Commemorated September 19 (New Calendar) October 2 (Old Calendar)
Also January 4, with Athanasius the Commentarisius
The Latin Church keeps him on January 3, with Athanasius.
Saint Zosimas lived in the desert of Cilicia in the fourth century, in the days of Diocletian. Dometian, governor of Cilicia, found him on a hunt walking among wild beasts and speaking with them as with men. The hunters took him for a sorcerer. He was bound and judged, then sent in chains to Nazareth. He was hung head down with a great stone on his neck and planed with iron claws. A lion came into the city and held up the stone. When they unbound him to send him to the emperor, he gave up his spirit. Christians buried him with honor.
The words of Saint Zosimas
“I am a Christian; my name is Zosimas.” (When the hunters asked who he was.)
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“I do not live in the desert for sorcery. Being a Christian, I cannot live in the city with unbelievers, and so I went into the desert, wishing rather to be with beasts than with evil men, enemies of my Lord Jesus Christ. Having as a pattern the life of other Christians, the holy fathers who left the world and live in the desert, I tried to imitate them as I could. God, Who knows those who serve Him and provides for them, arranged also for me by His goodness, and subjected the wild beasts to me for my comfort. And so I live with them, rejoicing in the Lord and laying all my hope on Him.” (When Dometian asked by what magic he lived unharmed among the beasts.)
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“Christ, my God: He is the One Who sent the beasts for my comfort in the desert.” (When they asked again, after the hanging and the claws, about his sorcery.)
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“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God! Hear me, Thy servant; send a lion here, that he may serve me.” (When Dometian said that if a beast would come, they would all receive his faith.)
The words of others in the reading
“So thou art a wicked old man, and honorest the Nazarene? Well. I will go to Nazareth and there torment thee cruelly, that thou mayest either deny the Nazarene or lose thy life in bitter sufferings; and let the Nazarenes, seeing thy torments, be afraid.” (Dometian, after the first confession.)
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“If the beasts obey thy God, command one beast to come here: then we will all receive thy faith.” (Dometian, after the second confession.)
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“Zosimas! Tame the beast, and we will unbind thee.” (Dometian, when the lion held the stone.)
Who stood with him
Dometian judged him. The hunters took him in the desert. A lion held the stone on his neck. Christians buried his body. The September reading does not name his parents. The Church also keeps him on January 4 with Athanasius the Commentarisius, the keeper of prisoners who, seeing him unharmed, believed.
He would rather speak with beasts than live among men who would not hear the Name.
We ask his prayers when the city will not have Christ, and a man has to go out.
Pray for us
Troparion, Tone 1 The image of God was truly preserved in you, O Father, for you took up the Cross and followed Christ. By so doing you taught us to disregard the flesh for it passes away but to care instead for the soul, since it is immortal. Therefore your spirit, venerable Zosimas, rejoices with the angels.
Kontakion, Tone 2 As a venerable and proven ascetic, as an honorable and renowned martyr, and as a model of the desert life, O most exalted Zosimas, we sing hymns of praise to you, for you have trampled upon serpents.
Saint Zosimas, pray for us.
Sources
St. Demetrius of Rostov, Lives of the Saints, September 19. https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Dmitrij_Rostovskij/zhitija-svjatykh/802
Orthodox Church in America, Martyr Zosimas the Hermit of Cilicia. https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2026/09/19/102670-martyr-zosimas-the-hermit-of-cilicia
Orthodox Encyclopedia, Zosima and Athanasius the Commentarisius. https://pravenc.ru/text/200049.html
Orthodox Encyclopedia, calendar, 2 October (19 September). https://www.pravenc.ru/calendar/2024/10/02.html
Also in the Latin books
Roman Martyrology, January 3 (Zosimus and Athanasius).
Acta Sanctorum, January, tomus I, p. 128.
This site is a lamp, not a parish. Listen to the life. Then find a living Orthodox church and ask a priest to pastor you. https://pieceofhumanity.com/find-a-parish/
Updated 9/19/2026
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