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| Synaxis of All Saints of Kios (Feast Day - Sunday Between October 11 and 17) |
On the first Sunday after October 10th, the God-bearing Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Synod are honored and celebrated, which took place in Nicaea of Bithynia in Asia Minor. At this Synod it was decided to restore the Holy Icons and Iconoclasm was condemned. On this same day are commemorate all the Saints who were from Kios in Asia Minor. These are Saint Eustathios the Bishop of Kios (Mar. 29), Venerable Martyr Ignatios of Kios (Oct. 8), Venerable Martyr Makarios the New who was martyred in Prousa in the year 1590 (Oct. 6), and Holy New Martyr Athanasios (July 24).
The reasons why this day was chosen for the commemoration of the Saints of Kios is as follows:
1. From the 16th century till the Asia Minor Catastrophe in 1922, Kios was the residence of the Metropolis of Nicaea. The Seventh Ecumenical Synod took place in Nicaea.
2. Two of the Saints of Kios (Eustathios and Ignatios) were martyred during the period of Iconoclasm.
3. Saints Makarios and Ignatios are commemorated in the month of October.
The celebration of the feast takes place in the Church of Saint Irene in New Kios of Greece, where the right klitos (aisle) of the church is dedicated to Saints Ignatios and Makarios, and there also is the icon of the Synaxis of All Saints Kios where they are depicted over Kios of Asia Minor.
