Palladius of Galatia ( el, Παλλάδιος Γαλατίας) was a Christian chronicler and the bishop of Helenopolis in

Bithynia Bithynia (; Koine Greek: , ''Bithynía'') was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), adjoining the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Black Sea. It bordered Mysia to the sout ...

. He was a devoted disciple of Saint

John Chrysostom John Chrysostom (; gr, Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος; 14 September 407) was an important Early Church Father who served as archbishop of Constantinople. He is known for his preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of a ...

. He is best remembered for his work, the ''

Lausiac History The ''Lausiac History'' ( grc-x-koine, Ἡ Λαυσαϊκή Ἱστορία, E Lavsaike Istoria) is a seminal work archiving the Desert Fathers (early Christian monks who lived in the Egyptian desert) written in 419-420 by Palladius of Galatia, ...

.'' He was also the author of the ''Dialogue on the Life of Chrysostom''. Palladius is a saint in the

Coptic Orthodox Church The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي� ...

and in the Syrian Orthodox Church, wherein he is given the honorific title, ''The Solitary''. His feast day is November 29."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 Jerus ...

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 Med ...

to meet the prototypical Desert Fathers (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, Alexandr ...

. 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

, and soon became involved in controversies which centred around St.

. 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 e ...

for six years in Syene, 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 ''

'' (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

Introduction
to the (public Domain) 1918 English Translation of the

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 __FORCETOC__