Pancras of Taormina

The Holy Hieromartyr Pancras was, according to tradition, the first bishop of the city of Taormina (Tauromenium) in Sicily, a disciple of the holy Apostle Peter, who was stoned to death by pagans. His life, as it survives, is largely legendary, but his name appears in some early martyrologies: the Martyrologium Hieronymianum (fifth century) mentions him on 8 July and 3 April, and in 591 a church at Messina was dedicated to Saints Stephen, Pankratios and Euplus, which probably refers to him and to Euplius of Catania.

According to his legendary life, he was born at Antioch in Cilicia to parents who lived there. His parents, hearing of the wonders of Jesus, went with their son to Jerusalem, where they met the Lord and the Apostle Peter; after the Ascension the whole family was baptised at Antioch. After his parents' death Pancras lived in retirement in a cave in Pontus, where the Apostle Peter found him. Peter, in agreement with the Apostle Paul, sent him to Sicily as bishop of Tauromenium, in the year 40.

In Taormina the saint laboured earnestly to enlighten the people: within a month he built a church in which he served, and the faithful grew so quickly that almost all the inhabitants of the city and its surroundings accepted the faith. The story says he defended the city from the pagan commander Aquilinus: he went out with the clergy and the Holy Cross before the enemy, who then turned on one another. The life also mentions that the Apostle Peter summoned a painter, Joseph, and commanded icons to be made of Christ, Peter and Pancras, which the bishop later used in his mission. After many years of peaceful pastoral care, the pagans rose against him and stoned him to death.

The greater part of his relics is kept in Rome, in a church bearing his name; a portion is on Mount Athos. He is patron of Taormina and of the town of Canicattì. He is not to be confused with Saint Pancras of Rome, a young martyr beheaded around 304. The Orthodox Church commemorates him on 9 July, and on 9 February together with Marcellus and Philagrius; the Greek calendar commemorates on 7 June the holy women Aesia and Susanna, his disciples, martyred with him. The Armenian Church honours him under the name Bagarat. In icons he is shown as an elderly bishop with white hair, holding a cross in his right hand and the Gospel in his left.