Saint Patasius

Overview

Saint Patasius is a hermit credited with many miracles and commemorated on 23 Tubah. René-Georges Coquin’s article in The Coptic Encyclopedia identifies the Upper Egyptian recension of the Copto-Arabic Coptic Synaxarion as the tradition in which he is mentioned.¹ The encyclopedia’s shorter listing likewise describes him as a hermit credited with many miracles and gives the same feast day.⁹

His story connects a childhood shaped by visits to the monastery of Saint Pachomius with a later life of seclusion near Faw and a move to the region of Qift. Its principal themes are the Gospel commandments of love, humility in the face of a growing reputation for healing, prayer in preparation for judgment, and concern for the safety of a monastic community.²³⁴⁵⁷⁸

History and origins

Family and early religious formation

Patasius’s parents were natives of Faw. His family lived with a devout Christian named Pegosh and Pegosh’s only son, Joseph, and the two children were brought up together. Patasius and Joseph frequently visited the monastery of Saint Pachomius, where they admired the monks and their way of life. When they grew up, they asked to be admitted to the community.²

The account thus presents their interest in monastic life as developing through repeated encounters with an existing community. Their request for admission follows their childhood admiration of the monks, rather than an isolated episode of conversion or a sudden decision described without preparation.²

At one point, Patasius asked the renowned monk Anba Paul how he could be saved. Paul answered by directing him to two commandments given by the Savior in the Gospel: love of God and love of one’s neighbor.³

Seclusion near Faw

Patasius subsequently lived as a recluse near Faw. After some time, he healed a lame man and a blind man. These cures attracted the attention of monks, who sought him out so frequently that he took refuge in the house of a widow named Basidiyyah at Faw.⁴

This episode places his reputation for healing in tension with his reclusive life: the cures made him sought after, and the narrative explicitly connects that attention with his decision to seek shelter elsewhere. Basidiyyah’s house provided his place of refuge until he returned to his hermitage on the third day of Easter.⁴⁵

The monks wished to clothe Patasius in the monastic cowl, but he was unwilling. The account gives humility as the reason for his refusal. It also credits him with healing Arsinoë, the wife of the chief magistrate of Faw.⁵

Departure for the region of Qift

Shortly after these events, Patasius left his hermitage with Anba Joseph for the region of Qift. The account then states that he performed further miracles before turning to his anticipation of death and his final recorded conversation with Joseph.⁵⁶⁷

Patasius foretold to Anba Joseph that his death was near and asked to be remembered continually in prayer. Joseph, in turn, asked what would happen after Patasius’s death, prompting a promise that Patasius would ask the Lord to protect the monastery from the Berbers.⁷⁸

Theology and meaning

Salvation and the commandments of love

Anba Paul’s response to Patasius supplies the account’s clearest statement of spiritual instruction: “Know that there are two commandments which our Savior has given in the Gospel: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”³

Because this answer responds directly to the question of how Patasius could be saved, the narrative places love of God and neighbor at the center of his spiritual formation. Paul answers with the Gospel commandments rather than with instructions about miraculous gifts or a particular ascetic achievement.³

Miracles and humility

The account names three recipients of healing: the lame man, the blind man, and Arsinoë. It also refers more generally to further miracles after Patasius’s departure toward Qift.⁴⁵⁶ These reports establish his reputation as a healer, while his retreat to Basidiyyah’s house and refusal of the cowl emphasize withdrawal and humility rather than a desire for recognition.⁴⁵

The refusal of the cowl has a specifically stated motive: humility. Read alongside the monks’ efforts to find him after the cures, it forms part of the narrative’s contrast between the honor others wished to give Patasius and his reluctance to accept it.⁴⁵

Judgment and the need for prayer

As his death approached, Patasius asked Anba Joseph to remember him unremittingly in prayer, “that I may cross the river of fire which flows before the throne of the Judge, and pass by the demons of various countenance who are on the road.”⁷

The imagery gives urgency to his request: he anticipates judgment and spiritual dangers, and asks for another person’s prayers. In the narrative, a reputation for miracles does not remove his concern for his own salvation or his need for prayerful support.⁶⁷

Promised intercession for the monastery

When Joseph asked what would happen after his death, Patasius replied: “When I go to find the Lord, I shall ask Him not to give the Berbers the means to come as far as this monastery.”⁸

The final exchange therefore moves from Patasius’s request for prayers on his own behalf to his intention to pray for the community’s protection. The promised protection is expressed as a request he will make to the Lord, preserving the distinction between the saint’s intercession and the Lord’s action.⁷⁸

Liturgical and practical use

Patasius’s feast is recorded as 23 Tubah both in the encyclopedia’s dedicated article and in its shorter listing of saints. These two notices agree on the date of his commemoration.¹⁹

Easter also appears within his life story: it was on the third day of Easter that he left Basidiyyah’s house and returned to his hermitage. This is a chronological detail within the narrative, distinct from the separately stated feast day of 23 Tubah.¹⁵

Texts and regional tradition

The principal account supplied here is Coquin’s article, “Patasius, Saint,” in The Coptic Encyclopedia. It specifically locates the saint’s remembrance in the Upper Egyptian recension of the Copto-Arabic Synaxarion.¹ Patasius also appears under the heading “PATASIUS, SAINT” in the encyclopedia’s list of articles.¹⁰

The account’s geographical focus is Faw and the region of Qift: Faw is the place of origin of his parents, the vicinity of his hermitage, and the town associated with Basidiyyah and Arsinoë; Qift is the region to which he later traveled with Anba Joseph. These details connect the regional textual tradition with the places around which his remembered life unfolds.²⁴⁵