Hieromartyr Babylas of Antioch

Hieromartyr Babylas, Bishop of Antioch, led the Christian community of Antioch the Great in the mid-third century, ascending the see around 237/238. According to tradition, when a pagan emperor sought to enter the church during the Divine Liturgy, Bishop Babylas barred his way, demanding repentance for innocent blood shed, and drove him from the temple. He was later arrested during the persecution of Emperor Decius (249–251) and imprisoned together with three boys he had catechized — Urban, Prilidian, and Eppolonius — and their mother, Christodula. After torture and refusal to sacrifice to idols, Babylas and the youths were martyred around the year 251. A century later, under Julian the Apostate, his relics were translated from the suburb of Daphne, after which the pagan oracle of Apollo there fell silent.