Physician and miracle worker. The cult of Saint Sampson the Xenodochos and his images in eastern Orthodox medieval painting
Authors: Starodubcev Tatjana 
Published: March 2016

Saint Sampson, whose feast is celebrated on June 27, was depicted among holy
physicians. However, his images were not frequent. He was usually
accompanied with Saint Mokios (in Saint Sophia in Kiev, the Transfiguration
church in the Mirozh monastery and the church of the Presentation of the
Holy Virgin in the Temple in the monastery of Saint Euphrosyne; possibly
also in Saint Panteleimon in Nerezi and Saint Demetrios in the village of
Aiani near Kozani; furthermore, in the church of Saint Nicholas in Manastir
and, afterwards, in the katholikon of the Vatopedi monastery). In a later
period, he was usually shown in the vicinity of Saint Diomedes (in the
churches of Saint Achillius in Arilje, Saint George in the village Vathiako
on Crete, Saint Nicholas Orphanos in Thessaloniki, the Annunciation in
Gracanica, the narthexes of the Hilandar katholikon and the church of the
Holy Virgin in the monastery of Brontocheion at Mistra, the katholicon of
the Pantokrator monastery and the church of Saint Demetrios in Markov
Manastir). There are no substantial data regarding the identity of the
saints depicted next to him in the metropolitan Church of Saint Demetrios at
Mistra, while in a number of cases the image of the saint shown next to him
has not been preserved (e.g. Saint Irene in the village of Agios Mamas on
Crete, Gregory?s Gallery in the church of Saint Sophia in Ohrid and the
church of the Holy Virgin (Panagia Kera) near the village Chromonastiri on
Crete). On the other hand, in the church of the Holy Virgin in Mateic, Saint
Sampson is, exceptionally, depicted among bishops, while in the church of
the Holy Archangels in Prilep and the chapel of the Holy Anargyroi in
Vatopedi, he is, as usual, surrounded by holy physicians but his mates are
not featured - neither Saint Mokios, not Saint Diomedes. The earliest known
commemorative text dedicated to him is the extensive hagiography - Vita
Sampsonis I, composed in the seventh or the early eighth century. Other
hagiographies, which mostly date from the tenth century, are completely
based on the earlier writing. Such a composition can be found in the
Synaxarion of the Church of Constantinople. In the extensive text (Vita
Sampsonis II), Symeon Metaphrastes added a part that included detailed
descriptions of a number of posthumous miracles, mostly healings; all these
events are also mentioned in the short Hagiography. Finally, in the late
thirteenth century, Constantine Akropolites wrote the still unpublished
Hagiography (Vita Sampsonis III), in which he presented an account of events
from the later history of the Saint?s hospital. The hagiographies inform us
that Sampson was a Roman by birth and a kin of Emperor Constantine. He
inherited a fortune, which he distributed to the poor. Then, he departed for
Constantinople, where he found a modest home. Patriarch Menas ordained him a
priest. Relying on the medical knowledge, Sampson was saving the sick and he
even cured Emperor Justinian from an incurable disease. For that reason, the
Emperor found a large house, in which he established and fully equipped a
xenon (hospital, ?????), whereas Sampson was appointed as the skeuophylax of
the Great Church. The Blessed continued to work there until his death. His
venerable leipsana, which rested in the church of Saint Mokios, constantly
issued the cures. His feast was celebrated in the hospital founded by him.
