His story
His Life says he was the son of a deacon at Melitopolis in Asia Minor, and that as a boy he could not read but learned the Scriptures by going to church, and gave the money he made by fishing to the poor. From the age of 18 he healed the sick and cast out evil spirits in the name of Christ, and the bishop of Melitopolis had him educated and ordained him. In AD 325 he was made bishop of Lampsacus, and he healed so freely there that people stopped going to doctors.
Saint Parthenios, Bishop of Lampsakos, Orthodox Church in America
His feast day
7 February: His feast in the Orthodox churches on the new calendar. Those on the old calendar keep it on 20 February.
Why people ask St Parthenios
Cancer
Greeks today call him the patron of people with cancer. His Life says he was a bishop of the 300s who healed every illness for nothing, in the name of Jesus Christ.
Saint Parthenios, Bishop of Lampsakos, Orthodox Church in America; Greek City Times, 7 February 2020
Where it comes from
Who wrote it
Greeks sing this modern hymn to him on his feast day of 7 February. No one knows who wrote it.
In Greek
Ἑλλησπόντου τὸ κλέος καὶ Λαμψάκου τὸν πρόεδρον,Παρθένιον τὸν μέγαν Ἱεράρχην τιμήσωμεν,
θαυμάτων γὰρ πηγάζει δωρεάς,καὶ παύει ἀσθενείας χαλεπάς,καὶ καρκίνου ἀπαλλάττει τῆς συνοχῆς,τοὺς εὐλαβῶς κραυγάζοντας·
δόξα τῷ σὲ δοξάσαντι Χριστῷ,δόξα τῷ σὲ στεφανώσαντι,δόξα τῷ ἐνεργοῦντι διὰ σοῦ πᾶσιν ἰάματα.
From The Matins booklet for his feast, 7 February 2026 (Melodos), p. 11.
