Commemoration of Martyrdom of Sts. Antiochus the Bishop and his ten disciples and five martyrs

St. Antiochus was born in Sebastia, to a Christian family in the third century A.D.  In the book “The Life and Activity of the Saints” we learn that Antiochus defeats a mighty dragon through prayer and the use of his preaching staff, and frees the people of a small village. He is appointed by the Metropolitan of Sebastia to be the Bishop of the city of Pitacton, located in Armenia (Hayk) Minor. During the period of Roman the Emperor Diocletian’s persecutions of Christians, Bishop Antiochus and his ten disciples are brought before a court to stand trial. They all refuse to offer sacrifices to the pagan idols and are martyred by means of beheading.

St. Gregory the Illuminator’ wife, Mariam, was the sister of Antiochus. Upon Gregory’s return from Caesaria, he brings the relics of Bishop Antiochus and St. John the Forerunner (the Baptist) to Armenia and buries the relics in the Monastery of Glak, in the region of Ashtishat, Province of Taron.