Venerable Paul, Bishop of Neocaesarea (IV)

The Venerable Paul, Bishop of Neocaesarea, suffered in the reign of the Emperor Licinius (307–324). At the tribunal he courageously confessed Christ, for which he was cruelly beaten, his hands were burned with red-hot iron, and he was locked up in a prison on the bank of the Euphrates. After the Emperor Constantine I (306–337) became sole ruler of the Roman Empire (324) and granted freedom to the imprisoned Christians, Bishop Paul too returned to his flock. He took part in the Ecumenical Council held in Nicaea in 325, at which the heresy of the Arians was exposed and the Creed was confirmed. After the council had ended, the emperor entertained its participants with honour and kissed the burned hands of the hierarch Paul. The holy hierarch governed his flock wisely for a long time, and at last committed his soul to the Lord in peace.