Agathon of Rome

St. Agathon, Pope of Rome, defender of Orthodoxy against Monothelitism.

St. Agathon was born in Sicily, gave his inheritance to the poor and became a monk. Elected Bishop of Rome in 678, he sent legates to the Sixth Ecumenical Council in Constantinople, which condemned the Monothelite heresy in accordance with his confession of faith.

He was known for his gentleness and his gift of healing, and reposed in peace in 681.

Feast day

On the New Calendar, Agathon of Rome is commemorated on February 20. Churches on the Old (Julian) Calendar keep the feast on March 5 (a day earlier in leap years) of the civil calendar.

Who celebrates a name day

People with these names keep their name day on this feast:

Agathon, Agathonas

Also commemorated on February 20

• 

  Leo of Catania

  Hierarch, Λέων

  Bishop Leo of Catania, wonderworker.

  Name days: Leon, Leo, Leonidas

• Bessarion the Great

  Venerable, Βησσαρίων

  Venerable Bessarion the Great, wonderworker of Egypt.

  Name days: Bessarion, Vissarion

• Sadok and the 128 Martyrs

  Hierarch, Σαδώκ και οι συν αυτώ

  Hieromartyr Sadok, Bishop of Persia, and the 128 Martyrs with him.

• Apphia the Martyr

  Holy Woman, Απφία

  Holy Martyr Apphia, wife of the Apostle Philemon.

  Name days: Apphia, Apfia

• Cornelius of the Pskov Caves

  Venerable, Κορνήλιος του Πσκωφ

  Venerable Martyr Cornelius, Abbot of the Pskov Caves Monastery.