Venerable Zenon of Cappadocia

Zenon or Zeno (Ancient Greek: Ζήνων; mid-4th century – c. 418) was a Christian ascetic, a Syrian hermit, and a saint. Information about Zeno’s life is provided by Theodoret of Cyrus in chapter 12 of his book, A History of the Monks of Syria. Zeno was born in Pontus to a wealthy family. There, he received lessons in Christian piety; as Theodoret writes, quoting Zeno himself, he was "watered by the springs of Basil the Great." He served in the army of Emperor Valens, where he was responsible for the rapid delivery of letters. Immediately after the death of Emperor Valens in 378, Zeno left military service and moved from the imperial palaces into a tomb located on a mountain near Antioch. There, Zeno engaged in divine contemplation and lived in voluntary poverty: he had no soft bed, sleeping instead on hard stones barely covered with straw and debris; he possessed no hearth, pot, pitcher, or books. His clothing was a tattered rag, and his footwear was so worn that he had to tie on the soles, which kept falling off. He received his food—one small loaf of bread every two days—from an acquaintance, while he carried his own water from a distant spring. Theodoret first visited the hermit’s cell and spoke with him while he was still a reader. On Sundays, Zeno went to the church to pray and receive communion. Zeno’s cell had neither a bolt nor a lock, was unguarded, and contained nothing but refuse. Zeno would borrow books from friends one at a time; he would read the entire book and only after returning it would he take another. Zeno had left behind a rich estate in his homeland. Furthermore, he had underage brothers with whom he had to divide the inheritance left by their parents. For a long time, Zeno was burdened by the possession of this wealth, yet he did not wish to leave his monastic cell to travel home. He was also afraid to entrust the sale of the inheritance to others, fearing they would sell it for a pittance and leave his brothers with nothing.