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| St. Hypatios of Rufinianes |
By John Sanidopoulos
In the 33rd chapter of the Life of Hypatios, which was written around 450 by his disciple Kallinikos, about the abbot of Rufinianes Monastery in Chalcedon in the early fifth century, we read about his attempt to rid Chalcedon of what he considered its final remnant of paganism - the Olympic Games.
The story is as follows: Leontios, the prefect of Constantinople from 434 to 435, decided to establish the Olympic Games at the theater of Chalcedon. When Hypatios heard the news, he wept because he thought that he was going to see the rebirth of idolatry, crying: "My Lord, will I ever see idolatry revive during my lifetime?" Then, he assembled twenty monks and went with them to see Bishop Eulalios. Hypatios announced to the bishop that he was ready to die in the theater before permitting such a return of idolatry. Eulalios did not agree, because they were not obliged to offer sacrifices, and asked Hypatios to keep calm. But the monk replied that if Eulalios did not do anything to hinder the celebration, he would go to the theater with his monks and, when the prefect held the presidency of the games, he would throw him from his podium, even if this assassination meant that Hypatios and his followers would be executed; they preferred to die as martyrs before permitting the rebirth of pagan religion.
