Marcellus of Apamea

Holy Hieromartyr Marcellus of Apamea, bishop of Apamea in Syria, was born of illustrious parents on the island of Cyprus and, after a fine education, held a high civil office. Everyone marvelled at his purity of life, mildness, kindness and eloquence. In the year 375 he left his wife and children and devoted himself to monastic life in Syria. The people of Apamea, having him come to the city on some business, elected him bishop.

From the account of Theodoret of Cyrrhus we learn that Marcellus received permission from the emperor Theodosius the Great (379 to 395) to destroy a strongly built temple of Jupiter at Apamea. A craftsman promised to help: he undermined three of the huge columns, propping them up temporarily with olive wood, but the wood would not burn. When Marcellus learned of it, he performed the Lesser Blessing of Water and ordered the water sprinkled around the wood; after that the wood burned quickly, the columns fell and the temple collapsed.

When soldiers demolished another pagan temple near Aulona, in the Apamea district, the saint, watching from a distance, was seized by pagans and thrown into a fire, in the year 389. The killers were found, and the saint's sons wished to take revenge, but a local council forbade it, ruling that such a death should not be avenged, but that thanks should be given to God. Saint Marcellus is commemorated on 14 August (new style).