The Venerable Serapion lived in Egypt in the fifth century. He was known as “the Sindonite” from the rough linen cloth - the sindon - which was his only garment. From his youth he had no dwelling of his own and often went for several days without food. Once, he gave his sindon to a poor man who was shaking with cold, and was left half naked. A Greek philosopher, wishing to test the saint’s freedom from possessions, once put a gold coin into Serapion’s hand and watched him. The saint went to a baker, took one loaf of bread, handed over the gold coin, and went away, giving no thought to the value of the coin. In this small act, his detachment from earthly wealth appeared with quiet and disarming clarity.
Saint Serapion led many to the path of salvation through unexpected means. Once, he sold himself as a slave to a Greek actor so he could bring him to Christ. The actor was struck by the example of the holy man’s life. He came to believe in the true God and, together with his whole household, received baptism. Then he begged Saint Serapion to remain with him, no longer as a slave but as a guide and friend; yet the saint went away, taking none of the money offered to him. When he set out for Rome, Serapion went on board a ship but paid the sailors nothing. At first they resented this, but when they saw that the old man had eaten nothing for five days, they had compassion on him and, for the Lord’s sake, fed him. In doing so, they unknowingly fulfilled the Lord’s commandment. In Rome, the saint kept to his pilgrim way of life, going from house to house and gathering only spiritual riches for himself and for those near him.
Saint Serapion worked many miracles, which bore witness to his inner calm and to his tender, compassionate love for sinners. He departed this life at the age of seventy.
Feast days: 20 April (7 April, New Calendar) and 27 May (14 May, New Calendar).
