Saint Meletius of Antioch

Meletius was born around 310 at Melitene in Lesser Armenia to a wealthy family. He became bishop of Sebaste in 358, but opposition from part of the clergy led him to resign, and in 360 he was elected Patriarch of Antioch.

Because of his pro-Nicene convictions he was repeatedly exiled by emperors with Arian sympathies, and a faction of followers known as the "Meletians" formed around him. Tradition tells that, as he was being led into exile, he shielded with his own body the official escorting him from an angry crowd.

Despite his great personal wealth he lived ascetically. In 381 he presided over the opening of the Second Ecumenical Council in Constantinople, where he died.