Sainted Kozma, Bishop of Chalcedon, and his companion the Monk Auxentios
Commemorated on April 18
Sainted Kozma,
Bishop of Chalcedon, and his companion the Monk Auxentios, lived during the
IX Century, at a time when the Iconoclasts oppressed the adherents of
Orthodoxy. Saint Kozma while still in his youth had withdrawn to a monastery
and accepted monastic tonsure. Afterwards he was ordained to the dignity of
bishop of Chalcedon and he zealously defended the Orthodox faith against the
Iconoclast heretics. The Monk Auxentios was an helper to the saint in this
struggle.
The Iconoclasts tried
in manifold ways to sway the saint over to their side, but he remained faithful
to Orthodoxy to the very end. Saint Kozma did not obey the decree of the
emperor Leo the Armenian (813-820) about the discarding of holy icons from the
churches. For this he was expelled from his cathedra-seat and exiled to prison.
When the saint returned from exile, he continued with Saint Auxentios to defend
the veneration of holy icons. At the mitigation of the persecution, Saint Kozma
was weak in body, but remained all the more strong in spirit. Sainted Kozma (+
c. 815-820) and the Monk Auxentios to their very end steadfastly preserved the
Orthodox faith.
© 1996-2001 by translator Fr. S. Janos.