Saint Serapion of Thmuis

Serapion was born around 300 and as a young man went off into the desert, where he became a disciple of Anthony the Abbot. When Anthony died, he left him one of his two sheepskin cloaks: for anyone who knows those stories, it’s a detail that says everything. He later took charge of a monastic community, and before 339 he became bishop of Thmuis, in Egypt. Jerome nicknamed him the Scholastic, meaning the learned one, and it wasn’t a title given to just anyone. He was Athanasius’s man to the very end. He probably took part in the Council of Serdica in 343, and he was one of the embassy Athanasius sent to Emperor Constantius II to defend himself against the Arians’ accusations. The embassy failed, and the consequence came right on schedule: around 359 Constantius had him replaced at the head of the diocese by an Arian, Ptolemy. What remains are five letters Athanasius wrote to him: one from 358 announcing the death of Arius, and four from 359 on the divinity of the Holy Spirit. Jerome attributes to him a treatise against the Manichaeans, one on the Psalms and at least fifty-five letters. He was still alive around 370. If your name is Serapione, today is your name day.