E04956: The Life of *Nikolaos of Sion (abbot and bishop in Lycia, ob. 564, S00559) mentions that the monastery of Holy Sion in Pharroa of Lycia possessed relics of *John (probably the Baptist, S00020), *Stephen the First Martyr (S00030), *Theodoros (martyr of Euchaita, S00480), *Sergios and Bakchos (martyrs of Syria, S00030, S00079), and the *Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (S00103), and describes the place of the relics of *Nikolaos (abbot of Holy Sion and bishop of Pinara, ob. 564) in the same church. Written in Greek in the late 6th c., probably at the monastery of Holy Sion in Lycia (south-west Asia Minor).

Life of Nikolaos, Abbot of Holy Sion and Bishop of Pinara (BHG 1347), 80

Ἐτελειώθη δὲ ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ δοῦλος καὶ ὁσιώτατος ἐπίσκοπος Νικόλαος κατὰ τήν τοῦ θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίαν μηνὶ Δεκεμβρίῳ δεκάτῃ, ἡμέρᾳ τετάρτῃ, ἰνδικτιῶνος τρισκαιδεκάτης, ἐπὶ βασιλείας τοῦ φιλοχρίστου ἡμῶν βασιλέως Ἰουστινιανοῦ ἔτους τριακοστοῦ καί ὀγδόου, ἐπὶ τοῦ ὁσιωτάτου ἀρχιεπισκόπου *** καὶ πατριάρχου μακαρίου. καὶ κατετέθη τὸ ἅγιον καὶ θεοφιλὲς αυτοῦ λείψανον ἔνδον τῆς ἁγίας καὶ ἐνδόξου Σιών, ἔνθα τὰ λείψανα ἀπόκεινται τῶν ἐνδόξων, ἀθλοφόρων καὶ καλλινίκων ἁγίων μαρτύρων, τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰωάννου τοῦ προδρόμου καὶ βαπτιστοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Στεφάνου τοῦ πρωτομάρτυρος καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Θεοδώρου καὶ τῶν ἁγίων Σεργίου καὶ Βάκχου καὶ τῶν άγίων τεσσαράκοντα· ἐν τῷ δεξιῷ γυναικίτῃ δεξιᾷ κατασταθείς, ἐπλήρωσεν τὸν βίον καὶ πρεσβεύει ὑπὲρ πάντων τῶν πιστευόντων εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ πατρὸς καί τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ άγίου πνευματος, ὡς πάντοτε, καὶ νῦν καί ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. ἀμήν.

‘The servant of God and most hallowed bishop Nikolaos reached his end, by God’s charity, on Wednesday, the tenth of the month of December, in the thirteenth indiction, during the reign of our Christ-loving emperor Justinian, in its thirty-eight year, under the most holy archbishop [?] and Patriarch Makarios. His holy remains, which are dear to God, were deposited inside the holy and glorious Sion, where the relics of the glorious, triumphant and rightly victorious holy martyrs, Saint John the Forerunner and Baptist, Saint Stephen the First Martyr, Saint Theodoros, Saints Sergios and Bakchos, and the Holy Forty Martyrs rest. He has been buried on the right side of the right section of women. He has completed his life and is interceding on behalf of all those who believe in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, as always, so now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.’

Text: Ševčenko and Patterson-Ševčenko 1984.
Translation: Efthymios Rizos.