Martyr Phokas the Gardener of Sinope

Life and Martyrdom

Phokas lived at Sinope in Paphlagonia, where his only possessions were a garden that he cultivated with diligence, supporting himself by selling its vegetables and fruit. His dwelling near the castle gate that communicated with the port made it accessible to travelers and the poor, and though his income was modest he was remembered as a good steward who always had something to give to those in need.

When the rulers learned that he was a Christian, they sent soldiers to arrest and behead him. Not knowing his identity, the soldiers accepted his hospitality, and only afterward disclosed their errand. The tradition relates that Phokas resolved their reluctance by volunteering his own death, saying that the responsibility lay with those who had sent them. During the night he dug his own grave and set aside his goods for the poor; in the morning he made himself known, bared his neck, and was beheaded. The accounts place his death during the persecutions of the late third or early fourth century, with some traditions assigning it to the reign of Diocletian.

An early account of his martyrdom was composed by Asterius of Amasea, who died about 410.

Veneration and Patronage

A church was built over the grave of the saint, and the tradition holds that it became renowned for miracles, so that Phokas came to be honored throughout the Church as a wonderworker. Asterius of Amasea testified to the breadth of his veneration, naming him among the most prominent of the saints.

Phokas is especially venerated by sailors, who invoke his protection at sea; the tradition relates that he often appeared by night to those in peril on the waters, and that mariners kept a custom of setting aside 'the saint's share' at their meals and giving the collected offering to the poor. Veneration of him spread widely, with coastal chapels dedicated to him in the Aegean islands and elsewhere, and his name carried west to southern Italy.

Relics & Shrines

By the witness of Asterius of Amasea, the skull of Phokas was kept in a church at Rome, where he was held in great honor. Later tradition records relics claimed at Vienne and Antioch, and a fragment of his relics is preserved at the Monastery of Proussos in Evritania.