Picture: Authors of Menologion of Basil II (circa 985 AC, Constantinople), Byzantine manuscript illuminators[1]: Pantoleon with Georgios, Michael the Younger, Michael of · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Paphnutius

Christian martyr and saint

SaintFull write-upAncient EgyptPre-congregation

Feast: 24 September (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)

Born

300

Died

400

Beatified

—

not needed: before formal processes

Canonised

By tradition

recognised before formal processes began

Who they were

In Egypt, the suffering of Ss. Paphnutius and his fellow-martyrs. He was dwelling in the wilderness when he learned that many Christians were being kept in chains. Aroused by the spirit of God, he offered himself of his own will to the perfect and freely confessed the Christian religion. He was first bound with iron chains and then tortured for a long time on the rack. Then, together with many others, he was sent to Diocletian, by whose command he was nailed to a palm tree. The rest of the Christians were slain by the sword.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.

Why that counted as sanctity

The Dominican Martyrology (1955) remembers him on 24 September.

Sources

The Martyrology of the Order of Friars Preachers (tr. W. R. Bonniwell OP, 1955), 24 September
Wikidata Q104698107 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)

Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.