Confessor and died in peace. A notable example of this usage is the English king St. Edward the Confessor. During the Diocletianic Persecution, a number of Christians had, under torture or threat of torture, weakened in their profession of the faith. When the persecutions ceased under Constantine the Great, they wanted to be reunited with the Church. It became the practice of the penitents to go to the Confessors, those who had willingly suffered for the faith and survived, to plead their case and effect their restoration to communion. Thus, the word has come to denote any priest who has been
Basil the Confessor Basil the Confessor Basil the Confessor (died 750) was an Eastern Orthodox saint who lived in the 8th century and was tortured by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine V. Basil was a monk who has elected Bishop of Parium. In February 754 Emperor Constantine V convened a synod at Hieria to condemn the veneration of icons. Basil refused to sign the orders for their destruction. With his pupil Procopius, Basil was imprisoned. Both languished in prison until the death of the emperor in 741, when they were released. Basil died in 750 and is venerated February 28 (New Style; March 13