Saint Hyacinth of Amastris

Very close to the city of Amastris, there was a tree un arbre Tree venerated by the pagans of Amastris, felled by Hyacinth. which, by its beauty, its size, and its antiquity, led those idolaters to believe that it contained within itself some powerful divinity. They were not content with the ordinary marks of veneration that the pagans had for old oaks or other trees, which they said were consecrated to some of their gods; they had even instituted regular sacrifices for it and a college of priests solely occupied with its cult. Hyacinth, who, through his uprightness, had gained credit in the country, undertook to undeceive these unfortunate people and began by instructing a few individuals in the truth of the Christian religion. These initial successes made him hope to succeed further in making the multitude of idolatrous peoples aware of the errors of paganism. He gave them several speeches to convince them of the falsity of their idols and to demonstrate to them that if the sun, the stars, the most perfect men, and even the angels could not attribute divine worship to themselves, it was even more unreasonable to render it to a tree; then he sought to persuade them of the unity of God and to make them feel the benefit of redemption through Jesus Christ.

Hyacinth, seeing that his sermons did not have the effect he expected from them, took the courageous resolution, assisted by a few Christians, to fell the t ree of superstition, whi arbre de la superstition Tree venerated by the pagans of Amastris, felled by Hyacinth. ch he executed as soon as he found a propitious moment. What was the surprise and astonishment of the idolatrous priests when, the next day, they found their tree overturned! Their suspicions immediately fell upon Hyacinth; they filled the city with this noise and stirred up the populace against the Saint. A troop of furious men armed with halberds and sticks descended upon his dwelling, shouting that the enemy of their gods must be beaten to death. They dragged him from his home with violence, pulled him by the hair through the streets, heaped insults and curses upon him, and led him before the tribunal of the city governor, where he was accused not only of impiety toward their gods, but also of being an enemy of the fatherland, since he had just exposed it to all sorts of misfortunes by cutting down the sacred tree from which the protection of heaven came to it. The judge condemned him on the spot to the death penalty; he wished, however, beforehand, to force him to sacrifice to the idols and at the same time to renounce the faith of Jesus Christ. The Saint was subjected to torture, then thrown into a dungeon where he sacrificed his life for the true religion. This happened at the beginning of the 4th century. The Greeks and Latins celebrate his feast on July 17.

Baillet and Acta Sanctorum, volume IV of July Acta Sanctorum, tome IV de juillet Hagiographic collection cited as a source. .