Hermias of Comana

Holy Martyr Hermias of Comana was an aged soldier of Comana in Cappadocia (in the region of Pontus) who confessed Christ in the time of the persecution of Emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161). He died in the second century and is commemorated on 31 May (new style).

The governor Sebastian, who had come to Cappadocia to carry out the orders for persecuting Christians, asked him to sacrifice to the pagan gods, promising him honour and the emperor's favour. Hermias, grey in the army, boldly confessed faith in Christ. After long persuasion the governor ordered him tortured: they beat him across the face until the skin was torn and threw him into a blazing furnace. After three days, when the furnace was opened, Hermias came out unharmed. The governor ordered a sorcerer to poison him, but neither the first cup nor the second, strong with poison, harmed him. The sorcerer believed in Christ, repented and was beheaded, being baptized in his own blood. Then Hermias himself was given to the death of martyrdom. A saying of his kept in the synaxarion reads: “I am wise in the Lord my God, believing in Him and serving Him with all my heart, for for His sake I desire to die and suffer with joy.”