Hieromartyr 4th century

Hieromartyr Milos the Wonderworker and his two disciples

died 341

Also known as Miles, Bishop of Susa

A former general who became Bishop of Susa and received gifts of healing and prophecy, who with two disciples suffered martyrdom in Persia.

Feast Day

November 10

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Commemorated as

The Holy Hieromartyr Milos the Wonderworker, Bishop of Susa, and his Two Disciples

Life

Milos (also rendered Milēs or Mίlos) the Wonderworker was a fourth-century Persian saint who, according to the synaxarion tradition, served as a military general before entering religious life. He was chosen as Bishop of Telepolis — identified with Susa, the Shushan of Syriac sources, where the Prophet Daniel saw his visions.

His episcopal ordination came through Bishop Bēthlapát of Geddēgoupólis. On account of his devout ascetical life, Milos was said to have received from God the gifts of prophecy and healing, from which his epithet "the Wonderworker" derives.

Expelled from Susa by pagan authorities, he withdrew to Jerusalem and afterward traveled to Alexandria, where the tradition records that he met Saint Anthony the Great. After about two years' absence he returned to Persia, where he and two disciples were arrested and put to death. The Orthodox Church commemorates him, together with his two disciples, on November 10.

Timeline 3 moments Read Hide

early 4th century From general to bishop By the tradition recorded in the synaxarion, Milos was once a general before being chosen as Bishop of Telepolis (Susa, the Syriac Shushan), receiving his ordination from Bishop Bēthlapát of Geddēgoupólis.
4th century Exile and travels Expelled from Susa by pagan authorities, Milos withdrew to Jerusalem and then to Alexandria, where the tradition relates he encountered Saint Anthony the Great. After roughly two years he returned to Persia.
341 Martyrdom On his return Milos and his companions were arrested under the ruler named Basiliskos in the sources. Milos was put to death by the sword and his two disciples were killed with clubs and stones.

Contributions & Legacy

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The See of Susa

Milos was appointed bishop of Telepolis, identified with Susa — the ancient Shushan or Elam of Syriac tradition, associated with the visions of the Prophet Daniel. Susa held a Christian community throughout the first millennium and was a genuine episcopal see in early Christian Persia; it later belonged to the metropolitan province of Beth Huzaye in the Church of the East, attested as a diocese between the fifth and thirteenth centuries. This historical context locates Milos's bishopric within an established Christian presence in Sasanian Persia.

Historical Context: Persecution under Shapur II

Milos's martyrdom in 341 falls within the wide persecution of Christians in the Sasanian Empire under Shapur II (reigned 309–379), generally regarded as the most intense period of such persecution. Shapur II imposed additional taxes on Christians to finance his war with Rome, and Persian concern over Christian loyalty intensified after the conversion of the Roman emperor Constantine.

The historian Sozomen estimated that the number of named men and women martyred exceeded sixteen thousand. Among the prominent victims were the Catholicos Shimun (Simeon) Bar Sabbae and his successors Shahdost and Barba'shmin. Milos and his two disciples are counted within this broader wave of state-sponsored persecution.

His Disciples and the Sources

The accessible hagiographical sources record discrepancies over the names of Milos's two disciples. One tradition names Ebórēs, Papas, and a Deacon Senóei (or Sebórēs); another lists Abrosim and Sinon. The variations are attributed to alternate transcriptions of Persian names into other languages.

Milos is a relatively obscure figure in accessible online Orthodox sources: no standalone biographical article exists for him on OrthodoxWiki, and the OCA synaxarion entry serves as the primary accessible account of his life. His encounter with Saint Anthony the Great is attested in that synaxarion; it is chronologically plausible, since Anthony (c. 251–356) was still living and receiving visitors from across the Christian world during the period of Milos's Alexandrian exile, though no independent record of the meeting survives.

Notes

Named group kept as one row.

Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints