Sampson the Hospitable
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Saint Sampson | |
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Saint Sampson the Hospitable | |
The Hospitable | |
Born | Rome |
Died | c. 530, Constantinople |
Venerated in | Eastern Orthodox Church Eastern Catholic Churches |
Feast | June 27 |
Saints Portal |
Sampson the Hospitable (died c. 530) was a citizen of Constantinople who devoted his time to serving the poor of the city. He is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Churches.
[edit] Life
Sampson born in Rome to a prominent family. He was a physician who devoted much of his time to helping the poor and sick. He turned his home into a free clinic, providing his patients with food and lodging as well as medical care. He was later ordained a priest by the patriarch. When the Byzantine emperor Justinian the Great became ill he sent for Sampson to cure him. He was the only physician in the city to do the emperor any good, and the emperor wanted to reward him. Sampson requested that the emperor help him establish a new hospital for the poor. With the emperor's assistance Sampson founded the hospital, which became the largest free clinic in the empire and served the people of Constantinople for 600 years.
Sampson was buried in the Church of the Holy Martyr Mocius in Constantinople.