Holy Martyr Zosimas the Hermit

Life

A certain Cilician prince, Dometian, went hunting in the mountains with his servants. In the mountains he saw an old man surrounded by wild beasts, gentle as lambs. Asked who he was and what he was, the elder answered that his name was Zosimas, that he was a Christian, and that he had long been living with wild beasts, who are better than the persecutors of Christians in the city. This offended Dometian, who was himself a cruel persecutor of Christians, so he bound Zosimas in chains and sent him before him to Nazareth, where he especially wished to torture him in order to frighten those there who believed in Christ. And when he had wounded and bloodied him all over with blows, he tied a stone around his neck and raised him up on a tree. Then the prince mocked him: "Command one of your beasts to come, and then we too will all believe!" The holy martyr prayed to God, and indeed an enormous lion appeared, who approached Zosimas and placed his head beneath the stone to relieve the martyr. In great fear the prince released Zosimas, but shortly afterward Zosimas surrendered his spirit into the hands of his Lord.