by the tormentors with the understanding that he would never preach the Gospel again. In the beginning he agreed, but Benjamin could not sustain this in his heart and continued to spread the truth of Christ among the people. For this Benjamin was captured and killed three years after St. Audas in the year 421 A.D.
Venerable Apollonius
Apollonius was a renowned Egyptian ascetic. In his fifteenth year he renounced the world and withdrew to a mountain where he lived for forty years feeding on vegetation. After that, he established a monastery in which five-hundred monks lived. He died peacefully in the year 395 A.D.