Today we commemorate the memory of the Venerable George, Bishop of Mytilene. The Venerable George lived in the 8th-9th centuries and was one of the many confessors of the Orthodox faith who, without fear for their health and lives, defended the truths of their faith, established by the Ecumenical Councils. His example is impressive, but despite this, not much information has been preserved about his life, it is not known where and when he was born, where he was a monk. We know about him only from his first manifestations in defense of icon veneration. During the persecution of icon worshippers, initiated by Emperor Leo III the Isaurian and continued by his son Constantine V Copronymus, icon worshippers and other sacred images were severely persecuted, monks were publicly humiliated and killed, and Christian shrines and monasteries were destroyed.
During these turbulent and dangerous decades, the learned monk George proved himself to be a steadfast defender of icon veneration, for which he suffered persecution and harassment. But later, during the time of Emperor Constantine the Purple-Born, when the persecution was ended, George was elected metropolitan of the city of Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. He made great efforts to pacify his flock and to live a life according to God.
However, when the iconoclast Emperor Leo the Armenian came to power, he renewed the persecution of icon worshippers with even greater force. In 815 he summoned many bishops to Constantinople and persuaded them to accept the iconoclastic doctrine. The venerable Bishop George of Mytilene was also summoned. He was already very old, but nevertheless he showed courage and publicly denounced the emperor and the iconoclastic patriarch for their heretical errors. For this audacity, the elderly Bishop George was sent into exile in the city of Kherson (today within the boundaries of the city of Sevastopol) on the Crimean peninsula, where the holy elder died in exile in 821.
During these turbulent and dangerous decades, the learned monk George proved himself to be a steadfast defender of icon veneration, for which he suffered persecution and harassment. But later, during the time of Emperor Constantine the Purple-Born, when the persecution was ended, George was elected metropolitan of the city of Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. He made great efforts to pacify his flock and to live a life according to God.
However, when the iconoclast Emperor Leo the Armenian came to power, he renewed the persecution of icon worshippers with even greater force. In 815 he summoned many bishops to Constantinople and persuaded them to accept the iconoclastic doctrine. The venerable Bishop George of Mytilene was also summoned. He was already very old, but nevertheless he showed courage and publicly denounced the emperor and the iconoclastic patriarch for their heretical errors. For this audacity, the elderly Bishop George was sent into exile in the city of Kherson (today within the boundaries of the city of Sevastopol) on the Crimean peninsula, where the holy elder died in exile in 821.