SERAPION SINDONITE

On April 20 (7), the Church honors the memory of St. Serapion Sindonite. The saint was an Egyptian monk. The name of the ascetic literally means “Servant of Serapis.” This indicates that he came to faith in adulthood. Ancient Egyptian monasticism did not know a change of name upon tonsure. After all, the name, whatever it may be, through Baptism becomes part of the Church - the great communion in Christ of names and saints. It is brought to the altar of the glory of God, in the hope that thanks to the Christian mission, by the power of the Holy Spirit, there will no longer be names left in the world who are not part of the font of Baptism. Through participation in the sacrament, any name became Christian. A subsequent renunciation of it as a monk would be ambiguous.

The nickname “Sindonite” owes its origin to the outer white linen robe, which was Serapion’s only attire throughout his monastic life. For his abstinence and self-control, the saint received the name “Impassionate.”

Although Christian antiquity did not use this term, Serapion was most likely one of the so-called “grazer” saints. Following the example of John the Baptist, who, according to the Gospel (Mark 1:6), ate locusts and wild honey, the grazer saints ate exclusively plant foods. They consumed it in minimal quantities, did not acquire any property, did not have a roof over their heads and tried their best to avoid the attention of people. Some of them, as soon as they saw a person, simply started running. The greatest grazer saint in history was St. Mary of Egypt. Saint Serapion was her spiritual relative.

The Life tells that one day, driven by missionary zeal, Serapion sold himself to traveling actors. By the power of his preaching, and, most importantly, example, the saint converted these comedians to Christianity, and then parted with them, returning to them the money he had once given for his purchase. The saint traveled a lot, was in Athens and Sparta. The saint repeated the same feat of converting the infidels during this journey, selling himself into slavery into the Manichean family. The saint was also in Rome, where he venerated the relics of the Apostles Peter and Paul. Constantly moving from place to place over vast distances was a paradoxical combination of evangelistic mission and flight from people.

There is an opinion in science that it was Serapion who was the holy ascetic who turned Taisia of Egypt ​​to repentance. In this case, it is Serapion who is mentioned in the alphabetical collection of Egyptian patristic sayings called “Apophtegmata Patrum.”

According to the life, Taisia, whose name literally meant “dedicated to Isis,” was a hereditary harlot. Having met her, Serapion called for repentance. Such an unexpected call to follow Christ touched her soul. The woman distributed her property to the poor and locked herself in a cell for repentance. Three years later, it was revealed to one of the ascetics that her repentance was accepted. She came out of seclusion and after 15 days she went to the Lord.

Wanting to reinterpret this great ancient story of repentance with the power of his literary talent and the needs of his modern era, the French writer Anatole France (1844–1924) dedicated a novel of the same name to the story of Taisia. Let us recall that in the ancient patericons the conversion of Taisia ​​is attributed to various ascetics, including Bessarion, Paphnutius and our Serapion.

Not long ago, this latest version, according to which it was Serapion Sindonite who was the monk thanks to whom Taisia turned to Christ, received unexpected confirmation. Not far from Antinopolis in Egypt, archaeologists discovered two tombstones among the ruins with the names “Taisia” and “Serapion” written on them. The city was an outpost of the Roman world in Egyptian lands. Here, according to the laws, Egyptians and Romans could marry freely.

Apparently, Taisia chose this city to live in abundance through sin. It would be difficult to expect the appearance of Christian preachers in this city of sin and idols. But “where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more,” Paul wrote in Romans (5:20). By the power of grace, Taisia turned to Christ. “Ride the lightning,” Metallica once sang. Lightning-fast Serapion was afraid of people but was in a hurry to convert them from sin.

Information about the life of Serapion was preserved in the Egyptian Patericon, that is, the narrative about the life of the holy and blessed fathers, “The Lausiac History,” written in 419–20 by Bishop Palladius of Helenopolis (360–420). The book was written at the request of the chamberlain of the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II named Lausus (400–450).

Hence the title of this work. Lausus was known as a collector of monuments of ancient art collected from pagan temples, and a patron of Palestinian monasteries. Writing and publishing books has always been expensive. Thanks to the material contribution of this man to the writing of the Patericon, precious information about many Egyptian fathers has reached us.

According to the complete Orthodox liturgical charter, the Lausiac History is supposed to be read on weekdays during Great Lent at matins. Previously, this rule was strictly followed. Therefore, the culture-forming significance of this work is difficult to overestimate. It is obvious that many generations of Christian people were brought up using the example of the holy heroes, whose image is described in this book. We came to faith because someone once prayed for us. It is inspiring that our mysterious intercessors were inspired by the image of Saint Serapion.