Palladius of Galatia ( el, Παλλάδιος Γαλατίας) was a Christian chronicler and the bishop of
Helenopolis in
Bithynia.
He was a devoted disciple of Saint
John Chrysostom. He is best remembered for his work, the ''
Lausiac History.'' He was also the author of the ''Dialogue on the Life of Chrysostom''. Palladius is a saint in the
Coptic Orthodox Church and in the
Syrian Orthodox Church
, native_name_lang = syc
, image = St_George_Syriac_orthodox_church_in_Damascus.jpg
, imagewidth = 250
, alt = Cathedral of Saint George
, caption = Cathedral of Saint George, Damascus ...
, wherein he is given the honorific title, ''The Solitary''. His feast day is
November 29
Events Pre-1600
* 561 – Following the death of King Chlothar I at Compiègne, his four sons, Charibert I, Guntram, Sigebert I and Chilperic I, divide the Frankish Kingdom.
* 618 – The Tang dynasty scores a decisive victory over t ...
.
["The feast of Mor Palladius, the solitary is celebrated in the Syrian Orthodox Church on 29 November." from Cor-Episcopo K. Mani Rajan's 'Martyrs, Saints, and Prelates of the Syriac Orthodox Church One Volume Edition' published in 2017 on his website: http://rajanachen.com/download-english-books/]
Life
Early life
Palladius was born in
Galatia in 363 or 364. He dedicated himself to the monastic life in 386 or soon thereafter, residing in the
Mount of Olives
The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet ( he, הַר הַזֵּיתִים, Har ha-Zeitim; ar, جبل الزيتون, Jabal az-Zaytūn; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge east of and adjacent to Jeru ...
.
Travels
Palladius travelled to
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
to meet the prototypical
Desert Fathers
The Desert Fathers or Desert Monks were early Christian hermits and ascetics, who lived primarily in the Scetes desert of the Roman province of Egypt, beginning around the third century AD. The is a collection of the wisdom of some of the ea ...
(Christian monks). In 388, he arrived in
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
. Around 390 he passed on to
Nitria in Egypt, visiting the famous
Abba Or of Nitria. A year later he travelled southwest to a district in the desert known as Cellia (also spelled ''Kellia'').
Later life and ordination
After his travels, his health deteriorated and he went to
Palestine in search of a cooler climate. In 400 he was ordained the bishop of
Helenopolis in
Bithynia, and soon became involved in controversies which centred around St.
John Chrysostom. In 405 he again travelled to Rome to testify that Chrysostom was not a heretic. Because of this, he was exiled by emperor
Arcadius
Arcadius ( grc-gre, Ἀρκάδιος ; 377 – 1 May 408) was Roman emperor from 383 to 408. He was the eldest son of the ''Augustus'' Theodosius I () and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and the brother of Honorius (). Arcadius ruled the ...
for six years in
Syene
Aswan (, also ; ar, أسوان, ʾAswān ; cop, Ⲥⲟⲩⲁⲛ ) is a city in Southern Egypt, and is the capital of the Aswan Governorate.
Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dam on the east bank of t ...
, during which time he wrote his biography of St. John Chrysostom. In 412 or 413 he was restored to the episcopate, now being the bishop of Aspuna (Galatia).
His primary work was written from 419-420 and was called the ''
Lausiac History'' (being composed for Lausus, chamberlain at the court of
Theodosius II
Theodosius II ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος, Theodosios; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450) was Roman emperor for most of his life, proclaimed ''augustus'' as an infant in 402 and ruling as the eastern Empire's sole emperor after the death of his ...
) which is also titled ''The Lives of the Friends of God''. This history detailed Egyptian and Middle Eastern Christian monasticism.
Palladius died some time in the second decade of the fifth century in his jurisdiction of Aspuna.
References
External links
Introductionto the (public Domain) 1918 English Translation of the
Lausiac History
Greek Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Graeca with analytical indexes*
{{Authority control
Galatian people
Christian hagiographers
5th-century Byzantine bishops
360s births
420s deaths
Galatia (Roman province)
5th-century Byzantine writers
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