Martin the Confessor

Pope Martin I of Rome.

St. Martin the Confessor was Pope of Rome in the seventh century. He convened a council at the Lateran which condemned the Monothelite heresy, defending the fullness of Christ's humanity against the will of the emperor. For this he was seized by imperial soldiers, carried off to Constantinople, tried and mistreated, and exiled to Cherson on the Black Sea.

Worn down by hunger and hardship, he died in exile, a confessor for the Orthodox faith honored by East and West alike. He is commemorated on April 13.

Feast day

On the New Calendar, Martin the Confessor is commemorated on April 13. Churches on the Old (Julian) Calendar keep the feast on April 26 of the civil calendar.

Who celebrates a name day

People with these names keep their name day on this feast:

Martinos, Martin

Also commemorated on April 13

• Zoilos the Roman

  Martyr, Ζωΐλος ο Ρωμαίος

  Holy Martyr Zoilos of Rome.

• Quintilian, Maximus and Dadas

  Martyr, Κυντιλιανός, Μάξιμος και Δάδας

  Holy Martyrs Quintilian, Maximus the Reader and Dadas, beheaded near Dorostolum.

• Eleutherios the Persian

  Martyr, Ελευθέριος ο Πέρσης

  Holy Martyr Eleutherios of Persia.

• Arsenios of Elassona

  Hierarch, Αρσένιος Ελασσώνος

  Saint Arsenios, Archbishop of Elassona and later Archbishop of Suzdal in Russia.

Icon: public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.