The holy confessor of Christ, Saint Cosmas, lived in the city of Constantinople. From a young age, he loved Christ and showed great faith to the word of the Gospel. He renounced the vanity of worldly life and became a monk, attaining many virtues through prayer and devotion.
He was appointed bishop of the city of Chalcedon, where he strongly defended the orthodox teachings against iconoclasm. The heretics repeatedly tried to force him into abandoning the holy icons, though he courageously stayed loyal to the true faith.
For his steadfastness in orthodoxy, Saint Cosmas endured great suffering and got imprisoned. However, even when he came back from exile, he again refused to yield to the heretics and thus was subjected to numerous tortures. Amidst these trials, Saint Cosmas peacefully reposed in the early 9th century, during the reign of the iconoclast emperor Leo the Armenian.
Alongside him, the holy Saint Auxentius also endured martyrdom.
