Saint of the Day – 14 February – St Auxentius (Died c473) Priest and Abbot in Syria, ex-soldier and Imperial Guard, Hermit. Born in Syria amd died on 14 February 473 at Mount Skopas in Bithynia in present-day Turkey, of natural causes. Also known as – Aussenzio.
The Roman Martyrology reads today: “In Bithynia, the Abbot St Auxentius.”
Auxentius, probably the son of a Persian named Addas, spent much of his life as a Hermit in Bithynia, a region of Constantinople.
Previously, he had been one of the Equestrian Guards of the Eastern Emperor, Theodosius II, who reigned from 408 to 450. Having learned of the eremitic life practiced by numerous ascetics, Auxentius decided to embrace their way of life, settling on the desert hill of Oxia, not far from Constantinople.
Auxentius soon gained a reputation for sanctity and many sought his guidance and advice on spiritual matters. It seems that he too was accused of Monophysitism, a doctrine which denied the human nature of Jesus but, he was soon exonerated.
He built a new hermitage on Mount Skopas, near Chalcedon, dedicating the rest of his life to the practice of mortification and the instruction of his ever-increasing number of disciples, among whom were also some women, who lived at the foot of Mount Skopas in special communities and were known as “the sackcloth-wearers.”
Upon Auxentius’ death, on 14 February probably in 473, the above-mentioned reclusive woemn obtained the Saint’s remains and buried them in the ccommunity Cchurch. On this anniversary, Saint Auxentius, Priest and Abbot is still commemorated today by the Martyrologium Romanum.
AnaStpaul 
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