Pantaleon/Panteleimon

He was born with the name Pantoléon towards the end of the 3rd century in Nikomédia, today’s Ä°zmit in Turkey. Even as a child, he recognized his healing powers when he came on the street to a dead child bitten by a snake; he proclaimed the name of Jesus above him and the child came back to life. He was trained in medicine by the imperial personal physician Euphrosynus and baptized by the priest Hermolaus. Emperor Diocletian chose the expert as his personal physician. But the emperor learned that he was a Christian, he was condemned to death by the sword. After praying fervently for all, a voice rang out from heaven that says, “From now on, you will be the refuge of the desperate, the help of the tested, the doctor of the sick, and the terror of the demons. That’s why your name is no longer Pantoléon, but Panteléimon!” (Greek for “Allerbarmer”). His worship began as early as the 4th century, first documented by Theodoret of Cyrrhus around 440. In the 5th or 6th century, Pantaleon’s first Greek story of suffering was written. The Eastern Church venerates him as a grand martyr, where he belongs to the Holy Doctors. In 550, Emperor Justinian I “the Great” had a church built in Constantinople in his honor.