A

A shepherd who stayed with his people through hard times.

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February 19 · Bishop

St. Auxibius of Solias

St. Auxibius of Solias

A shepherd who stayed with his people through hard times.

Traditional feast

February 19
1914 / pre-1969 calendar, per Baring-Gould (1897)

Current feast

Not verified yet

Represents

Bishop

Early life

Selected sentences from the original account, unaltered.

Amongst the converts made by Auxibius was one, a native of Solopotamus, his namesake, who was afterwards bishop.

What they represent

How they teach us to live

Drawn from themes in the original account

Share your faith, in words and by example. Preaching and conversion are central here.

Learn from the kind of life it was. A shepherd who stayed with his people through hard times.

Read more

The full original · 347 words

Read Baring-Gould’s full account

Baring-Gould’s sources: Roman Martyrology. Greek Menæa on Feb. 17th. Authority:—A Greek life of uncertain authority, written by a native of Solias.

SAINT AUXIBIUS was a Roman, who coming to Cyprus after the martyrdom of S. Barnabas, was baptized and ordained priest by John Mark, the companion of the apostle whose sister's son he was, and sent to Solias, the modern Lerka, in the north of the island, where he succeeded in converting to the faith a priest of Jove. After Mark had visited Alexandria, he went to S. Paul, [56] who, hearing that there was a deficiency of apostles in Crete, sent Epaphras and Tychicus to Heraclias, the bishop of Crete, ordering him to place Epaphras in the See of Paphos, and Tychicus in that of Neapolis, and to seek out Auxibius, at Solias, who had been ordained by Mark, and consecrate him bishop. Amongst the converts made by Auxibius was one, a native of Solopotamus, his namesake, who was afterwards bishop. Auxibius of Solias is said to have foreseen his future elevation in the following way. One day that he and his pupil were out walking, they came to a tree, where there was pleasant shade, and beneath this they sat down to rest; whereupon Auxibius of Solopotamus fell asleep with his head against the trunk. Then a great multitude of ants, which were running over the bark, came down on his head, and the bishop thought it was a token of the future industry which his namesake would exhibit, and a sign that he would be a suitable person to receive the grace of episcopal orders. Auxibius had the happiness of converting and baptizing his brother Themistagoras, and his sister-in-law Tima; and when he was dying, he bade his disciples not open his sepulchre till the death of Themistagoras, when his brother was to be laid beside him. He then appointed his namesake to succeed him, and expired. But when Themistagoras was about to die, he felt himself unworthy to lie beside his brother, and bade that he should be entombed elsewhere, and "thus it follows," says the writer of the Life of S. Auxibius, "that to this day the sepulchre of the saint remains unopened."

Feast days

Feast: February 19

Nine days · Free

Pray the novena
with us.

One short email a day for nine days. The day's prayer, a line from St. Auxibius of Solias's story, and a nudge to keep going.

Also on February 19
G

St. Gabinius

February 19 · Priest, Martyr
Z

St. Zabdas

February 19 · Bishop, Confessor
O

St. Odran

February 19 · Martyr
← All 1726 saints in the library
Sources & notes

Feast-day sources

Sources

Credits

From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897), digitized text from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.

From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897), digitized text from Project Gutenberg. Public domain in the United States. Reproduced unedited, except for short bracketed notes in grey that we added to explain names and terms (“S.” is the old abbreviation for Saint). Some history and judgments reflect 19th-century scholarship.