May 12 - Saint Epiphanius of Salamis
Quick Facts- Hellenized Jew, and convert to Christianity.
- Fluent in five languages, and extensively studied in theology and the classics.
- Monk in several communities in Egypt, returning to Palestine in 333.
- Priest.
- As a young man he founded a monastery at Eleutheropolis (Beth-Saddouk), and lived there as a monk for 30 years, serving as its superior.
- Bishop of Constantia and Metropolitan of Cyprus in 367 while remaining in his monastery.
- Fought Origenism and Arianism.
- Friend of Saint Jerome, but opponent of Saint John Chrystotom whom he found insufficiently orthodox.
- Brilliant speaker, he sometimes let his ability go to his head, and his confrontational approach got in the way of persuading his opponents.
- Doctor of the Church.
- He was an authority on Marian devotions, and his writings include a Bible dictionanary, and The Medicine Box, a huge work which cataloged and refuted eighty heresies of his day.
