Hieromartyrs Hermolaus, Hermippus and Hermocrates, Presbyters of Nicomedia (+c. 305)

The Hieromartyrs Hermolaus, Hermippus and Hermocrates, presbyters of Nicomedia. In 303 the lawless Emperor Maximian (284–305; 307–310) burned twenty thousand Christians alive in the church of Nicomedia (commemorated 28 December). The holy fathers Hermolaus, Hermippus and Hermocrates, who survived this horror, took refuge in secluded places and did not stop preaching Christianity among the pagans. A pagan youth, Pantoleon (the holy Great Martyr Panteleimon; commemorated 27 July), often passed in front of the house where Hermolaus was hiding. The venerable priest “perceived in the spirit that he was to be a chosen vessel, like the Apostle Paul”; one day he went out to meet him, “sat him down beside him”, and preached the true God to him. “The blessed Pantoleon, like good ground”, received “the seed sown in him” and returned home full of joy. From then on he went every day to the presbyter Hermolaus and “was confirmed by him in the teaching of the faith”. When the Great Martyr Panteleimon was brought before the tribunal, his teacher was seized together with him. The night before, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself appeared to Hermolaus and told him that he would have to endure suffering and death for His name. Then Hermippus and Hermocrates were arrested too. The tormentors demanded that the three confessors deny Christ, offer sacrifice to the idols, and win Panteleimon back, but they answered firmly: “We pray God that we and he may die for His name, for He is our hope.” The pagans threatened the Lord’s chosen ones with torture and death. Suddenly the earth shook terribly, and in the temple the statues of the false gods fell down and were shattered. When this was reported to the emperor, he was terribly enraged. By his order Panteleimon was thrown into prison, and the presbyters Hermolaus, Hermippus and Hermocrates were beheaded (+305).