Hieromartyr
Hieromartyr Zoticus the Feeder of Orphans, Presbyter
IV век — †при имп. Констанции II (337-361)
Also known as: Зотик Константинопольский, Зотик Сиропитатель, Зотик Сиротопитатель
Hieromartyr Zoticus the Feeder of Orphans — a noble Roman at the court of St. Constantine the Great, who became a presbyter in Constantinople and founded a shelter for lepers and orphans; martyred by order of Emperor Constantius II, who accused him of embezzling state funds actually spent on ransoming and treating the sick.
Hieromartyr Zoticus was a noble and wealthy Roman who served at the court of St. Constantine the Great (r. 306-337). When the capital was moved to Constantinople, Zoticus followed, renounced his worldly rank, and was ordained presbyter. With funds obtained from Emperor Constantine under the pretext of purchasing precious stones for the treasury, he founded a hospice (xenon) on Eleon Hill across the Golden Horn, where he received and treated lepers, ransoming them from soldiers who had been ordered to drown the sick in the sea.
Under Constantine's son and successor, Emperor Constantius II (r. 337-361), who favored Arianism, Zoticus was accused of embezzling state funds for personal gain. When the enraged emperor, expecting to see jewels, was instead shown the healed lepers ("these are the precious stones I bought"), he ordered the saint bound to wild mules and dragged over rocks; Zoticus died of his injuries. According to tradition, a healing spring appeared at the site of his death.
The reliability of his veneration is supported by early sources: an anonymous Martyrdom (11th century), an Encomium by Constantine Akropolites (14th century), mentions in the Typikon of the Great Church (9th-11th centuries), and an edict of Emperor Leo I (r. 457-474) confirming the privileges of the charitable institution Zoticus founded.