Saint Ascholios, Bishop of Thessaloniki (✝383)

St. Ascholios of Thessaloniki (Feast Day - January 23);

Icon depicts All Saints of Thessaloniki

Our Holy Father Ascholios (or Acholios) was from Caesarea in Cappadocia (some believe he was from the Peloponnese (Achaia) because there is a reference to him having lived as a monastic there as a boy by Ambrose of Milan, but this is unlikely since monasticism was not established at that time in the Peloponnese, though he may have indeed been a solitary as a boy). Not much else is known of his life until he was appointed Bishop of Thessaloniki by Pope Damasius of Rome, who established the vicariate attached to the Roman see in order to preserve Rome's jurisdiction over the eastern part of Illyria. This was during the time when the Archbishop of Constantinople was trying to enlarge his jurisdiction, since Constantinople was now the capital of the Roman Empire.*

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