Venerable George the Confessor, Metropolitan of Mitylene

George became a monk in youth and suffered persecution as a confessor under Emperor Leo III, the Isaurian, a ruler hostile to icons. Under the orthodox rulers Constantine and Irene he was made metropolitan of Mitylene on the island of Lesbos, where he was known for feeding the poor. His Life records that he foretold a coming emperor who would throw down the holy images.

When Leo V, the Armenian, revived the Iconoclast policy and summoned bishops to Constantinople, George spoke boldly against the emperor and Patriarch Theodotus. They sent him into exile at Cherson, where he lived out his days, and a new Iconoclast metropolitan was placed in Mitylene. His Life tells of many wonders there, including a bright star at the hour of his death, after 820.