Pammachius (d. 410 AD) was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

senator who is venerated as a

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

in the

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

and

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Churches. He married

Paulina Paulina or Paullina (, ) is a common female given name Latin. Paulina was a name shared by the mother, sister, and niece of the Roman Emperor, Roman emperor Hadrian. Paulina Major, mother of Hadrian (Domitia) Paulina (or Paullina) Major (''Ma ...

. After her death, he gave himself up to works of charity.

Biography

Pammachius was born to a noble Roman family, possibly the

Furii The gens Furia, originally written Fusia, and sometimes found as Fouria on coins, was one of the most ancient and noble Patrician (ancient Rome), patrician houses at ancient Rome, Rome. Its members held the highest offices of the state throughout ...

. He was a boyhood friend and classmate in the schools of rhetoric of

Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known ...

.Holböck, Ferdinand. ''Married Saints and Blesseds: Through the Centuries''
n.p., Ignatius Press, 2017 Pammachius was a senator, and became proconsul.Butler, Alban. "Saint Pammachius, Confessor". ''Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints'
1866. CatholicSaints.Info. 19 August 2014 In 385 he married Paulina, second daughter of

Paula of Rome Paula of Rome (AD 347–404) was an ancient ancient Rome, Roman Christianity, Christian saint and early Desert Mothers, Desert Mother. A member of one of the richest Roman Senate, senatorial families which claimed descent from Agamemnon, Paula wa ...

. He was probably among the ''viri genere optimi religione præclari'', who in 390 denounced

Jovinian Jovinian (; died c. 405) was an opponent of Christian asceticism in the 4th century and was condemned as a heretic at synods convened in Rome under Pope Siricius and in Milan by Ambrose in 393 because of his views. Our information about him is d ...

Pope Siricius Pope Siricius ( – 26 November 399) was the bishop of Rome from December 384 to his death on 26 November 399. In response to inquiries from Bishop Himerius of Tarragona, Siricius issued the ''Directa'' decretal, containing decrees of baptism, ...

.Bacchus, Francis Joseph. "St. Pammachius." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 13 November 2021 Paulina died in childbirth in 397. After her funeral, Pammachius gave substantial alms to the poor for the repose of her soul. On the advice of his friend

Paulinus of Nola Paulinus of Nola (; ; also Anglicisation, anglicized as Pauline of Nola; – 22 June 431) born Pontius Meropius Anicius Paulinus, was a Roman Empire, Roman Roman poetry, poet, writer, and Roman senate, senator who attained the ranks of suffect ...

, he then gave himself up to works of charity. In 398, with another friend, Fabiola, he built at

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

, at the mouth of the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; ; ) is the List of rivers of Italy, third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the R ...

opposite Ostia, the Xenodochium of Pammachius, a guest-house for pilgrims."St. Pammachius", FaithND
/ref> In 399 Pammachius and Oceanus wrote to Jerome asking him to translate

Origen Origen of Alexandria (), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, Asceticism#Christianity, ascetic, and Christian theology, theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Early cent ...

's ''De Principiis'', and repudiate the insinuation of Rufinus that Jerome was of one mind with himself with regard to Origen. He corresponded with Jerome on matters of faith, and tried unsuccessfully to get Jerome to tone down the language he used when referring to opponents. Many of Jerome's commentaries on scripture were dedicated to Pammachius. In 401 Pammachius was thanked by

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

for a letter he wrote to the people of

Numidia Numidia was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunisia and Libya. The polity was originally divided between ...

, where he owned property, exhorting them to abandon the Donatist schism. Pammachius never seems to have entered holy orders, as some have thought; but lived sequestered from the world, devoting himself entirely to the exercises of devotion, penance, and charity. He died in 410. The liturgical feast of Pammachius is kept on 30 August.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pammachius 409 deaths 5th-century Christian saints Year of birth unknown 4th-century writers in Latin 5th-century writers in Latin Letter writers in Latin

Biography

See also

References