HE was a holy hermit in Bithynia, in the fifth age. In his youth he was
one of the equestrian guards of Theodosius the Younger, but this state
of life, which he discharged with the utmost fidelity to his prince, did
not hinder him from making the service of God his main concern. All his
spare time was spent in solitude and prayer; and he often visited holy
hermits, to spend the nights with them in tears and singing the divine
praises, prostrate on the ground. The fear of vain-glory moved him to
retire to the desert mountain of Oxen, in Bithynia, eight miles from
Constantinople. After the council of Chalcedon, where he appeared upon
summons by order of the emperor Marcian, against Eutyches, he chose a
cell on the mountain of Siope, near Chalcedon, in which he contributed
to the sanctification of many who resorted to him for advice; he
finished his martyrdom of penance, together {416} with his life, about
470. Sozomen commended exceedingly his sanctity while he was yet
living.[1] St. Stephen the Younger caused the church of his monastery to
be dedicated to God, under the invocation of our saint; and mount Siope
is called to this day mount St. Auxentius. See his life, written from
the relation of his disciple Vendimian, with the remarks of Henschenius.
Footnotes:
1. Sozom. l. 7, c. 21.