Fantinus of Thessalonica

Holy Venerable Fantinus of Thessalonica, the wonderworker, was a Greek saint of the ninth and tenth centuries, born in Calabria to George and Vrienna. At eight he was given to a monastery, and from childhood he grew accustomed to ascetic struggle.

From his youth he wandered through deserts, often remaining without food for twenty days at a time and without clothing. In such struggle he lived sixty years. Towards the end of his life, to escape the persecution of the Saracens, he withdrew with his disciples Vitalis and Nicephorus to the Peloponnese. Preaching the ways of salvation, he passed through Corinth, Athens, Larissa and Thessalonica, where he venerated the relics of the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius, commemorated on 26 October. He died in peace in great old age, at the end of the ninth century or the beginning of the tenth, renowned for miracles.

He is commemorated on 12 September (new style). The story of his life was also written down by Saint Demetrius of Rostov.