Panteleimon the Unmercenary

Great Martyr and Unmercenary Panteleimon of Nicomedia.

St. Panteleimon the Great Martyr and Healer was born in Nicomedia in the late third century. Trained as a physician, he was brought to Christ by the priest St. Hermolaos, and thereafter healed the sick freely in the name of the Lord, taking no payment, for which he is counted among the Holy Unmercenaries. Denounced during the persecution of Maximian, he endured many tortures and was beheaded around the year 305.

His name means all-merciful. He is invoked above all for the sick, and physicians and nurses honor him as their patron. His feast on July 27 is kept with devotion throughout the Orthodox world.

Feast day

On the New Calendar, Panteleimon the Unmercenary is commemorated on July 27. Churches on the Old (Julian) Calendar keep the feast on August 9 of the civil calendar.

Who celebrates a name day

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

Panteleimon, Pantelis, Panteli, Telis, Pantaleon

Also commemorated on July 27

• Anthousa the Confessor

  Holy Woman, Ανθούσα η Ομολογήτρια

  Venerable Anthousa the Confessor, abbess who suffered for the holy icons.

• Christodoulos of Kassandra

  Martyr, Χριστόδουλος ο εκ Κασσάνδρας

  New Martyr Christodoulos of Kassandra, who suffered in Thessaloniki.

• One Hundred Fifty-Three Martyrs of Thrace

  Martyr, Μάρτυρες οι εκ Θράκης

  The Holy 153 Martyrs of Thrace, drowned in the sea.

• Nicholas Kochanov of Novgorod

  Venerable, Νικόλαος του Νόβγκοροντ

  Blessed Nicholas Kochanov, Fool for Christ of Novgorod.

Icon: public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.