Before he became a monk, St Joannicius the Great lived two other lives: first in the mountains, then in the army. The Orthodox Church marks his memory on Wednesday, 4 November. It calls saints who were monks "venerable".

Joannicius was born in Bithynia, a region in north-west Asia Minor, on the Sea of Marmara and the Bosphorus. Across the Bosphorus lay Constantinople, the capital of the empire. As a boy, he herded flocks on the Bithynian pastures. Later he swapped his shepherd's staff for a sword, joined the imperial army and served for years.

Alone on Mount Olympus in Bithynia for decades

After his long service, Joannicius left the world and became a monk. But he did not stay behind monastery walls. For decades he lived alone as a hermit on Mount Olympus in Bithynia. The church honours him as a great ascetic, a name for someone who gives up comforts of his own free will for the sake of faith.

According to his life story, Joannicius died in 846, aged 94. For that time this was a rare, long life: born in the middle of the 8th century, he saw almost half of the 9th. The church marks his memory on 4 November.

The bishop and the priest, pupils of the Apostle Titus

On the same day the church also honours the hieromartyrs Nicander and Hermaeus. Nicander was bishop of the city of Myra, and Hermaeus was a presbyter, or priest. Both were pupils of the Apostle Titus, a companion of the Apostle Paul and the first bishop of the island of Crete. The church calls clergymen who died for their faith hieromartyrs.

Myra is also in Asia Minor, in ancient Lycia, on the southern coast of modern Turkey. Most Bulgarians know the city because of St Nicholas of Myra. He was also a bishop there, but later, and his feast day is on 6 December.

Ruse and "Bot-1"

4 November is also linked to the start of Bulgarian shipbuilding: in 1881, the first Bulgarian metal boat, "Bot-1", was completed in Ruse.

On 4 November 1912, the Battle of Chataldzha began in the First Balkan War.

On 4 November 1950, the European Convention on Human Rights was signed in Rome. It requires the states that signed it to protect people's basic rights.