Saint Nikon the Hieromartyr and His 199 Disciples
A former soldier who became abbot of a hundred and ninety monks and was martyred with them in Sicily.
Biography
Nikon was born in Naples, Italy, to a pagan father and a Christian mother. He served as a soldier, but a longing for the ascetic life led him toward Constantinople; at Chios, where he stopped along the way, he was baptised and devoted himself to asceticism and the study of Scripture.
The local bishop ordained him priest and made him abbot of a hundred and ninety brothers. After his parents' death he settled with his community in Sicily, where the local governor arrested them for refusing to renounce their faith, and all were martyred after terrible torture.