An aged Christian soldier of Comana in Cappadocia who confessed Christ before the governor, was preserved through fearful torments, and at last was beheaded under Antoninus.
Feast Day
May 31
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The Holy, Glorious Martyr Hermias the Soldier of Comana
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Life
Hermias was an aged soldier who suffered martyrdom in the city of Comana, in the region of Cappadocia in Asia Minor, during the second-century persecutions of the Roman state. According to the synaxarion he had spent long years in the Roman army, and when called upon to renounce his faith he openly confessed Christ before the authorities rather than offer sacrifice to the pagan gods.
His commemoration falls on May 31, a feast observed in both the Eastern Orthodox Church and, by tradition, in the Western calendar. The account of his sufferings, marked by a series of preservations through fearful torments before his eventual beheading, made him an enduring figure among the early military martyrs of Asia Minor.
Timeline 4 moments
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2nd centuryLong service as a soldierHermias served for many years in the Roman army before the events of his martyrdom, and is remembered as an aged or elderly soldier.
under Antoninus Pius (138–161)Confession before the governorDuring the persecution, the governor Sebastian, who had come to Cappadocia to arrest Christians, urged Hermias to sacrifice to the pagan gods. The old soldier instead confessed his faith in Christ.
during his trialConversion of the sorcererA magician named Marus was sent to poison Hermias. When two attempts failed to harm the saint, Marus himself converted to Christianity and was put to death, said to have been baptized in his own blood.
May 31BeheadingAfter enduring extended tortures, Hermias was at last beheaded by the governor Sebastian. Christians secretly buried his body.
Contributions & Legacy
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Persecution and Martyrdom
The sources place Hermias's suffering in Comana during the reign of the emperor Antoninus Pius (138–161); some accounts allow that it may instead have fallen under Marcus Aurelius (161–180). The governor Sebastian, charged with arresting Christians in Cappadocia, demanded that Hermias offer sacrifice to the gods, and when the saint refused, ordered a sequence of severe torments.
The synaxarion relates that Hermias was beaten about the face, cast into a burning furnace from which he emerged unharmed after three days, raked with sharp instruments, immersed in boiling oil, and had his eyes gouged out before being suspended head-downward for three days. The accounts further state that his skin was flayed from his body, yet he remained alive. Finally Sebastian beheaded the saint with his own sword.
The Conversion of Marus
Among the episodes preserved in his vita is the sending of a sorcerer, named Marus in some recensions, to kill Hermias by poison. When two increasingly potent poisoned draughts failed to harm the saint, the magician was astonished and embraced the Christian faith. He was at once executed, and tradition describes him as baptized in his own blood, numbering him among the witnesses converted by the steadfastness of the martyr.
Relics and Veneration
After his death, Christians secretly buried the body of Hermias, and his relics are said to have bestowed numerous healings. His feast is kept on May 31 in the Orthodox Church and is also recorded in the Western (Roman Catholic) calendar. Liturgical hymns composed for the day, including an apolytikion and kontakion, commemorate his steadfast confession and the spiritual ardor he showed despite his advanced age.
