Peter the Former Soldier

Venerable Peter of Galatia, the soldier who became a hermit.

Born Leo in Galatia, he served in the imperial army under the iconoclast emperor Theophilos and was taken captive by the Arabs. Delivered from prison through prayer, he vowed himself to God and became a monk with the name Peter.

He lived as a hermit on Mount Olympus in Bithynia and later near Constantinople, reposing in peace in the ninth century.

Feast day

On the New Calendar, Peter the Former Soldier is commemorated on October 9. Churches on the Old (Julian) Calendar keep the feast on October 22 of the civil calendar.

Also commemorated on October 9

• 

  James the Apostle of Alphaeus

  Apostle, Ιάκωβος Αλφαίου

  Holy Apostle James son of Alpheus.

  Name days: Iakovos, James, Jacob

• Andronikos and Athanasia

  Venerable, Ανδρόνικος και Αθανασία

  Venerable Andronikos and his wife Athanasia of Antioch, who embraced the ascetic life together.

  Name days: Andronikos, Andronicus, Andronicos, Athanasia

• Abraham and Lot the Righteous

  Saint, Αβραάμ και Λωτ

  Righteous Forefather Abraham, friend of God, and his nephew Lot the Righteous.

  Name days: Avraam, Abraham, Abram, Avram, Lot

• Poplia the Confessor

  Holy Woman, Ποπλία η Ομολογήτρια

  Saint Poplia the Confessor, deaconess of Antioch, who defied Julian the Apostate.

• Tikhon Patriarch of Moscow

  Hierarch, Τύχων Πατριάρχης Μόσχας

  Saint Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and Enlightener of North America, confessor under the Bolsheviks.