Hierarch Pavsikakios, Bishop of Synnada

CATEGORY REFINEMENT: the previous category "venerable, bishop" is refined to "hierarch" — the Orthodox Encyclopedia, azbyka.ru, and ortox.ru unanimously classify him among the hierarch-saints, matching the database convention for bishops venerated for their episcopal ministry rather than pre-monastic ascetic struggle. The previously empty date has been filled in (May 13/26).

Saint Pavsikakios, Bishop of Synnada, is an early Byzantine saint whose original vita has not survived; what is known comes only from a brief notice in the Constantinople Synaxarion (late 10th century), later incorporated into St. Demetrius of Rostov's Lives of the Saints. He was born in the Syrian city of Apamea on the Orontes to a noble, devout family, received a Christian upbringing, and from youth practiced fasting and prayer; he also studied medicine and treated the sick without payment.

Patriarch Kyriakos of Constantinople (592–606) ordained him bishop of Synnada in Phrygia, where he zealously worked to root out heresy and confirm his flock in piety, becoming renowned for healing and exorcism. During a visit to Constantinople he healed Emperor Maurice (r. 582–602), who in gratitude granted an annual gold subsidy to the see of Synnada. On the return journey he brought forth a spring of water by prayer for his thirsty companions.

He died peacefully, traditionally dated to 606, though scholars (the Bollandists) have proposed a later date, under Emperor Constantine IV Pogonatos (668–685). The Church commemorates him on May 13/26.