2nd century
A native of Isauria in Asia Minor who from his youth was devoted to Christ and, according to his life, aided by the Archangel Michael. He confessed the faith and suffered martyrdom.
The Holy Martyr Conon of Isauria
Conon of Isauria was an early martyr of Asia Minor whose life is set in the days of the Apostles. According to his synaxarion he came from a region first evangelized by the Apostle Paul, and from his youth was associated with the protection of the Archangel Michael.
His commemorated life joins three strands: a married man who, with his wife Anna, embraced a life of celibate devotion; an ascetic who in old age received the gift of working miracles; and a confessor who was tortured for refusing to sacrifice to idols. The Orthodox Church commemorates him on March 5.
Conon's life places his origin at the village of Bidana, near the city of Isauria in the interior of Asia Minor. The synaxarion notes that the inhabitants of the area had received the Christian faith from the Apostle Paul, situating Conon within the earliest generations of Anatolian Christianity.
His parents are named in the tradition as Nestor and Nada. The account of his father Nestor includes his own death as a martyr after he rebuked idolaters.
A distinctive feature of Conon's life is the role assigned to the Archangel Michael, who by the synaxarion protected him from his youth and aided him in many difficulties. In one account the Archangel appeared to him in a bright garment, taught him the faith of Christ, baptized him, and communed him with the Holy Mysteries.
The same tradition relates that, betrothed to Anna at his parents' insistence, Conon persuaded her to prefer a life of virginity. A frequently repeated detail describes him placing a candle under a vessel and asking his bride which was better, light or darkness, as a way of teaching her about Christ and the spiritual life. Through his witness, both Anna and the families were brought to the Christian faith.
After the deaths of his wife and her parents, Conon is said to have withdrawn entirely from worldly life, giving himself to prayer, fasting, and contemplation, and gaining authority over the demons. In his old age the tradition credits him with the gift of working miracles, through which many pagans were turned to Christ.
When a persecution of Christians arose in Isauria, Conon was among the first to suffer. He was tortured severely for refusing to sacrifice to the idols. The synaxarion relates that those who were sick anointed themselves with his blood and were healed.
One account names the governor Magnos (Magnus), who came to Isauria by imperial order and had Conon arrested; after he endured beatings and refused to sacrifice, the local population threatened the governor, who fled, and Conon was released. The tradition adds that Conon was grieved at not having been counted worthy of a martyr's death, lived two further years, and then reposed in the Lord.