St. Serapion the Scholastic
Also known as Serapion or Sarapion of Thmuis
Feast day: March 21
Died in Egypt . 365/370.
Bishop and head of the famed Catechetical School of Alexandria, Egypt, also known as Serapion of Arsinoc.
Serapion was an Egyptian monk of great erudition and a penetrating intellect. For a time, he ran the famous catechetical school of Alexandria, Egypt, but resigned in order to spend more time in prayer and penitential exercises. Thus, early in life he was a disciple of Saint Antony in the desert. He was also a good friend and supporter of Saint Athanasius, who tells us in his Life of Saint Antony that when Serapion visited Antony the latter often told the former events that were occurring at a distance in Egypt. Upon his death, Antony left Serapion one of his tunics of hair.
Following his consecration as bishop of Thmuis near Diospolis in the Nile delta, Serapion became a leading figure in ecclesiastical affairs. He was a vigorous opponent of Arianism the Son is not consubstantial with the Father and an avid supporter of Athanasius. For this stance, he was banished by Emperor Constantius and called a confessor by Saint Jerome. As soon as the blasphemy of Macedonianism arose, Serapion vigorously opposed this denial of the divinity of the Holy Spirit and informed Athanasius, who wrote against it in four letters addressed to Serapion, in 359, while Athanasius was hiding in the desert.
Serapion also wrote an excellent book against Manicheism in which he shows that our bodies may be made the instruments of good or evil depending upon the disposition of the heart, and that both just and wicked men are often changed to the other type. It is, therefore, a self-contradiction to pretend with the Manichees that our souls are the work of God, but our bodies of the devil, or the evil principle. He also wrote several learned letters, and a treatise on the titles of the Psalms, quoted by St. Jerome, but which are now lost.
Above all, Serapion has become the best known of the saints with this name because a sacramentary ascribed to him, called the Euchologion, was discovered and published in 1899. This collection of liturgical prayers, which has been translated into English, was intended primarily for the use of a bishop. It is valuable for the knowledge of early public worship in Egypt
At Serapion's request, Athanasius composed several of his works against the Arians. A letter addressed to him Concerning the death of Arius still exists. So great was Athanasius's opinion of Serapion that he desired him to correct or add to them anything that he thought was wanting. Socrates relates that Serapion gave an abstract of his own life--an abridged rule of Christian perfection--that he often repeated: "The mind is purified by spiritual knowledge or by holy meditation and prayer, the spiritual passions of the soul by charity, and the irregular appetites by abstinence and penance." Serapion died in exile
Also known as Serapion or Sarapion of Thmuis
Feast day: March 21
Died in Egypt . 365/370.
Bishop and head of the famed Catechetical School of Alexandria, Egypt, also known as Serapion of Arsinoc.
Serapion was an Egyptian monk of great erudition and a penetrating intellect. For a time, he ran the famous catechetical school of Alexandria, Egypt, but resigned in order to spend more time in prayer and penitential exercises. Thus, early in life he was a disciple of Saint Antony in the desert. He was also a good friend and supporter of Saint Athanasius, who tells us in his Life of Saint Antony that when Serapion visited Antony the latter often told the former events that were occurring at a distance in Egypt. Upon his death, Antony left Serapion one of his tunics of hair.
Following his consecration as bishop of Thmuis near Diospolis in the Nile delta, Serapion became a leading figure in ecclesiastical affairs. He was a vigorous opponent of Arianism the Son is not consubstantial with the Father and an avid supporter of Athanasius. For this stance, he was banished by Emperor Constantius and called a confessor by Saint Jerome. As soon as the blasphemy of Macedonianism arose, Serapion vigorously opposed this denial of the divinity of the Holy Spirit and informed Athanasius, who wrote against it in four letters addressed to Serapion, in 359, while Athanasius was hiding in the desert.
Serapion also wrote an excellent book against Manicheism in which he shows that our bodies may be made the instruments of good or evil depending upon the disposition of the heart, and that both just and wicked men are often changed to the other type. It is, therefore, a self-contradiction to pretend with the Manichees that our souls are the work of God, but our bodies of the devil, or the evil principle. He also wrote several learned letters, and a treatise on the titles of the Psalms, quoted by St. Jerome, but which are now lost.
Above all, Serapion has become the best known of the saints with this name because a sacramentary ascribed to him, called the Euchologion, was discovered and published in 1899. This collection of liturgical prayers, which has been translated into English, was intended primarily for the use of a bishop. It is valuable for the knowledge of early public worship in Egypt
At Serapion's request, Athanasius composed several of his works against the Arians. A letter addressed to him Concerning the death of Arius still exists. So great was Athanasius's opinion of Serapion that he desired him to correct or add to them anything that he thought was wanting. Socrates relates that Serapion gave an abstract of his own life--an abridged rule of Christian perfection--that he often repeated: "The mind is purified by spiritual knowledge or by holy meditation and prayer, the spiritual passions of the soul by charity, and the irregular appetites by abstinence and penance." Serapion died in exile
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