Gregory of Byzantium

Holy Martyr Gregory of Byzantium is one of the two Gregorys who were sent into exile and died there, in the persecution of the holy icons in the time of Emperor Constantine Copronymus (741-776). The calendar page we rely on says nothing else of him; we give below the overall account.

In the time of Constantine Copronymus, many Orthodox soldiers left military rank and embraced the monastic life. Many of them the impious emperor put to death after tortures. One, named Basil, he first blinded. When Basil, even blind, continued to venerate the holy icons, the tormentor drove a sword into his belly, so that all his entrails were laid bare. At that time Saint Stephen also received the crown of martyrdom for the holy icons, at Constantinople. Besides these, two Gregorys, with some others, were sent into exile, where they ended their lives. Finally Saint John was driven out to Daphne, a suburb of Constantinople, where by the emperor's order he was often beaten and for that reason died.

Constantine Copronymus reigned from 741 to 776 and was one of the cruellest iconoclast emperors. Since in the persecution of the icons their chief defenders were the monks, he ordered monasteries burned and the heads of Orthodox monks smashed with the very icons they defended, or gave them to other cruel tortures. The soldiers who carried out his will, seeing the steadfastness of the Orthodox and the many signs from the mocked icons, often passed from persecutors to Orthodoxy and became zealous venerators of the icons, and the tormentor's wrath turned upon them. The saints are commemorated on 11 December (new style).