Eustathius of Kios

Holy Hierarch Eustathius of Kios, confessor, bishop of Bithynia, was from the beginning of his struggle a zealous monk, gentle and wise, with great faith and love for his neighbour. For his pure life he was made bishop of a city in Bithynia, a Roman province in the north-⁠west of Asia Minor, and for many years he shepherded his flock, giving it an example of good and perfect living.

In the time of the iconoclast heresy, Eustathius boldly came forward against the heretics and defended the veneration of the holy icons. The iconoclast enemies denounced him to the emperor, and the hierarch endured prison and cruel beatings. In the end he was removed from his see and exiled. The holy confessor died in the ninth century, in exile, after three years of enduring insults, deprivation, hunger and poverty.

He is commemorated on 11 April (new style). The story of his life was also written down by Saint Demetrius of Rostov.