A fourth-century Egyptian Desert Father famous for extreme voluntary poverty, repeatedly giving away even his own clothing for charity’s sake.

Saint Serapion the Sindonite was a fourth-century Egyptian anchorite among the Desert Fathers, known for taking Gospel poverty to a striking extreme, repeatedly giving away his few possessions, including his own clothing, for the sake of charity and evangelization. His stories were preserved in early monastic literature such as the Lausiac History.

Quick Facts

• Died: 4th century (Egypt)
• Venerated as: Anchorite (Desert Father)

Who Was Saint Serapion the Sindonite of Thmuis?

Saint Serapion, known as “the Sindonite” for wearing only a single linen garment, a sindon, was an Egyptian anchorite of the fourth century whose extreme poverty and unconventional acts of charity made him one of the most memorable figures among the early Desert Fathers.

Historical Setting

The fourth century saw the flourishing of Egyptian monasticism in the wake of Saint Anthony of the Desert, with thousands of men and women withdrawing to the wilderness to pursue radical poverty and prayer. Serapion belonged to this movement but became known even among his fellow ascetics for taking material renunciation further than most, repeatedly giving away his few possessions, including at least once his own clothing and, according to accounts preserved by later writers on the Desert Fathers, even selling himself into slavery to convert a pagan household.

Why the Church Remembers Saint Serapion the Sindonite of Thmuis

Serapion is remembered as a strikingly literal example of Gospel poverty, a monk who treated even the most basic necessities as things to be given away whenever charity or evangelization required it. His stories, preserved in early monastic literature such as Palladius’s Lausiac History, were told for generations as extreme but instructive examples of detachment.

Canonization and Feast Day

No formal canonization process for Serapion is recorded, as is ordinary for a figure of the Desert Fathers tradition. His veneration is ancient, preserved through the enduring monastic literature that recorded the sayings and deeds of the early Egyptian ascetics.

What Catholics Can Learn Today

Serapion’s radical poverty, unsettling even to many of his contemporaries, is a challenge to any comfortable relationship with possessions. His example does not ask most Catholics to imitate him literally, but it does ask whether attachment to things has quietly displaced attachment to God and neighbor.

A Prayer to Saint Serapion the Sindonite of Thmuis

Saint Serapion the Sindonite, who gave away even the shirt on your back for the sake of Christ, loosen our grip on the things we cling to too tightly. Teach us real freedom in the face of our own possessions.

Sources

• Roman Martyrology
• Butler’s Lives of the Saints
• New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia
• Palladius, The Lausiac History
• Acta Sanctorum