Parod of Bulgaria

Holy Hieromartyr Parod of Bulgaria, a priest, is commemorated on 4 February with the martyr bishops Manuel, George, Peter and Leontius (Leo) and the priests Sionius, Gabriel, John and Leontius. They came from various parts of the Roman Empire, lived at Adrianople in the time of the emperor Leo the Armenian (813-820), and suffered at the hands of the Bulgarians.

The Bulgarian khan Krum devastated Thrace and Macedonia, came up to Constantinople, and after a three-⁠month siege took Adrianople in 814 and carried off all the inhabitants who had survived, up to forty thousand people, among them the bishop of the city, whom the pagan khan ordered thrown headlong and trampled underfoot. Krum died an evil death; his successor Dukum died soon after, and over the Bulgarians came Diceng, a fierce and merciless ruler. He ordered that Manuel, bishop of Adrianople, be sawn in two and his arms cut off to the shoulders, and his remains were thrown to the dogs. God's wrath struck the tyrant with blindness, and soon Diceng was killed by his subjects.

Murtagon followed him and cruelly persecuted the Christians who did not obey the order to renounce Christ. Many he kept in prison, tortured and killed. Bishops George of Develt and Peter, who strengthened their flock in the faith, he gave over to cruel beatings and then beheaded with the sword; seven Christians suffered the same. The Christian commanders John and Leontius were also beheaded. Leontius the eunuch, bishop of Nicaea, was pierced through the belly with a sword; Gabriel and Sionius died by the sword too, and Parod, a most devout priest, was stoned.

Many other faithful servants of Christ were beaten and imprisoned at that time. Not only Murtagon but his successors on the Bulgarian throne cruelly persecuted Christians, who through torments and death gained the eternal kingdom.

Saint Parod is commemorated on 4 February, in the new style.