Our father among the saints Serapiōn, Archbishop of Antioch

Saint Serapiōn of Antioch

In the early years of the Christian community in Antioch, the Church was rightfully guided by a number of holy saints, starting with Saint Peter, Saint Euodios and Saint Ignatios. The thirtieth of October is the Orthodox feast day of one such wise and honourable overseer: the influential tenth archpastor of the Antiochian Church, Saint Serapiōn of Antioch, who reigned around the turn of the third century.

Saint Serapiōn [Gk. Σεραπίων, L. Seraphion, Ar. Sarâfiyyûn سرافيون] is known to us primarily through his fragmentary surviving theological writings; however, these writings disclose to us that he was no mere detached scholar, but instead an active and compassionate presence in the community. Among these writings are part of a letter to two men, Caricus and Ponticus, warning them against the ‘lying confederacy’ of the hæresy of Montanus, and referring them to the trustworthy testimony of the bishop of Hierapolis in Asia, Saint Klaudios Apolinarios. Another is a part of an epistle against Marcionism and the Docetist ‘Gospel of Peter’ (a forgery often attributed to a certain Leukios), which was given to the Christian community in ’Arsûz.

From these writings we can see both a zeal for the revealed Truth of Christ as well as for the dependent truths of reason, and also a heartfelt care for the spiritual wellbeing and unity of the Syrian people. We learn as well from secondary sources such as that of Eusebios’s Church History that he preached against Gnosticism as well. He was responsible as well for the ordination of a certain ‘Palut’, probably a cognomen for Mâr Mâri, as Bishop of Edessa. Mâri was also a steadfast defender of Orthodoxy. By Saint Ephraim’s time, the name ‘Palutian’ had become an uncomplimentary byword for the Orthodox Christians among the heterodox. Holy father Serapiōn, steadfast defender and right divider of the word of truth, pray unto Christ our God to save our souls!