They answered:

-No! But our fathers commanded us to believe in him.

Saint Konon said to them:

- Your fathers, like dumb animals, were themselves in delusion, not knowing the True God; for if they had known Him, they would not have shown such reverence to a deaf, dumb, and filthy idol. Give me power over your god, and I will show you whom you worship, who this god of yours is. If I smear it with paint, will it be able to wash itself? If I smash it with an iron hammer, will it be able to be safe again? If I let him eat, will he reach out to take the food and start eating?! How long will you be mad? Listen to me, for I am from your own city, but I am a stranger to your works; Give up idolatry, and I will teach you how to worship the True God and worship Him who sits in the highest. This is the invisible but all-seeing God, the Creator of heaven and earth and sea, and all that is in them, the mighty and omnipotent King, Who saves His servants and destroys His enemies, those who worship idols and offer sacrifices to demons. This God does not require blood sacrifices, but wants those who come to Him to know Him without malice or guile, and to believe that He is the True God, the Father of His Only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is not separated from the Father, Who through Him created the worlds; the eternal Holy Spirit reigns with Them. proceeding from the Father. These three persons are essentially One God, Who burns with fire the idolaters who hate Him, but loves those who love Him; His mercy has no bounds, for He is merciful to all who put their trust in Him and call upon Him in faith.

The people were agitated by these words of the saint, and there was a great uproar among him: some rushed at the saint in order to kill him, others restrained them, not allowing them to raise their hands against him, for they wished to hear something more from him. When the popular agitation had subsided somewhat, some of the people asked the saint:

"How can you convince us that there is a God higher than our god Apollo, whom we revere more than all other gods; show us some sign from your God, that we may believe in Him.

Saint Conon, hearing that they were asking for a sign, put his trust in God and said to the people:

"Behold, many of you are on horseback, and not a few men on foot, young and strong. Let us all go to the cave of Apollo, to the place of your assembly, you are in front, and I, as an old man, will follow you, and give one another our word that whoever of us comes first, his God is great and true, and it behooves us to believe in Him. If some of you on horseback, others strong and young, outstrip me on foot, old and weak in body, and reach the temple of Apollo before me, then your god is truly God. But if I, old man, walk there sooner than you, then my God is greater than your god, and you will have to believe in Him.

All approved of his speech and agreed to the condition he proposed, saying among themselves:

"This old man will not be able to get there in four days: the path is long and inconvenient, for it stretches among high mountains and deep valleys covered with thick bushes.

After this everyone hastened to the cave, some trusting in their horses, others in their feet, and Saint Konon followed them, moving with difficulty. On the way he fervently prayed to God, and immediately the holy Archangel Michael appeared before him, took him and in an instant carried him to the place where everyone strove. And the people hurrying on horseback and on foot were thrown into confusion by the Archangel by an invisible force, and they wandered through the mountains and wilds, and men and horses fell from the mountain heights and crashed, and all day and all night they could not reach the Apollo cave, and they were not even sure whether they were going that way. In the morning, unexpectedly for them, Saint Konon came out to meet them. Seeing him, the people were greatly astonished. The saint, laughing at them, asked:

"Why couldn't you come sooner?" I have been waiting for you for a long time and decided to go to meet you.

The people, greatly exhausted, told the saint everything that had happened to them, and besought him to show them the way to the Apollo temple. Then Saint Konon went ahead of them and, leading them to a cave, said to them:

"Here, I have fulfilled my condition and came here before you. Now you must acknowledge that my God is great, and believe in him, and deliver your god into my hands, and I will repay him for having deceived you so far.