The miraculous Saint Patapius and the feast at the Monastery of the Egyptians
The memory of Saint Patapius was celebrated at the Monastery of the Egyptians by the monks, and during the feast, a prominent bishop and illustrious theologian was honored: Archbishop Andreas of Crete, who was gifted with poetic talent and wrote exquisite ecclesiastical hymns. This holy man passed away in 740. The gathering for Saint Patapius was impressive: many clergy, nuns and monks, men and women from the great capital, Constantinople. Because many in Constantinople knew of his miracles and venerated his incorrupt relic with reverence. And the greatest miracle of the Saint was the incorruptibility of his holy body. He had such great love for God and such a holy life that God deemed it fitting to grace his sacred relic with incorruptibility, meaning it would not decay. Moreover, God also thought it fitting to comfort and strengthen the faithful through the abundant relic of the Saint. People quickly understood this and hurried to venerate and pray to him, asking him to intercede with the Lord to help them in their illnesses and life's difficulties.
Therefore, during the feast on December 8th, the great hymnographer Andreas of Crete was also present. The sacred relic was kept in the Church of John the Forerunner. It was the main church of the large monastery, known to all as the Monastery of the Egyptians because it was founded by the ascetic Patapius, who came from Egypt. The holy man, as we will see below, settled in the then-desolate area of Vlaherna, near the sea wall, on the sixth hill of Constantinople.