Hieromartyr
Hieromartyr Methodius of Olympus
ок. 260 — 312
Also known as: Мефодий Патарский
Hieromartyr Methodius of Olympus — a bishop and theologian, a leading polemicist against Origenism, author of "The Banquet of the Ten Virgins," beheaded in the persecution of the early 4th century.
IMPORTANT CORRECTION: the previous contaminated date did not belong to this saint under any variant; replaced with the correct one (June 20/July 3).
Hieromartyr Methodius was a bishop, according to various ancient testimonies, of Olympus and/or Patara in Lycia (sources disagree on his see, with some ancient testimony also naming Philippi in Macedonia or Tyre). A leading 3rd-century polemicist against the teaching of Origen and against Gnostic-Valentinian doctrines.
His best-known surviving work, "The Banquet of the Ten Virgins" (Symposium), modeled on Plato's Symposium, defends virginity and discusses the Church's unity with Christ; most of his other works ("On the Resurrection," "Against Porphyry," scriptural commentaries) survive only in fragments. According to Blessed Jerome, he was beheaded at Chalcis (Greece) during a persecution traditionally dated to the era of Diocletian/Galerius (c. 311-312).
His feast is kept on June 20/July 3.