Saint Narcissus Bishop of Jerusalem

Slander and Withdrawal

According to the tradition recorded by Eusebius, Narcissus was the object of grave accusations brought against him by men of evil life. To lend their charges weight, the accusers bound themselves with oaths, calling down calamities upon themselves should they be found liars. The accusations could not be substantiated, and the tradition relates that the false witnesses were afterward overtaken by judgment, each suffering the very evils he had invoked.

Rather than contend further, Narcissus withdrew from the city and lived for several years in solitude in the desert. His disappearance was so sudden that many supposed he had died, and during his absence the see was administered by others. In time he returned to Jerusalem, to the joy of his people, and resumed the governance of his flock.

The Miracle of Water and Oil

The wonder for which Narcissus is best remembered occurred on the eve of Pascha, when the deacons found that no oil had been provided for the lamps of the church. By tradition Narcissus directed that water be drawn and brought to him; he blessed it, and when it was poured into the lamps it burned as though it were oil. The account is among the miracles attributed to him in the synaxarion as evidence of the gift of wonders he received.

Old Age and Repose

Narcissus reached an extreme age—the tradition reports him to have been well over a hundred years old. Because the burden of his years made the full administration of the church difficult, Alexander, who had himself confessed the faith in chains, was joined to him as coadjutor bishop and continued the see after him. Narcissus reposed in great old age in the early third century.