SAINT PANTALEON of NICOMEDIA Physician and Martyr (†303)

magnificat.ca ^ | 1882 | Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints

[GonzoII]

July 27

Spiritual Bouquet: If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. St. John 14:23

SAINT PANTALEON of NICOMEDIA
Physician and Martyr
(†303)

Saint Pantaleon was born in Nicomedia of a pagan father and a Christian mother, who died while her son was still a child. He was among the court physicians of the Emperor Galerius Maximianus. Deceived by hearing the false maxims of the world applauded, he was without religion when God decided to rescue his soul from its unhappy darkness. A zealous and prudent Christian named Hermolaus took special notice of him and awakened his conscience, telling him that although the famous physicians of ancient times had possessed the science which cures bodies, Jesus Christ was a far more excellent Physician, able to cure not only bodies, but souls, by His divine doctrine. Hermolaus succeeded in bringing him into the fold of the Church.

The young Christian strove to procure for his father the same grace he himself had received, and his words had already begun to separate his father from his idols, when one day a blind man, led by friends, came to the door and begged Pantaleon to cure him. His father was present and heard the promise his son made to this man to do so, if he would give to the poor the money he was offering him. The father was amazed and feared that the promise could not be fulfilled. But the young Saint prayed and touched the eyes of the blind man, invoking the name of Jesus Christ, and his eyes were opened. Pantaleon’s father and the blind man were both baptized as a result of this miracle. When Eustorgus, his father, died, Saint Pantaleon liberated all his slaves and, having sold most of his possessions, gave to the liberated ones and others the assistance their poverty required. He cured other illnesses and soon became renowned in Nicomedia.

Saint Pantaleon, being a very sincere penitent, ardently wished to expiate his former idolatry by the martyrdom he could foresee. When a bloody persecution broke out at Nicomedia in 303, the blind man he had cured was beheaded upon refusing to admit that it was the gods who had cured him. Saint Pantaleon, to prepare himself for the imminent combat, distributed all he had left among the poor. Not long after this act of charity he was arrested and subjected to various tortures, during which he was preserved from death. Three other Christians, of whom one was Hermolaus, were apprehended. After suffering many torments, the four confessors were all sentenced to be beheaded.

The relics of Saint Pantaleon were translated to Constantinople, and there received great honor. His blood, conserved in a small vial, is said to liquefy on his feast day and become oxygenated. Charlemagne brought a part of his relics into France, where they are presently divided again, a portion being in the abbey of Saint Denys near Paris, and the head at Lyons. Saint Pantaleon, whose name means the “all-compassionate one,” is the patron of physicians.

Source: Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 9.

[GonzoII]

[Kolokotronis]

Its St. Panteleimon

Synaxarion:

This Saint, who had Nicomedia as his homeland, was the son of Eustorgius and Eubula. His father was an idolater, but his mother was a Christian from her ancestors. It was through her that he was instructed in piety, and still later, he was catechized in the Faith of Christ by Saint Hermolaus (see July 26) and baptized by him. Being proficient in the physician's vocation, he practiced it in a philanthropic manner, healing every illness more by the grace of Christ than by medicines. Thus, although his parents had named him Pantoleon ("in all things a lion"), because of the compassion he showed for the souls and bodies of all, he was worthily renamed Panteleimon, meaning "all-merciful." On one occasion, when he restored the sight of a certain blind man by calling on the Divine Name, he enlightened also the eyes of this man's soul to the knowledge of the truth. This also became the cause for the martyrdom of him who had been blind, since when he was asked by whom and in what manner his eyes had been opened, in imitation of that blind man of the Gospel he confessed with boldness both who the physician was and the manner of his healing. For this he was put to death immediately. Panteleimon was arrested also, and having endured many wounds, he was finally beheaded in the year 305, during the reign of Maximian. Saint Panteleimon is one of the Holy Unmercenaries, and is held in special honor among them, even as Saint George is among the Martyrs.

Apolytikion in the Third Tone

Panteleimon, saintly champion and healer, intercede with our merciful God to grant our souls remission of sins. Kontakion in the Plagal of the First Tone

O Champion and Martyr of God, imitating the Merciful and bearing from Him the grace of healing, cure our spiritual ills by your prayers, and set free from the temptation of the eternal enemy those who ceaselessly cry out, "Save us, O Lord."

We had a Liturgy for his Feast last evening.

[GonzoII]

Okay, Mr. Greek Specialist. ;0)

[GonzoII]

"Its St. Panteleimon"

Okay, Mr. Greek Specialist. ;0)

.....Now I posted right.

[GonzoII]

"His blood, conserved in a small vial, is said to liquefy on his feast day and become oxygenated."

Saint Januarius' blood also liquefies every year in Naples. God continues to give testimony of His Saints:

Blood of Saint Januarius liquifies again in Naples cathedral

Blood of Saint Januarius liquifies again in Naples cathedral

Naples, Sep 21, 2008 / 03:51 am (CNA).- The blood of Saint Januarius, patron saint of Naples, has reportedly liquefied again in a continuation of the centuries-long miracle.
In Naples’ Cathedral on Wednesday, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, the Archbishop of Naples, held up a vial containing the blood of the third-century saint while a traditional white handkerchief was waved, ANSA reports. The thousands packing the cathedral and the square outside cheered and set off fireworks.
The cardinal said that the blood had apparently liquefied before it was removed from the strongbox in which it is stored.
The dried blood of Saint Januarius, a bishop who was beheaded during a persecution by the Roman Emperor Diocletian in September of 305, traditionally liquefies on the anniversary of his martyrdom. Additionally, it annually liquefies on the Saturday before the first Sunday in May and on the December 16 anniversary of a 1631 eruption of the volcano Mt. Vesuvius, an eruption believed to have been stopped by San Januarius’ intercession.
The liquefaction of the blood can take hours and even days. Some consider its failure to liquefy an omen of looming disaster. After one such failure in 1527, tens of thousands died from the plague. In 1980, 3,000 died in an earthquake which devastated parts of southern Italy.

Source: http://catholicevangelism.blogspot.com/2008/10/blood-of-saint-januarius-liquifies.html

[arielguard]

“When Eustorgus, his father, died, Saint Pantaleon liberated all his slaves and, having sold most of his possessions, gave to the liberated ones and others the assistance their poverty required.”

Wait! This can’t be right!? Pop culture says Christians invented slavery... wah waah waaaah

On a serious note. I wish we could get more knowledge of the lives of the saints to our evangelical friends.

[asformeandformyhouse]

Saint Pantaleon? You mean the guy who invented that underwear?