Long time had passed between the period in which the Saint had lived and the
epoch in which his earliest hagiography was compiled. During that time, some
events could have fallen into oblivion and accounts of other events could
have been invented. Accordingly, the results of the researchers of Saint
Sampson?s xenon?s history are valuable. The hospital was housed in Sampson?s
home, where he provided not only health care, but also food and bed. It was
presumably founded in the fourth century. The xenon was burned in the Nika
riots in 532 and Emperor Justinian had it renovated and expanded. Based on
some documents issued in the Empire of Nicaea, it may be concluded that the
xenon had vast estates. The Crusaders first sacked it, to subsequently use
it for their own needs, as they established the Order of Saint Sampson. The
hospital soon received many properties in Constantinople and its environs,
Hungary and Flanders. It seems that after the liberation of Constantinople,
the activities of Saint Sampson?s hospital were ceased and that there was a
monastery at its place in the Palaiologan period. Anyway, the reputation of
its holy founder persisted throughout the thirteenth century. Constantine
Akropolites wrote the already mentioned Hagiography, and in one of his
letters he spoke of the Saint, who was also mentioned in a poem by Manuel
Philes (died around 1345). In Constantinople, the veneration of Saint
Sampson had two centres - the hospital named after him and the church of
Saint Mokios, where his leipsana rested. According to the synaxaria of the
Typikon of the Great Church and the Church of Constantinople, the feast
dedicated to the Saint was celebrated at his xenon. The former text informs
us that the service was held by the Patriarch, whereas Symeon Metaphrastes
relates that the vigil on the eve of the feast took place over the relics in
the church of Saint Mokios. The Patriarch celebrated the feast dedicated to
Saint Sampson with hospital clergy in the church within the xenon, both
mentioned by Metaphrastes. It was either this church or a shrine from a
later period that housed the iconostasis noted down by Constantine Stilbes,
an eyewitness of the Latin capture of the Byzantine capital. Written sources
and archaeological finds are consistent in that the hospital was located
between the churches of Saint Sophia and Saint Irene. However, the first
excavations carried out at the site of the xenon were not properly
documented, whereas archaeologists involved in further investigations could
not rely on reliable data, though they carefully examined all finds. The
question arises why Saint Sampson was at first usually depicted in the
company of Saint Mokios, a presbyter who died a martyr?s death in
Constantinople (May 11), and later, together with Saint Diomedes, the
physician who died in Nicaea (August 16). Therefore, this paper briefly
presents the hagiographies of the two saints and the churches in the
Byzantine capital where their relics rested - the monastery of Saint Mokios,
which did not exist in the mid-fourteenth century, and Saint Diomedes, which
was counting its last days in the fourteenth century, reduced to a small
monastery. Dobrynja Jadrejkovic (subsequently Antony, archbishop of
Novgorod) noted down around 1200 that the saint?s stick, epitrachelion and
robes were kept at the hospital of Saint Sampson, whereas in the church of
Saint Mokios, under the altar, rested Saint Mokios and Saint Sampson. He
also mentioned that water flew from the latter?s grave, as well as that the
church of Saint Diomedes was near the Golden Gate and that the relics of
Saint Diomedes rested there. However, the Russian pilgrims who visited
Constantinople during the Palaiologan period mentioned neither Saint
Sampson?s hospital, not the church of Saint Mokios, whereas the church of
Saint Diomedes, but not his relics, was noted down only by an unknown
traveller who described the pilgrimage undertaken between the late 1389 and
the early 1391. The answer to the question of what happened to the leipsana
that once laid in these churches is not possible to provide. The fate of the
relics of Saint Sampson, previously kept in his xenon, is not known, nor is
it known where the commemorations of the three saints were held in the
capital during the Palaiologan period. Anyway, the depictions of Saint
Sampson accompanied by Saint Diomedes - whose oldest examples are preserved
in Arilje - indicate that the connection of these two priest-physicians had
already begun by the time when the church was painted (1295/1296), but,
judging by the available sources, the only evidence on the process is given
by the paintings. Although Saint Sampson founded the hospital which was
probably the oldest in Constantinople, and though his leipsana, kept in the
church of Saint Mokios, had healing powers, while his relics in the xenon
were visited by pilgrims, it seems that the respect for this saint in the
Byzantine capital was not reflected in the frequency of his images among
holy physicians: he was fairly rarely shown among them. As a matter of fact,
the earliest representations of Saint Sampson originated from
Constantinople. They can be found on lead seals made for the hospital in the
second half of the sixth and during the seventh century. On the other hand,
there is no any known preserved depiction of this saint in the mural
decoration of the early churches. Accordingly, it may be assumed that the
veneration of Saint Sampson was initially limited to Constantinople, and
that it was only later, since the time when his short hagiography was
included in the synaxarium and his extensive hagiography was written for the
Metaphrastes?s comprehensive work, that it was adopted in other areas of the
East Christian world. It may seem paradoxical that the preserved images of
the Saint dating from the period when his xenon flourished are less numerous
than those from the time when the hospital, in all probability, did not
exist. It seems that after the liberation of Constantinople from Latin rule,
Saint Sampson was earnestly honoured and that the believers frequented the
monastery at the site of the old xenon, though the hospital did not exist
anymore. The former assumption is corroborated by the writings of
Constantine Akropolites and Manuel Philes, whereas the latter is supported
by the coins from the Palaiologan period found in the sacral building within
the complex that once belonged to Saint Sampson?s hospital. Although his
miraculous leipsana rested in the church of Saint Mokios, the posthumous
miracles of Saint Sampson, described in later hagiographies, mostly took
place in his xenon, which housed the relics that were visited by pilgrims
and where commemorative services dedicated to him were held. The veneration
of the Saint was long fostered within the institution founded by him - the
ancient hospital where trained doctors worked - i.e. it was nurtured between
the reputation of medical skills based on secular knowledge and miraculous
healings.