Saint Aphrahat of Antioch

Aphrahat came from Persia, where he was originally a pagan, and was baptised a Christian in Edessa. He left the city to become a monk at a hermitage outside Antioch.

When the Arian emperor Valens exiled the Orthodox clergy of Antioch, Aphrahat came out of his hermitage to encourage and strengthen the people in the Orthodox faith, impressing even the emperor himself with his answers. Tradition holds that he also worked many miracles before he died in peace.