In the Hospital there is the Holy Church of St. Panteleimon, in which Holy Liturgy is held every Sunday morning and during the major holidays of the year (Christmas, Holy Week)
The church is located on the first floor of the Theagenion Church.
As the story of the saint’s life goes:
“Saint Panteleimon was born in Nicomedia, at the end of the 3rd century AD. His father was Eustorgios and his mother was Euvoulis. The name his parents gave him was Pantoleon. His father was a pagan while his mother was a Christian.
The Saint was orphaned by his mother at a young age. After learning his first letters, he was taught Greek, and then his father sent him to apprentice the science of medicine to the well-known physician Euphrosyne. His mother’s Christian admonitions were replaced after her death by the admonitions of St. Hermolaus, who at that time was a priest of the Christian church in Nicomedia. St. Panteleimon, raised in a home where pagan and Christian faiths coexisted, had not chosen which one to believe in. One day, and while still studying medicine, he saw a snake biting a child on the street he was walking along, and immediately the child fell dead. The saint then thought that if Christ resurrected the child and the snake died, he would become a Christian himself. And so he did. Before his eyes, the child was resurrected and the snake disappeared. The Saint then understood what true faith is and ran to St. Hermolaus to report what happened and ask him to baptize him as a Christian. St. Hermolaus baptized him and taught him the mysteries of the Christian faith.
St. Panteleimon, with the help of Jesus Christ and prayer, began to heal his fellow citizens, and as a result, his reputation grew steadily among the people of Nicomedia. After a miracle he performed in his father’s home, wherewith the help of prayer he was able to give light to a blind man, he also convinced his pagan father to be baptized a Christian and live the rest of his life in Christ. When his father died, St. Panteleimon distributed his property to the poor and continued to heal the sick with the help of prayer. The only reward he asked for was that the healed be baptized Christians.
This action made the other doctors in the region hate him and make accusations to Maximianus, who was king at that time. Maximian, a pagan himself, sided with them and called St. Panteleimon to appear before him to change his faith and make him a pagan. Having failed with words, he subjected him to cruel tortures, hoping that this would get him what he wanted. The Saint, through constant prayer, not only endured these tortures, but at the end of each torture, he was unharmed. Maximian, instead of believing after the miracles he saw happening before him, became more convinced. Finally, he put St. Hermolaus to death, holding him responsible for St. Panteleimon’s faith, and ordered the Saint’s beheading. During the beheading, another miracle occurred. The sword with which the Saint was to be beheaded was bent like a candle. The soldiers believed in the grace of Jesus Christ and refused to put St. Panteleimon to death.
The Saint prayed and then a voice came from heaven saying that from now on, he would not be called Pantoleon but Panteleimon and Christians would pray to him asking for mercy. After this miracle and at the request of the Saint himself, his execution took place. The Saint surrendered his spirit while the soldiers became Christians and began to proclaim the word of Jesus Christ.”
We celebrate the memory of Saint Panteleimon on July 27.