Auxentius of Bithynia

Auxentius portrayed in Menologion of Basil II

Auxentius of Bithynia was a hermit born circa AD 400 in Syria, and died February 14, 473, on Mount Scopas.

Auxentius was in the Equestrian Guard of Roman Emperor Theodosius II, but left to become a solitary monk on Mount Oxia near Constantinople. He was accused of heresy but was exonerated at the Council of Chalcedon. Afterward he returned to his hermitage atop Mount Scopas, in Bithynia, not far from Chalcedon. This mountain is today called Kayışdağ in the Kadiköy subprovince of Istanbul, the seat of Yeditepe University. The hill is thickly wooded and no remains from the late Roman period have been identified.

He is not to be confused with Saint Auxentius of Mopsuestia (d. 360), bishop and martyr, and an Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic saint, Auxentius of Milan (d. 374), bishop of Milan, or Auxentius of Durostorum.

Auxentius of Bithynia is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Byzantine Catholic, and Roman Catholic Churches. His feast day is February 14.

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