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10March

Saint Agathon.

The saint was a soldier under the king Lynicos. He was serving him in his garden when the king saw an exquisite grape, and ordered Agathon to pick it up and offer it to the god Bacchus, which statue was in that garden. But the saint told his king: “How can I commit such a wrongdoing, and I am a Christian?” The king got outraged and fired Agathon, who was found happy to leave behind his army uniform and weapon, and left the king’s service to go to a deserted place, where he lead a solitary life, spending his time in prayer, until his reputation as a holy man was on every lip. He then was ordained a priest, then elected a bishop on the city of Massisa in Kilikia [1] (Today’s south west Turkey). He showed a great zeal in serving his people, until he died in the Lord around the year 350. May his prayers be with us. Amen.



[1] Kilikia falls in today’s South West Turkey, on the Mediterranean eastern banks. I guess it’s also known as Cilicia in English.