Falco of Palena

Falco of Palena was a Basilian monk, born at Taverna in Calabria in the middle of the 10th century, and he died at Palena in Abruzzo in the 11th century. The Holy See confirmed his veneration in 1893, and he is remembered on 9 August and is patron of the town of Palena.

He belonged to a group of seven Italo-⁠Greek Basilian monks called the seven holy hermits. In 977, to escape the raids of Saracen pirates in Calabria, they left the abbey of Santa Maria di Pesica, near Albi, and moved to Samnium, intending to reach Rome, following the archimandrite Hilarion. With the help of the count of Chieti, Trasmondo, they found a home in the stronghold of Prata, near Casoli. After the death of Hilarion and of his successor, Nicholas, the surviving brothers left the common life and withdrew as hermits to various places in Abruzzo. Falco settled near Palena, where he died with a reputation for holiness.

He was honored from his death and was invoked especially against possession by demons. Many legends gather around him, shared with those of other saints of the region. The Congregation of Rites confirmed the veneration, as older than the pontificate of Urban VIII, by a decree of 2 July 1893. He is usually shown riding Cerberus, and his relics are kept in the church of Palena, built over the place of his death.

He is a local saint of the West, a monk of the Greek rite; no Orthodox synodal canonization is known.