Panteleon was the son of a pagan father but of a Christian mother who brought him up as a genuine follower of Christ in Nicomedia, Asia Minor. His extraordinary skill as a doctor called the attention of Emperor Maximian, who appointed him as his court physician. In the dissolute and anti-Christian atmosphere that pervaded the imperial palace, Panteleon’s Christian upbringing and faith withered away. It was Hermolaos, a fellow Christian, who brought him back to the fold of Christ. His conversion was so effective that there was no sliding back any more. Further, he placed his skills at the service of the poor, the sick and the abandoned. During the persecution of Emperor Diocletian, Panteleon was denounced as a Christian in 305. When brought to trial, he opted to die for Christ rather than renounce the faith he had in his Master. As a result he was put to death on July 14, 305, at Nicomedia. A few drops of dried blood from his body, still preserved in a Church at Ravello in Southern Italy, liquefy every year on the occasion of his feast-day, as do those of St. Januarius in Naples. Panteleon is considered as a “great martyr and wonder worker” by the Eastern Church.
Reflection: Like Hermolaos, every disciple has a sacred responsibility to bring erring Christians back to the fold of the Good Shepherd.
My brothers, if one of you wanders from the truth and another one brings him back again, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner back from his wrong way will save that sinner’s soul from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins. (James 5:19-20)
