Saint Pancratios was perhaps the first Bishop of Taormina, Sicily. He suffered martyrdom there at an uncertain epoch. Tradition relates that he lived in apostolic times. A native of the vicinity of Antioch, he received holy baptism in Jerusalem at the same time as his father and mother. Upon his parents’ death, he abandoned his possessions and withdrew to a grotto in the region of Pontus. Passing through this region Saint Peter met the holy hermit and led him with him to Antioch, then to Cilicia. There, Saint Pancratios met Saint Paul who then ordained three bishops, Crescens for Galatia, Martian for Syracuse, and Saint Pancratios for Taormina. Saint Pancratios was treacherously assassinated by the pagans in an ambush.

Feast Day: July 9