Synaxarion of Saint Peter the Soldier

St. Peter the Soldier (Feast Day - October 9)

Verses

You rose to the heights of virtue divine Peter,
Stripping yourself of the earth you arrived to the heights of heaven.

Blessed Peter lived during the reign of Emperor Theophilos (829-842), and was from the eparchy of Galatia. The son of Theophilos and Eudokia, he was originally named Leo. Because he was naturally adorned with physical beauty, height and strength, he was made count by the emperor. Having been brave in battle for many years, afterwards he renounced all things and became a monk, being tonsured in a monastery known as Daphnon, changing his name from Leo to Peter.

After this he went to a mountain at Olympus, and from there he went to Jerusalem. Then he departed for Laodicea and Attaleia. Having bravely endured the labors of his journeys and asceticism, as well as the wild rage of the Ishmaelites, whom he had opposed as a soldier, finally he returned to the mountain of Olympus. Because the height of his conduct and virtue became apparent to the emperors, for this reason Emperor Basil the Macedonian (867-886) urged him to dwell in the Monastery of Saint Phokas. There he struggled much on God's behalf, and delivered his soul to the Lord in peace.