A native of Lycaonia. He was a shepherd. He kept to God's law from an early age. In a vision, he was told that he should suffer for Christ. Then there was the persecution of Christians under Maximian, the ruler of Cilicia. In Cilicia there was an idol made of gold. Sozontus left the sheep, went to the city, entered a heathen temple, broke off the arm of the idol, broke it in pieces and gave it to the poor. There was a great commotion in the city. So that no one else would suffer because of what he had done, Sozontus went to the hegemon, reported that he had broken the idol and declared himself a Christian. The torturers first beat him, then hung him from a tree and scraped him with iron brushes, and when he was about to expire, they put him in the fire. He surrendered his soul to the Lord around the year 304. His relics are miraculous.

Holy Apostles Evod and Onesiphorus. Holy Martyr Eupsychia. Saint John, Archbishop of Novgorod. Pre-holiday of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary