Saint of the Day – 8 December – Saint Patapius (7th Century) Hermit, spiritual guide, Miracle-worker. Born in Thebes in Egypt and died in Constantinople. Patronage – against Dropsy (oedema). Also known as – Patapius of Thebes, Patapius of Egypt, Patapios…Patario…Patapius…
The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Constantinople, St Patapius, Solitary, renowned for virtues and miracles.”
We have no certain information regarding the exact period of his life; some evidence suggests he had arrived in Constantinople around the time in which two other Egyptians, Bara and Rabula, founded Monasteries there (late 5th, early 6th Century). The Bollandists propose the 7th Century.
St Andrew of Crete (660-740), who lived at a time close to that of Patapius, wrote a Life, a narrative of his miracles.
John of Euchaites (11th Century) speaks of an ancient Life, already mentioned by St Andrew of Crete but both authors certainly adhered to tradition in their works, developing above all the hagiographical style.
Patapius, originally from Thebes in Egypt, spent a certain number of years in solitude in the surroundings of this City; then he went to Constantinople, stopping in the Blachernae district, near the City Walls, where he lived for a long time.
His fame for sanctity immediately attracted numerous visitors. He cured a blind man, a man with dropsy, a possessed man and a woman suffering from a breast disease.
Upon his death, amid popular veneration, he was buried in the Church of St John the Baptist in a nearby Monastery called the Egyptian Monastery, where his body was still venerated at least until the 15th Century.
AnaStpaul 