апостол Ерм и мъченик Ермей

The Holy Apostle Hermas was a bishop in Philippopolis, Thrace. He was a Greek, but he spent some time in Rome. The holy Apostle Paul greets him in the Epistle to the Romans (Rom 16:14). The Apostle Hermas endured much grief from the pagans for preaching the Gospel, but he died in peace.
According to Tradition, St Hermas is the author of The Shepherd, an instructive book based on revelations from angels.

Святой апостол Ерм был епископом в Филиппополе Фракийском. Святой апостол Павел в Послании к Римлянам приветствовал его (Рим. 16, 14). Проповедуя Евангелие, апостол Ерм потерпел много скорбей от язычников, но скончался мирно.

Hermas was one of the Seventy Apostles. He is mentioned in the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans. Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes and the brethren which are with them (Romans 16:14).
Hermas was a Greek by birth but lived in Rome for a long time. He was a bishop in Philippoupolis and ended his life as a martyr. He compiled a very instructive book called "The Shepherd" according to revelations from an angel of God. Hermas was a wealthy man but because of his sins and the sins of his sons, he fell into extreme poverty. Once while in prayer, a man appeared to him in white raiment with a staff in his hand and told him that he is an angel of repentance who was sent to be with him until the end of his life. The angel gave him twelve mandates:
1. Believe in God; 2. To live in simplicity and innocence; do not speak evil and give alms to all who beg; 3. Love truth and avoid falsehood; 4. Preserve chastity in your thoughts; 5. Learn patience and generosity; 6. To know that with every man, there is a good and an evil spirit; 7. To fear God and not to fear the devil; 8. To do every good and to refrain from every evil deed; 9. To pray to God from the depth of the soul with faith that our prayer will be fulfilled; 10. To guard against melancholy as the sister of doubt and anger; 11. To question true and false prophecies; 12. To guard against every evil desire.


Holy Martyr Hermias suffered for Christ in the city of Comana during the persecution under the emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161). The governor Sebastian, who was in Cappadocia to arrest Christians, urged the saint to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods, promising him honors and mercy from the emperor.
The old soldier bravely confessed his faith in Christ. After long exhortation, the governor gave orders to torture the saint. They beat him on the face so that the skin peeled from his face, and they threw him into a red-hot oven. When the oven was opened after three days, the martyr Hermias emerged from it unharmed. The governor Sebastian ordered the sorcerer Marus to poison St Hermias with a potion. The poisonous drink did the saint no harm. A second goblet with even stronger poison also failed to kill the saint. The sorcerer believed in Christ the Savior, and was immediately beheaded. St Marus was baptized in his own blood, and received a martyr's crown. St Hermias was subjected to even more terrible tortures. They raked his body with sharp instruments, threw him in boiling oil, and gouged out his eyes, but he gave thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ. Then they suspended the martyr head downward. For three days he hung in this position. People sent by the governor to verify his death found him alive. Struck by the miracle, they were blinded with fright and began to call out to the saint to help them. The holy martyr ordered the blind to approach him, and healed them in the Name of Jesus Christ. In anger the governor ordered the skin flayed from the saint's body, but he remained alive.
Then the crazed Sebastian beheaded him with his own sword. Christians secretly buried the body of the martyr Hermias, whose relics bestowed numerous healings.

Με τη σημερινή ορολογία, θα λέγαμε ότι ό Ερμείας ήταν ένας συνταξιούχος στρατιώτης. Υπηρετούσε στα Κόμανα της Καππαδοκίας και σαν γνήσιος χριστιανός πρόσφερε στον Καίσαρα τις υπηρεσίες πού του άνηκαν. Ήταν από τους πιο γενναίους μέσα στο στράτευμα και ποτέ δεν έστρεψε την πλάτη του στον εχθρό, ακόμα και στις ήττες. Όταν, όμως, έγινε διωγμός κατά των χριστιανών, συνέλαβαν και τον Ερμεία, χωρίς να υπολογίσουν τις μεγάλες του υπηρεσίες, ούτε τα σεβάσμια γηρατειά του. Κατόπιν, ό Δούκας Σεβαστιανός διέταξε τον Ερμεία να θυσιάσει στα είδωλα. Ή διαταγή προκάλεσε έκπληξη στον Ερμεία, και χαμογελώντας του είπε: "Θα ήταν πολύ ανόητο, άρχοντα, να αφήσω το φως και να προτιμήσω το σκοτάδι, να εγκαταλείψω την αλήθεια και να ασπασθώ το ψέμα, να χάσω τη ζωή και να πέσω στο θάνατο. Ό Κύριος μας και Θεός μας Ιησούς Χριστός είπε, "Εγώ ειμί το φως του κόσμου· και ή αλήθεια και ή ζωή"1. Δηλαδή, εγώ είμαι το φως πού φωτίζει τον κόσμο, και συγχρόνως ή απόλυτη αλήθεια και ή πραγματική πηγή ζωής. Λοιπόν, δε θα ήταν παράλογο τώρα στο τέλος της ζωής μου να χάσω τέτοια πολύτιμα αγαθά;". Τότε ό άρχοντας διέταξε και τον έριξαν στη φωτιά, αλλά από θαύμα έμεινε αβλαβής. Τελικά τον αποκεφάλισαν.