Jonah of Palestine

Holy Venerable Jonah of Palestine, a priest, lived in Palestine at the end of the eighth century and the beginning of the ninth. The Church remembers him chiefly as the father of two holy confessors, Theophanes the hymn writer of canons and Theodore, called the Branded.

He lived a pure life pleasing to God, and his sons were later glorified by the Church for confessing the true faith during the iconoclast heresy. Theophanes is commemorated on 11 October, and Theodore on 27 December.

After the death of his wife, Jonah withdrew to the Lavra of Saint Sabbas the Sanctified, where both his sons had already been tonsured. He laboured in the lavra to the end of his life in the ninth century, and the Lord granted him the gift of healing by grace.

He is commemorated on 5 October (new style).