Saint Parthenios, Bishop of Lampsakos
Saint Parthenios, the Bishop of Lampsakos, was from the city of Melitopolis (Asia Minor), where his father Christopher served as a deacon. The young man could not read, but he learned the Holy Scriptures well, by attending the Divine Services in church. He had a kind heart and, when he went fishing, he distributed the proceeds to the poor. Filled with the grace of God from the age of eighteen, Saint Parthenios healed diseases, cast out demons, and worked other miracles in Christ's name.
Learning about the virtuous life of the young man, Bishop Philip of Melitopolis gave him an education and ordained him as a presbyter. In 325, during the reign of Constantine the Great, Archbishop Achilles of Kyzikos appointed him as Bishop of Lampsakos (in Asia Minor). Many pagans lived in the city, and the Hierarch was diligent in spreading the faith in Christ, and confirming it with many miracles and healings of the sick, according to God's will. People abandoned their pagan beliefs, and Bishop Parthenios visited Emperor Constantine the Great, requesting him to permit the destruction of pagan temples so that Christian churches could be built in their place. The Emperor received him with honor, and gave him a document authorizing him to destroy pagan temples, and provided him with the means to build a church. Returning to Lampsakos, Bishop Parthenios ordered the destruction of the pagan temples and built a beautiful church in the middle of the city.
Finding a large marble stone in one of the ruined temples, suitable for the Holy Altar in the church, the Bishop ordered work to begin on the stone so that it could be put on a wagon and taken to the church. Out of malice, the devil, who was enraged because the stone had been removed from the temple, overturned the wagon, and the stone killed the driver Eutykhianos. Saint Parthenios resurrected him by his prayers, and shamed the devil, who wanted to obstruct God's work.
The Hierarch's mercy was so great that he never refused to heal any of those who came to him, or the people he met on the roads, who were suffering from bodily ailments and possessed by unclean spirits. People stopped going to doctors, because Saint Parthenios freely healed every illness in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
By the great power of the name of Christ, the Hierarch cast out many demons from people, houses, and the waters of the sea. When the Bishop exorcised a demon from a certain man who had been possessed since childhood, the unclean spirit begged Saint Parthenios to give him another place to live. The Saint promised to show him such a place and, opening his mouth, he said to the demon: "Come and dwell in me." As if scorched by fire, the demon cried out, "How shall I enter the house of God?" and disappeared into desolate and impassable places. Expelled by the Saint the unclean spirit shouted that Divine fire was driving him into the fire of Gehenna. Thus, by showing people the great power of faith in Christ, the Saint converted many idolaters to the only true God.
The Saint's skull is located in the Monastery of Espigmenou on Mount Athos. Fragments of the Saint's relics are to be found in the Monasteries of the Great Cave at Kalavryta, Rovelistas of Arta, and Kykkos on Cyprus. Part of the Saint's skull is kept in the Holy Monastery of Makrymallē (Μακρυμάλλη). in the Holy Metropolis of Chalkida, in the center of the island of Euboea in Greece.