Memorial Day of Venerable Parthenius, Bishop of Lampsaki

The Orthodox Church celebrates the day of remembrance of Saint Parthenius, Bishop of Lampsaki on February 20 The saint lived in the first half of the 4th century, at a time when Christianity coexisted with aggressive paganism, and the spread of the true faith was a true feat Parthenius was born into a modest family of a deacon The simplicity of his origin did not allow the boy to receive an education, but from a young age he could listen to sermons and delve into the words of the Holy Scriptures Already in his childhood, he learned the joy of charity, sharing the proceeds from the sale of caught fish with the poor The sublimity of Parthenius’s soul was so pure that at the age of 18 he discovered the gift of a miracle worker With the power of the word of God, the young man cast out demons from the possessed and healed the infirm The news of the miraculous youth reached the Melitopol Bishop Philip, with the help of whom Parthenius received a decent education and became a presbyter Soon the future saint was appointed bishop of the city of Lampsacus, located in Asia Minor Thanks to the preaching of Parthenius, many residents of the city turned away from their previous pagan beliefs and became worthy Christians But pagan temples were still operating in Lampsacus, whose priests cursed and frightened the newly converted followers of the faith of Jesus Having decided on the final victory over paganism, the Bishop of Lampsaki goes to the capital to see Emperor Constantine the Great The ruler agreed with Parthenius’ request to destroy all the idols and filthy temples in Lampsacus, which is what the saint did upon his return to the city After the last pagan weeds were removed, a Temple of God of stunning beauty was erected in the middle of Lampsaka During the construction of the cathedral, the bishop ordered the stone to be processed from one of the ruined temples But the devil's machinations prevented his plan The driver with a heavy stone overturned along the way, as a result of which the unfortunate driver died But Parthenius put the devil to shame by restoring life to the deceased The saint became famous for his healing power; many believers came to him with incurable diseases and found health through the power of prayer Among other things, the Bishop of Lampsaki had the power to cast out demons One day, the unclean one, who had lived for a long time in the body of one unfortunate man, began to ask Parthenius to find him another refuge The saint promised the demon a new body, and then offered his own The unclean one shook and groaned, as if scorched by the heat of a fire, and then shouted that he was unable to enter the house of God and rushed off into the desert lands The saint lived a long life and died a peaceful death in the city entrusted to him, where he was buried with great honors According to tradition, the most hopeless patients turn to Parthenius with prayers His holy relics even help cancer patients