Saint Serapion was the Bishop and head of the famous Catechetical School of Alexandria, Egypt. He was originally a monk in the Egyptian desert and a companion of St. Anthony, who had bequeathed one of his two sheepskin cloaks to him.

A brilliant scholar and theologian, he was also the author of a series of writings on the doctrine of the divinity of the Holy Spirit, the Euchologiurn (a sacramentary), and a treatise against Manichaeism. He is called ‘Serapion the Scholastic’ for his in-depth knowledge and learning of the Christian doctrine.

Saint Serapion was closely linked with St. Athanasius in the defence of Christian faith, for which he was banished by the Emperor Constantius.

The ‘Sacramentary of Serapion of Thmuis’ is a work of Saint Serapion. It is a celebrant's book, containing thirty prayers belonging to the Divine Liturgy or Mass, baptism, ordination, benediction of oil, bread and water, and burial.

Serapion was opposed to Arianism and fought against Macedonianism, which denies the divinity of the Holy Spirit. He wrote against Manichaeism, showing that our bodies can be instruments of good or evil, that it is our choice and that just and wicked men often change; it's therefore a lie to think that our souls are of God and our bodies, of the devil.

Saint Serapion reportedly died in between 365-370 AD.

Other Saints of the Day

1. Saint Benedicta Cambiagio Frassinello
2. Saint Nicholas of Flüe
3. Saint Enda of Arran
4. Saint Augustine Tchao
5. Saint Birillus of Catania

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