St. Pantaleon - July 27

FEAST OF ST. PANTALEON - July 27

The Piarist Generalate in Rome is attached to the Church of St. Pantaleon, who was one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. He was a physician, who practiced without payment, and who was martyred under Diocletian. His cultus is primarily connected with Bithynia, where Emperor Justinian rebuilt his church at Nicomedia. Churches are dedicated to him in Constantinople and Rome. In the East, he is known as a Great Martyr and Wonder Worker. A reputed relic of Pantaleon's blood kept at Ravello in southern Italy displays the phenomenon of liquefaction on his feast day, similar to that of Saint Januarius.

He was a celebrated "fee-less physician" from Nicomedia who placed his skill in the service of God's kingdom! According to legend, he was the emperor's ordinary physician. He is said to have strayed from the faith because of the voluptuous life at the court, but the zealous priest Hermolaus, by pointing out the example of his virtuous mother, effected such a change that Pantaleon distributed his goods among the poor and devoted his talents for healing to the most wretched and poor among the sick.

Because of his Christian faith, he was seized by order of Emperor Maximian, tied to the rack and scorched with torches. But in these tortures Christ appeared, granting him further strength. Finally, a stroke of the sword ended his sufferings (Martyrology). He is the patron of physicians and belongs to the "Fourteen Holy Helpers."

Patron: bachelors; consumption; doctors; midwives; physicians; torture victims; tuberculosis; protection of domestic animals.

Symbols: Budding olive branch or olive tree; vials of medicine; lion; club; sword and vase.