✝ the Hieromartyr Marcellus of Apamea
August 14 / August 27 (Julian Calendar)
On this day, August 14 according to the Julian Calendar (August 27 civil calendar), the Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates the Hieromartyr Marcellus, Bishop of Apamea.
The Hieromartyr Marcellus, Bishop of Apamea, was born into a noble family on the island of Cyprus. After receiving a brilliant education he held high offices in the civil service, and he astonished everyone by his pure life, his humility, his compassion and his eloquence. Around the year 375 he left his wife and children, was tonsured a monk, and began his ascetic labours in the wilderness of Syria.
After a time, by the will of God, the inhabitants of Apamea brought the blessed one into the city under the pretext of some necessary business, and appointed him their bishop. The hierarch zealously fought against paganism, destroying idol-temples and building holy churches in their place.
On one occasion, at the hierarch’s command, soldiers were pulling down a pagan temple. Saint Marcellus stood a little way off, watching. At that moment he was seized by the pagans and burned in the fire.
May the intercessions of the Hieromartyr Marcellus of Apamea be with us all.