Paphnutius of Thebes
| Saint Paphnutius of Thebes | |
|---|---|
| Died | 4th century AD |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church; Eastern Orthodox Church |
| Feast | 11 September |
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Paphnutius of Thebes, also known as Paphnutius the Confessor, was bishop of a city in the Upper Thebaid in the early fourth century, and one of the most interesting members of the First Council of Nicaea in 325. He was a disciple of Saint Anthony the Great.
Paphnutius had been persecuted for his Christian beliefs, and had suffered mutilation of the left knee and the loss of his right eye for the Faith under the Emperor Maximinus, and was subsequently condemned to the mines. At the First Council of Nicaea, he was greatly honoured by Constantine the Great.
He took a prominent, perhaps a decisive, part in the debate at the First Ecumenical Council on the subject of the clerical celibacy. It seems that most of the bishops present were disposed to follow the precedent of the Council of Elvira prohibiting conjugal relations to those bishops, priests, deacons, and sub-deacons, who were married before ordination. Paphnutius earnestly entreated his fellow-bishops not to impose this obligation on the orders of the clergy concerned. He proposed, in accordance "with the ancient tradition of the Church", that only those who were celibates at the time of ordination should continue to observe continence, but, on the other hand, that "none should be separated from her, to whom, while yet unordained, he had been united". The great veneration in which he was held, and the well known fact that he had himself observed the strictest chastity all his life, gave weight to his proposal, which was unanimously adopted. The council left it to the discretion of the married clergy to continue or discontinue their marital relations. In addition, Paphnutius was a zealous defender of Orthodoxy in the face of the Arian heresy.
Paphnutius also accompanied Saint Athanasius to the First Synod of Tyre in 335 A.D.
His feast in the Roman Catholic Church is on 11 September.
This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.
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