Yermil’s Day or Day of Remembrance of Martyrs Yermil and Stratonic of Singido

Memorial Day of Yermil and Stratonic of Singidonsky — two friends from Singidunum (now Belgrade in Serbia) — celebrated on January 26 by the Orthodox Church. Yermil’s day recalls the martyrdom of comrades who were condemned for their Christian views.

Yermilo served as a deacon in the city of Signidunum. For his open Christian position, he was thrown into prison and subjected to torture for a long time. This did not force the martyr to renounce the faith of the Lord, for which the ruler of the city, who was an ardent pagan, ordered Yermil to be drowned in the Danube. Stratonic, Yermil’s friend and prison warden, was afraid of losing his position in the service, so he preached Christianity secretly from the authorities. Observing with his own eyes the suffering of his comrade, he could not hold back his tears, which is why he betrayed himself and accepted a martyr’s death together with Yermil. The relics of the saints are in the Sophia Cathedral of Constantinople.