Hypatius of Ephesus

Holy Hieromartyr Hypatius of Ephesus, a bishop, suffered in the eighth century, in the time of the iconoclast emperor Leo the Isaurian (717-741), together with the presbyter Andrew. The Church commemorates him on 4 October (new style).

In their youth the two studied together in one monastery. Hypatius became a monk, and Andrew became a cleric and zealously taught the people the Christian faith. When Emperor Leo the Isaurian began to persecute the venerators of the holy icons, to throw them out of the churches, to trample them underfoot and to burn them, Hypatius and Andrew rose up in defence of their veneration and urged their flocks to remain faithful to Orthodoxy.

The emperor, wishing to persuade them, summoned them and set up a dispute on the veneration of icons, in which the saints powerfully defended the Orthodox order. The martyrs were thrown into prison and held there a long time, in the hope that they would give up their convictions, but they stayed unmoved. Then the emperor ordered them tortured: they were beaten, the skin of their heads was torn off together with the hair, their beards were smeared with pitch and set alight, and holy icons were burned on their heads. They bore all the torments with patience and remained alive.

The emperor ordered them dragged through the city for the mockery of all, and only after that were they put to death. The bodies of Saints Hypatius and Andrew were thrown to the dogs, but the faithful buried them with reverence.