St. Pantaleon

Pantaleon was born in 275 in Nicomedia, Turkey to a wealthy pagan father and Christian mother. Though his mother raised him in the faith, he fell away from the Church after she died. He studied medicine under Euphrosinos, who was widely well-known and was able to get Pantaleon a position as the emperor Maximian’s physician.

The bishop of Nicomedia, Hermolaus, met with Pantaleon and convinced him to come back to the Church after convincing him that Christ was the ultimate physician. Pantaleon realized that worldly knowledge did not compare to spiritual truth. Hermolaus supposedly asked him, “"But, my friend, of what use are all thy acquirements in this art [medicine], since thou art ignorant of the science of salvation?”

Upon his conversion, he freed his slaves and distributed his wealth to the poor. He not only continued his practice of medicine but also miraculously healed a blind man and paralytic.

Colleagues, jealous of Pantaleon’s position, turned him in during the Diocletian persecution. He refused to recant the faith and was sentenced to death. But killing him turned out to be a great task.

First, his skin was burned with torches, but that did not kill him. Then a bath of molten lead was prepared, but when he was placed in the cauldron the fire went out and the lead became cold. He was then thrown into the sea, loaded down with a heavy stone, but the stone floated. He was then tossed to wild beasts, but the animals nuzzled up to him. He was then tied to a wheel but the ropes broke. Finally, it was decided to behead him. On the first attempt, the sword broke and the executor converted to Christianity on the spot. Ultimately, he was beheaded around 305.

Throughout his service as a healer and in enduring the trials of his death, he was remembered for his mercy and compassion.

Pantaleon is the patron of physicians, midwives, and those with consumption. He is often depicted with a medicine box, a spoon, and/or a martyr’s cross. His feast day is July 27.