07 — Relics and the Cult
The relics of St. Panteleimon and their dispersal — the venerated head at the Russian monastery of St Panteleimon on Mount Athos, relics scattered across the Orthodox world, and the blood-relic at Madrid said to liquefy on his feast — and the living cult of the healer: the blessing of the sick, the akathist, the saint’s place in the devotional life of the Orthodox faithful.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Great Martyr; Unmercenary Healer)
This section covers the material and devotional afterlife of the martyr. The first file follows the relics: the principal relic of the head, claimed by the Rossikon on Athos (with the competing and overlapping claims noted), the wide dispersal of fragments across the Orthodox world, and the famous ampoule of the saint’s blood at Madrid that is reported to liquefy on 27 July — each relic-claim pinned to its source and the liquefaction handled with the both-sides care the methodology requires. The second file treats the cult itself: Panteleimon as the healer to whom the Orthodox faithful turn in sickness, the services of supplication and the blessing of the sick that invoke him, the akathist, and the icon-type of the young physician with his medicine-box and lancet.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| The Relics and Their Dispersal | The head at the Rossikon on Athos and the competing claims; relics across the Orthodox world; the Madrid blood-relic said to liquefy on the feast — attestation-pinned, with [Disputed] handling of the liquefaction. |
| The Healer of the Orthodox World | The cult of the healer: the blessing of the sick, the paraklesis and the akathist; the icon-type; Panteleimon among the unmercenary healers in popular Orthodox devotion. |
See Also
- The Rossikon on Mount Athos — the monastery that holds the head and bears the saint’s name
- Feast and the Blessing of the Sick — the liturgical commemoration and the healing services
- The Name Panteleimon — the “all-merciful” name the cult invokes
- Healing Without Payment — the unmercenary ideal the cult embodies
- The Great Feasts — the liturgical calendar in which the feast stands
References
- Delehaye, Hippolyte. Les origines du culte des martyrs. 2nd ed. Brussels: Société des Bollandistes, 1933.
- Speake, Graham. Mount Athos: Renewal in Paradise. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002.
- Walter, Christopher. The Warrior Saints in Byzantine Art and Tradition. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003.
- The Great Horologion and the Menaion for 27 July (the paraklesis and akathist to St. Panteleimon).