The Monk Auxentios
Commemorated on February 14
The Monk
Auxentios, by origin a Syrian, served at the court of the emperor
Theodosius the Younger (418-450). He was known as a virtuous, learned and wise
man, and he was moreover a friend of many of the pious men of his era.
Distressed by worldly
vanity, Saint Auxentios accepted the dignity of presbyter, and then received
monastic tonsure. Setting off after this to Bithynia, he found a solitary place
on Mount Oxus, not far from Chalcedon, and there he began the life of an
hermit. (This mountain was afterwards called Auxentian). The place of the
saint's efforts was stumbled upon by shepherds, seeking after lost sheep. They
spread the news about him, and people began to come to him for healing. With
the Name of God, Saint Auxentios healed many of the sick and the infirm.
In the year 451 Saint
Auxentios was invited to the Fourth OEcumenical Council at Chalcedon, where he
became known as a denouncer of the Eutykhian and Nestorian heresies. He was
greatly familiar with Holy Scripture, and Saint Auxentios easily bested those
opponents who entered into dispute with him. After the finish of the Council,
Saint Auxentios returned again to his solitary cell on the mountain. By means
of spiritual sight he saw the end of Saint Simeon the Pillar-Dweller (459),
from over a great distance.
The Monk Auxentios
himself died in about the year 470, leaving behind him disciples and many
monasteries constructed in the Bithynian region.
© 1996-2001 by translator Fr. S. Janos.