Ora pro nobis.
The holy confessor Paphnutius was an Egyptian who, after having spent several years in the desert under the direction of St. Antony the Great, was made bishop in the Upper Thebaid in Egypt. He was one of those confessors who, under the persecution of Christians under Emperor Maximinus (AD 310-313), was blinded in the right eye and hamstrung in one leg, and were afterwards condemned to work in the mines. With the promulgation of the Edict of Milan by the Emperor Constantine in AD 313, Christianity became a legal religion in the Roman Empire, and all imprisoned Christians were set free. Paphnutius returned to his flock, bearing all the rest of his life the glorious marks of his sufferings for the name of his Crucified Master.
He was one of the most zealous in defending the orthodox Faith of the Church against the Arian heresy. He was also highly regarded for his holiness of life. As one who had confessed the Faith before persecutors and under torments, he was an outstanding figure of the first General Council of the Church, held at Nicaea in the year AD 325. Paphnutius, a man who had observed the strictest continence all his life, is said to have distinguished himself at the Council by his opposition to a new requirement of clerical celibacy. Paphnutius said that it was enough to conform to the ancient tradition of the Church, which restricted the clergy from marrying after their ordination, but to require married clergy to abandon their wives was unacceptable to the Gospel of Jesus. His voice won the day, and to this day it is the law of the Eastern Churches, whether Catholic or Orthodox, that married men may be ordained deacon and priest, though bishops are chosen only from celibate monastics, and continue to live freely with their wives.
St. Paphnutius is sometimes called "the Great" to distinguish him from other saints of the same name. The exact year of his death is not known, but was certainly in the early 4th c. AD.
Almighty God, you have surrounded us with a great cloud of witnesses: Grant that we, encouraged by the good example of your faithful servant Paphnutius, may persevere in running the race that is set before us, until at last we may with him attain to your eternal joy; through Jesus Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
