History
St. Pantaleon was a famous
Christian doctor, but because he was surrounded by people who did not believe
in Jesus, he eventually gave up his faith. A holy priest talked to him, and
Pantaleon returned to the Church. Unfortunately, that meant he was arrested and
sentenced to die if he would not renounce Jesus. Pantaleon refused to make the
same mistake twice. The soldiers tried to burn him with torches, but a holy
vision appeared to heal Pantaleon and put out the flames. Next, the soldiers
prepared a tub of boiling lead and tried to throw him into it, but the fire
under the pot went out and the lead immediately became cold and solid.
Pantaleon was then tied to a huge stone and thrown into the sea, but the stone
floated. The soliders then imprisoned Pantaleon with wild animals that were
supposed to tear him limb from limb, but the animals acted just like gentle
pets. Then he was tied to a large wheel to be beaten, but the ropes snapped and
the wheel shattered. Finally, one of the soldiers was told to cut off his head,
but the sword bent, and the soldiers became Christians, too.
Activity
It’s hard to imagine having as much
faith as Saint Pantaleon did when he was being persecuted. Today, the kind of
persecution we face as Christians is a lot less scary. We might get made fun of
or insulted, but we probably won’t be tied to a big rock and thrown into the
sea. Still, it can be hard to stand up for Jesus when people are being mean to
us. Pray that God will give you and your whole family the strength to withstand
persecution.
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