Holy Hieromartyr Euthymius, Bishop of Sardis (+c. 840)

The holy Martyr Euthymius, Bishop of Sardis, laboured in the time of the Byzantine Emperors Constantine VI Porphyrogenitus (780–797) and Irene (797–802). In this rank he took part in the Seventh Ecumenical Council (787), at which he exposed the heresy of the iconoclasts. When the iconoclast Nicephorus I (802–811) ascended the throne, Euthymius was exiled with other Orthodox hierarchs to the island of Pantelleria. Recalled from exile by the Emperor Leo V (813–820), the bishop again boldly denounced iconoclasm, for which he was exiled again, to the city of Assos. The next emperor, Michael II the Stammerer (820–829), also demanded that the saint renounce the veneration of icons, but in vain. Then the blessed martyr was exiled a third time, this time to the island of Crete. By order of the iconoclast Emperor Theophilus (829–842), who succeeded Michael on the throne, Saint Euthymius was tortured to death.