Religion:Serapion of Nitria

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Short description: Egyptian Christian monastic and saint

Template:Saint

Serapion of Nitria is located in Egypt
Scetis
Scetis
Nitria
Nitria
Serapion resided in Nitria (monastic site), Lower Egypt.
See also: Sacramentary of Serapion of Thmuis

Serapion of Nitria or Serapion of Thmuis (Greek: Σεραπίων, romanized: Serapíon; Russian: Серапион) was an early Christian monk in Nitria, Lower Egypt, born in the third century AD. He was a companion of Anthony the Great, the abbot of the Monastery of Arsina in Nitria, and the bishop of Thmuis. His feast day in March 21 in the Orthodox Church.[1]

Life

Little is known about Serapion. He is quoted in four sections of the Sayings of the Desert Fathers, where he is called Abba Serapion,[2] and is commemorated on March 21 in the Prologue of Ohrid, an Orthodox synaxarium written by Saint Nikolaj Velimirović.[1]

Serapion (a variant of the name Seraphim derived from Seraph) was the abbot of the Monastery of Arsina (Latin: Arseonita), which at one point held as many as eleven-thousand monks.[1] He was given the title "the Great" by the early Christian historians Sozomen and Palladius.

Serapion died c. 358.[1]

Story

A famous story of Serapion is recounted in the Sayings of the Desert Fathers. He is said of have paid a prostitute under the pretense of seeking sexual favors. But instead of engaging with her, he prayed for a long time in front of her and eventually converted her to Christianity. She later became a nun at a monastery and practiced extreme ascetic labors.[2]

The same story also exists in a poetic Hymn of Praise in the Prologue of Ohrid.[1]

Notable works

  • The Life of Anthony (not to be confused with the Life of Anthony by Athanasius)
  • Sacramentary of Serapion of Thmuis

Quotes

From the Prologue of Ohrid:

  • "Do not think that sickness is difficult; only sin is difficult. Sickness follows the sinners only in life, but sin follows the sinner into the grave."

From the Sayings of the Desert Fathers:

  • "When the soldiers of the emperor are standing at attention, they cannot look to the right or left; it is the same for the man who stands before God and looks towards Him in fear at all time; he cannot then fear anything from the enemy."

References