In Armenian Melitina, a couple who had long been without offspring had a son. According to this vow, the boy was consecrated to God and transferred to the care of the local bishop Otrius, who had previously defended the consubstantial Holy Spirit in the Trinity at the Second Ecumenical Council.
Under the guidance of a mentor, Akakius consistently accepted initiation into a reader, deacon and presbyter, while teaching the flock the basics of faith. Among the pupils of the future saint stood out Euthymius the Great, later a glorified ascetic. After the death of Otrios, the community unanimously elected Akakios to the See of Melite.
In the rank of bishop appeared his miraculous gifts. Evidence has been preserved: during the field liturgy in a drought, a sudden rain filled the litter with moisture and saturated the earth; the mountain stream, threatening flooding, stopped at the stone, which the saint laid on the shore. During the construction of the Church of the Virgin on the island of the Azar river, workers poorly secured the vault, and during the service the structure tilted. When the people ran in fear to the exit, Acacius, in the words of the psalm “The Lord protector of my belly, whom shall I fear?” stopped the panic. The vault collapsed only after the bishop himself left the building; no one was injured.
In 431 he participated in the Council of Ephesus, defending the dogma of the two natures of Christ and the maidenhood of the Mother of God. The saint died peacefully around 435.
Memorial Days
April 30
The Holy Land Charitable Foundation
Lives of Saints
