Hieromartyr Pancratius, Bishop of Taormina (I)

The Hieromartyr Pancratius, Bishop of Taormina, was born at the time when the incarnate Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, was living among men and amazing the world with His new teaching and His miracles. Pancratius’s parents were from Antioch. Having heard of Jesus, his father went to Jerusalem with his son: he wished to see the wonderful Teacher with his own eyes. Astonished by the miracles worked in Jerusalem, he also heard the divine teaching and believed in Christ as the Son of God, after which he became close to His disciples, and especially to Peter.

After the Lord’s Ascension one of His disciples came to Antioch and baptised Pancratius’s parents and all their household. When his parents died, the saint left his homeland, went to the mountains of Pontus, settled in a cave, and spent his days there in prayer and in contemplation of God’s providence. Once the Apostle Peter passed through those parts; he met Pancratius in Pontus and took him with him, first to Antioch and then to Cilicia, where Saint Paul was preaching at that time. The chief apostles consecrated the Lord’s chosen one Bishop of the Sicilian city of Taormina.

The hierarch Pancratius laboured tirelessly. He built a church, in which he diligently performed the divine services. The number of believers grew more and more, and soon almost the whole population of Taormina and the neighbouring cities was baptised.

Saint Pancratius governed his flock in peace for many years. At last the pagans rose up against him; they chose a convenient moment, fell upon him unexpectedly and stoned him. Thus the hierarch Pancratius commended his soul to the Lord as a martyr. The blessed father’s incorrupt relics rest in Rome, in a church dedicated to him. Saint Pancratius of Taormina is also commemorated on 9 February, together with the Hieromartyrs Marcellus and Philagrius.