Patriarch
Born in Damascus to pious parents, he was named Sophronius, which means chastity. From his youth, he aspired to spiritual and external wisdom, studying philosophy and was called a sophist. He sought spiritual benefit by visiting monasteries and deserts, becoming a disciple of the monk John, with whom he recorded the lives of the holy fathers in the book 'Limonar'. After the invasion of the Persians, he left Palestine and went to Antioch, then to Egypt, where he continued his work and fought against heresies. In Alexandria, he described the miracles of the holy martyrs Cyrus and John, receiving healing for his eyes. Later, after the death of Patriarch John the Merciful, he went to Rome and then returned to Jerusalem, where he became patriarch. During his time, the heresy of the Monophysites arose, against which he fought by gathering a local council and condemning this heresy. At the end of his life, during the siege of Jerusalem by the Agarenes, he prayed to God for his soul, so as not to witness the sufferings of Christians. He died and was buried in the Theodosian monastery.
