Auxentius of Bithynia
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{{Infobox saint|name=Auxentius of Bithynia|image=Auxentius, monk of Bithynia (Menologion of Basil II).jpeg|birth_date=c. 400|birth_place=Syria|death_date=14 February 473|death_place=Mount Scopas|feast_day=February 14}}
Auxentius of Bithynia ({{langx|el|Αὐξέντιος Βιθυνίας}}) was a hermit born circa AD 400 in Syria, and died February 14, 473, on Mount Scopas (also known as Mount Auxentius; currently known in Turkish as Kayış Dağı).
Life
Born in Syria of Persian ancestry,[http://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-auxentius-14-february/ Monks of Ramsgate. "Auxentius". Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 5 August 2012]{{PD-notice}} Auxentius served in the Equestrian Guard of Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II, but left to become a solitary monk on Mount Oxia near Constantinople. His isolated hermitage was discovered by shepherds seeking their sheep, and people who were ill began to come to Auxentius for healing.[https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2014/02/14/100518-venerable-auxentius-of-bithynia "Venerable Auxentius of Bithynia", Orthodox Church in America]
In 451 he attended the Council of Chalcedon. Afterward he established a new hermitage atop Mount Scopas, in Bithynia, not far from Chalcedon where many resorted to him for advice.[https://catholicsaints.info/butlers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-auxentius-hermit/ Butler, Alban. "Saint Auxentius, Hermit". Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints, 1866. CatholicSaints.Info. 14 February 2013]{{PD-notice}} There he devoted the rest of his life to the practice of mortification and the instruction of his growing number of disciples. Auxentius died about the year 470.
Roman Martyrology: "On Mount Scopa in Bithynia, in present-day Turkey, Saint Aussentius, priest and archimandrite, who, living on a hill as if on a cathedra, defended the Chalcedonian faith with a powerful voice."[http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/92724 Arduino, Fabio. " Sant' Aussenzio Sacerdote ed archimandrita", Santi e Beati, March 7, 2006]
He is not to be confused with Saint Auxentius of Mopsuestia (d. 360), bishop and martyr, and an Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic saint, Auxentius of Milan (d. 374), bishop of Milan, or Auxentius of Durostorum.
Auxentius of Bithynia is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Byzantine Catholic, and Roman Catholic Churches. His feast day is February 14.[http://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-auxentius/ "Saint Auxentius". New Catholic Dictionary] CatholicSaints.Info. 30 July 2012
See also
References
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External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060502014546/http://catholic-forum.com/saints/sainta86.htm Patron Saints Index at Catholic Forum]
- http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1639
- http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-auxentius-of-bithynia/
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Category:Saints from Roman Anatolia
Category:5th-century Byzantine monks