Artemon was a presbyter of Laodicea in Syria who, according to the synaxarion, was born of Christian parents in the first half of the third century and dedicated himself from his youth to the service of the Church. He is remembered above all for his long ministry and for his zeal against idolatry, and he was martyred during the persecution of the emperor Diocletian. The Orthodox Church commemorates him on April 13.
The tradition records that Artemon advanced gradually through the ranks of the clergy over many decades: he served as a reader for sixteen years, was then ordained deacon by Bishop Sisinius and served as deacon for twenty-eight years, and was finally ordained to the priesthood, in which he labored for many further years preaching Christianity among the pagans. By the time the Diocletianic persecution reached Laodicea he was already an old man.
The accounts of his confession and death are rich in miraculous detail. When edicts of persecution were issued, Bishop Sisinius and the priest Artemon, with other believers, are said to have entered the temple of the goddess Artemis and destroyed its idols. Artemon is described as driving venomous serpents from a pagan shrine through invoking Christ. The synaxarion relates that after the military commander Patricius prepared a cauldron of boiling pitch for the saint, Patricius himself was seized and cast into it while Artemon was left unharmed, an event that led to many baptisms. By tradition Artemon was at last arrested, and, instructed by a voice from God to evangelize further, was eventually beheaded in the year 303.
