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| St. Armodios the Martyr (Feast Day - May 11) |
The Holy Martyr Armodios is unknown in the Synaxaria and Menaia, however his memory is preserved in an eleventh century codex from the Abbey of Santa Maria di Grottaferrata (Greek: Mονῆς Κρυπτοφέρρης) near Rome, where there is a Divine Office dedicated to him composed by the abbot Arsenios.
According to Demetrios Z. Sophianos, Saint Armodios lived in the tenth century, and was a fellow soldier with Saint Nicholas of Vounenis (May 9). He served under Nicholas in Larisa. When the Arabs raided Larisa around the year 901 or 902, Armodios followed Nicholas to Mount Tyrnavos in Thessaly. There an angel appeared to them and informed them how the time for their martyrdom drew near.
Indeed, the Arab soldiers surrounded the area, and after a massive slaughter they gathered all the soldiers, except for Saint Nicholas who fled to Vounenis. Armodios and his fellow soldiers were subjected to fierce torture until they delivered their souls into the hands of the Lord.
For a long time their sacred relics remained unburied, until Metropolitan Philip of Larisa, following a divine command, gathered them up and buried them with honors and reverence in Larisa.
