Hermolaus of Nicomedia

Hermolaus was an aged presbyter of Nicomedia during the persecution of Maximian (286–305), survivor of an earlier massacre of his fellow clergy that had left him in hiding in a small house at the edge of the city. From this concealment he continued the work of catechesis, secretly meeting with seekers and instructing them in the faith. Among those who came to him in this period was a young pagan named Pantoleon, a court physician at the Nicomedian palace whom Hermolaus instructed, baptized as Panteleimon ("all-merciful"), and prepared for the great martyrdom that would shortly follow.

When Panteleimon's confession brought him to the imperial tribunal in 305, Hermolaus and two other surviving presbyters — Hermippus and Hermocrates — were also denounced and arrested. They were brought before Maximian, who attempted by appeals to their advanced age to persuade them to recant; the three old men replied with such steadiness that the emperor ordered them beheaded together.

Hermolaus was crowned a day before the martyrdom of his disciple Panteleimon. His feast falls on July 26.