late 3rd century - 362
Bishop and patron of Skopelos, born at Livadeia in central Greece. He attended the Council of Sardica (343) and was beheaded under Julian the Apostate in 362.
The Holy Hieromartyr Reginos, Bishop of Skopelos
Reginos was a fourth-century bishop of the Greek island of Skopelos, remembered as a hieromartyr and venerated as the island's patron saint. Born in central Greece, he became known for his defense of Nicene orthodoxy against Arianism and was put to death during the persecution under the emperor Julian the Apostate.
His commemoration falls on February 25, the date traditionally given for his martyrdom in 362. On Skopelos the feast is observed as a local holiday, drawing the faithful from the neighboring islands and the mainland.
Reginos lived in the decades following the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (325), a period in which the Arian controversy continued to divide the Church. According to the sources, his attendance at the Council of Sardica in 343 was marked by an able refutation of Arianism and of the Eusebian party, placing him among the bishops who upheld the Nicene faith.
A persecution of Christians broke out under the emperor Julian the Apostate. Accounts relate that the Prefect of Greece had Reginos arrested along with other leading Christians and attempted, by turns through flattery and threats, to compel his renunciation of the faith. When the bishop refused, he was beheaded; one account adds that he suffered together with forty others. His death is dated to February 25, 362.
The sources differ on the history of the relics. According to one account, the honorable relics of Saint Reginos were transferred to Cyprus and buried there, with a portion brought back to Skopelos in the nineteenth century and deposited in the Monastery of Saint John the Forerunner, where they are preserved. Other sources describe the relics as divided between Skopelos and Cyprus, naming the Archangel Michael Trypiotis Church in Nicosia, and refer to a Monastery of Saint Reginos on Skopelos that bears his name.
Reginos is regarded as the patron saint of Skopelos. His feast on February 25 is kept as a local holiday on the island, and accounts describe thousands of faithful gathering each year from the neighboring islands of Skiathos and Alonissos and from Volos on the mainland. Local tradition attributes several miracles of healing to him, and many islanders name their children Reginos or Regina in his honor.
Greek-calendar saint; martyred 362.