Venerable
Venerable Gregory Decapolite
ок. 780/790-х — †ок. 842
Venerable Gregory the Decapolite — an 8th-9th century Byzantine missionary monk, a native of the Decapolis region in Isauria, who traveled extensively (Ephesus, Thessalonica, Rome, Sicily, Constantinople) in defense of icon veneration during the reigns of the iconoclast emperors Leo V and Theophilus, mentor of St. Joseph the Hymnographer, renowned for miracles of exorcism.
Venerable Gregory was born in Irinopolis, in the Decapolis region of Isauria (Asia Minor), at the end of the 8th century. Avoiding a marriage arranged by his parents, he withdrew into monasticism and spent about 14 years in strict ascetic struggle under the guidance of his uncle, St. Symeon. He then began extensive missionary travels: he visited Ephesus, Thessalonica, Corinth, Rome, Sicily, and other lands, everywhere opposing the Iconoclast heresy promoted by Emperors Leo V the Armenian and Theophilus. In Thessalonica he took as his disciple the future St. Joseph the Hymnographer, who became one of the greatest Byzantine hymn writers. He became renowned for numerous miracles, including the casting out of demons from the possessed. He spent his final years in Constantinople, where he died around 842 — the very year icon veneration was finally restored at the Council of Constantinople. His relics were later translated to the Bistrița Monastery in Romania, where they are venerated to this day.
NOTE: the category has been corrected from "righteous" to "venerable" (an ascetic monk, not a layperson); the template_generic placeholder has been replaced with a full biography.