Michael the Confessor

Bishop Michael of Synnada.

St. Michael the Confessor was Bishop of Synnada in Phrygia in the eighth and ninth centuries. A man of holy life, he served the Church in times of trouble and stood firm for the veneration of the holy icons when the iconoclast emperors sought to destroy them. For his confession he was driven from his see and endured exile and hardship until his repose.

The Church names him Confessor because he suffered for the truth without denying it, and honors him among the defenders of the icons. He is commemorated on May 23.

Feast day

On the New Calendar, Michael the Confessor is commemorated on May 23. Churches on the Old (Julian) Calendar keep the feast on June 5 of the civil calendar.

Who celebrates a name day

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

Michail, Michalis, Michales, Mike, Mikes, Miguel, Michele, Michael

Also commemorated on May 23

• Mary of Clopas

  Holy Woman, Μαρία του Κλωπά

  Saint Mary the wife of Clopas, one of the Myrrhbearing Women.

• Eumenios of Crete

  Venerable, Ευμένιος ο Νέος (Σαριδάκης)

  Venerable Eumenios the New (Saridakis), the God-bearing elder of the leper colony of Athens.

  Name days: Evmenios, Eumenios

• Joachim of Ithaca

  Venerable, Ιωακείμ ο Ιθακήσιος

  Venerable Joachim of Ithaca, called Papoulakis, ascetic and wonderworker of the Ionian Islands.

• Euphrosyne of Polotsk

  Holy Woman, Ευφροσύνη του Πολώκ

  Venerable Euphrosyne of Polotsk, princess and abbess.

• Salonas the Roman

  Martyr, Σαλωνάς ο Ρωμαίος

  Holy Martyr Salonas of Rome.

• Manaen the Prophet

  Apostle, Μαναήν ο Προφήτης

  Saint Manaen, prophet and teacher of the Church of Antioch, named in the Acts of the Apostles.

Icon: public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.