Pausicacus of Synada was a Christian saint, monk, ascetic, and bishop of Synada. The saint's name, in Greek Παυσίκακος, derives from the words παῦσις (''pavsis'') ("to stop, to cease") and κακία (''kakia'') ("evil, misfortune"); it means "to stop evil".

Biography

The motherland of Saint Pausicacus of Synada was a city called

Apamea Apamea or Apameia () is the name of several Hellenistic cities in western Asia, after Apama, the Sogdian wife of Seleucus I Nicator, several of which are also former bishoprics and Catholic titular see. Places called Apamea include: Asia Minor ...

, which was situated in the southwest

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. Pausicacus was born in a noble and pious family. When he was a child, he began to live as an

ascetic Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures through self-discipline, self-imposed poverty, and simple living, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their pra ...

– he spent almost all his time praying. At the age of twenty-five, he became a monk. Living on only a little water and bread, Pausicacus was given a gift of healing, and he began to cure bodily and mental illnesses. As time went on, there are rumors that he could

exorcise Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be do ...

demons from people, restore vision to the blind and perform a lot of other marvels. At last, these rumors reached the

Patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople () is the archbishop of Constantinople and (first among equals) among the heads of the several autocephalous churches that comprise the Eastern Orthodox Church. The ecumenical patriarch is regarded as ...

Cyriacus Cyriacus (, fl. 303 AD), sometimes Anglicized as Cyriac, according to Christian tradition, is a Christian martyr who was killed in the Diocletianic Persecution. He is one of twenty-seven saints, most of them martyrs, who bear this name, of whom ...

(592 – 606). The Patriarch called the monk to Constantinople and ordained him a bishop, appointing him bishop of Synada, which was north of

Phrygia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; , ''Phrygía'') was a kingdom in the west-central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. Stories of the heroic age of Greek mythology tell of several legendary Ph ...

. As soon as Saint Pausicacus became a bishop, he began to banish heretics and freethinkers and people who persisted in immorality from his congregation. When he became famous in Phrygia by his care of his congregation, he traveled to Constantinople, where he healed the Emperor

Maurice Maurice may refer to: *Maurice (name), a given name and surname, including a list of people with the name Places * or Mauritius, an island country in the Indian Ocean *Maurice, Iowa, a city *Maurice, Louisiana, a village *Maurice River, a trib ...

of his illness. For this, the Emperor gave Pausicacus’s province a reward. When Pausicacus was returning from Constantinople to Synada, he asked the Lord for water to quench the thirst of his companions. At his prayer, a spring of pure water sprang up from the ground."Saint Pausicacus, Bishop of Synnada", OCA
/ref> Saint Pausicacus died in 606. His burial place is unknown. His

name day In Christianity, a name day is a tradition in many countries of Europe and the Americas, as well as Christian communities elsewhere. It consists of celebrating a day of the year that is associated with one's baptismal name, which is normatively t ...

is celebrated on 26 May.

Biography

References

Further reading