Hieromartyr Phocas, Bishop of Sinope

Phocas was bishop of Sinope, a Black Sea port in Pontus. His parents were Pamphilus and Maria. According to his Life, he drove out demons and healed the sick from his youth, and was chosen bishop for his way of life. The Church dates his death to 117, in the time of Trajan.

The Life tells that in a vision he was shown a cup and told it was full and he must drink it, which he took as a sign that he would be martyred. He was arrested and beheaded, and was buried in a grave he had prepared himself. A separate Phocas, a gardener of Sinope, is remembered on the same day: he fed the poor from his garden, and when soldiers came to arrest him, he hosted them before telling them who he was.