Euthymius of Madytos

Saint Euthymius, bishop of Madytos in Thrace, is venerated as a saint in the Orthodox Church and commemorated on 5 May. He was born at Epivates in Thrace at the beginning of the tenth century, of a Byzantine family called Retseli; his sister was Venerable Paraskevi of Epivates (commemorated on 14 October). After his father's death he was taken to a monastery in Constantinople, where he stayed thirty years, distinguishing himself in ascetic labours. Then he left the monastery to live as a hermit.

He was ordained deacon in great old age by the bishop of Perinthos and priest by another bishop. In the end he became bishop of the city of Madytos in the Hellespont, distinguished for virtue and pastoral ability. It is believed that in his life he worked many miracles, healing lepers and deaf-⁠mutes. The fame of his insight reached the palace, and the emperor Basil II travelled from Constantinople to Madytos to ask the saint's opinion. There Saint Euthymius foresaw Basil's victory over Bardas Phokas in 989.

He reposed between the years 989 and 996. At his repose his body is said to have flowed with myrrh and many sick were healed; for this he was called the Myrrh-⁠gusher. About 300 years later, Meletius of Athens, who then presided over the Church of Madytos and Koila, asked George of Cyprus, later patriarch of Constantinople, to write an encomium for Saint Euthymius, one of the ornaments of middle Byzantine literature. The saint's service was composed by the hymnographer of the Great Church, the monk Gerasimos Mikragiannanites, and was published in 1961 in the Archive of the Thracian and Folklore Treasury. The apolytikion praises him as the offspring of Epivates and president of Madytos, a renowned hierarch, an imitator of Christ.