Martyr
Martyr Hermias of Comana
† ок. 166
Martyr Hermias of Comana — an aged soldier who openly confessed Christ before the governor Sebastianus, survived torture by fire and poison, and was personally beheaded by the enraged governor under Emperor Antoninus Pius.
Saint Hermias was a grey-haired elder serving as a soldier in the Roman army at Comana in Cappadocia. When governor Sebastianus arrived to enforce an imperial edict against Christians and demanded he sacrifice to pagan gods in exchange for honors and imperial favor, the aged soldier boldly confessed his faith in Christ.
For this he was subjected to brutal torments: his face was beaten with stones until the skin was flayed, his sinews were torn out, he was cast into a red-hot furnace (from which he emerged unharmed after three days), poisoned twice without effect, immersed in boiling tin, blinded, and hung upside down for three days.
Finally, the enraged Sebastianus personally beheaded him with a sword. Christians secretly buried his body, and his relics were reported to work numerous healings.
His feast is kept on May 31/June 13.