Passarion of Palestine

Passarion of Palestine was a chorbishop, archimandrite of the monks and a leader of early Palestinian monasticism, in the first half of the fifth century. He was an exponent of communal monasticism and was in conversation with Saint Euthymius the Great. His commemoration today is on 11 August.

He founded a communal monastery in Jerusalem and, beyond the East Gate, a ptochotropheion, that is a poorhouse, joining the ascetic life to service to the needy. According to John Rufus, Passarion was a great lover of the poor and of strangers; he built by the eastern gates of the city a house for the rest and comfort of those whose bodies were afflicted, and within the walls of Holy Zion a great and beautiful monastery for those who praise the Lord without ceasing. His monastery, raised on Mount Zion for the clergy of the church of Holy Zion, was among the most important in Jerusalem in the fifth century; its ruins have not yet been found. His disciples founded monasteries too: Romanus, near Tekoa, before 451, and near Eleutheropolis in 457; Marcian, near Bethlehem, in 456; Anastasius, between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

The chronicler Theophanes the Confessor says that, under the influence of Pulcheria, the emperor Theodosius sent the bishop of Jerusalem a rich gift for the needy and a gold cross set with precious stones for Golgotha. In return the bishop sent relics of the right arm of Saint Stephen the Protomartyr, in the care of Passarion. When he reached Chalcedon, Pulcheria saw Saint Stephen in a vision, who told her that her prayer was heard. She received the relics in the palace, founded a splendid chapel for them and placed them there.

According to Cyril of Scythopolis, Anastasius, Passarion's spiritual successor, a chorbishop and keeper of the sacred vessels of the Church of the Resurrection, was his close friend. Later the monk Sabbas was set in Passarion's place as archimandrite and lawgiver of all the lavras and anchorites of Palestine. In the Life of Saint Euthymius, Cyril calls Euthymius "the Abraham-⁠like Passarion", which shows how well known Passarion was for his hospitality. He was a model for several saints, among them Peter the Iberian, Euthymius and Sabbas, who spent a year in his monastery under his successor. His direct successors were Elpidius and Gerontius.

In 428, when Bishop Juvenal consecrated a church in the laura of Euthymius, he had Passarion at his side. Passarion fell asleep in the Lord in peace, soon after the consecration of the church, on 25 November 428. His commemoration was at first on 25 November, together with Saint Romanus, and today it is on 11 August.