The life of St Methodius of Patara
He gave much of his life to writing: works answering pagan philosophy, treatises defending the Church's teaching against the errors of Origen, discourses on the moral life, and explanations of Scripture, some of which endured long after him.
When the persecution begun under Diocletian and continued under Galerius and Maximian reached Lycia, Methodius was seized and brought before the authorities. He did not deny Christ. For this he was condemned and beheaded, probably around the year 311 or 312. The Church keeps his memory among the hieromartyrs, bishops who sealed with their blood what they had already given their lives to teach. Some ancient witnesses locate his see instead at Olympus, and even suggest a later transfer to Tyre, so the exact place of his ministry is not entirely certain, but the Church has long kept his feast under the name of Patara.
