Commemoration of Saints (March 21)

Solemnities, Feasts, Obligatory and Optional Memorials, and Traditional Dates of Commemoration

• Serapion, bishop
• Enda, abbot [1]

St. Serapion (d. ca. 370 A.D.) became head of the catechetical school in Alexandria. He also became a hermit in the desert where he became friends with St. Anthony of Egypt. From his place in the desert, he was called to be bishop of Thumis, Lower Egypt.

He accomplished these significant works:

• he actively supported St. Athanasius in the fight against Arianism
• he attended the Council of Sardis in 347 A.D.
• aside from Arianism, he also fought against the Manichaeans
• he wrote a treatise against Manichaeanism and also on the Psalms
• he wrote the Eucholocium, a Sacramentary

St. Serapion may have died in exile because of his fight against Arianism and his support of St. Athanasius in their opposition to that heresy [2].

Saints in the Byzantine Calendar [March 21]

• Jacob, Bishop and Confessor [2]

There are little sources online on St. Jacob, Bishop and Confessor. A search on Microsoft Bing for the search query "Venerable Jacob the Confessor (James the Confessor), Bishop, of the Studion" has a link which shows websites and images referring to St. Jacob the Confessor: Oca.org, Byzantinela.com, En.Wikipedia.org, Orthodoxtimes.com [3]

References: Books, Websites & AI Search Results

• [1] Pocket Catholic Dictionary, John A. Hardon
• [2] Dictionary of Saints, John J. Delaney
• [3] Search results for search query "Venerable Jacob the Confessor...", Microsoft Bing.com, March 21, 2025