Feastday: March 28While praying in church, Conon, a Basilian monk of Naso, Sicily, resolved to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. In the Holy Land, he experienced a vision of a serpent coiling itself around the throat of a certain priest. At once Conon went to the priest and related the vision as a warning to him. The priest confessed to Conon that he had hoarded money for himself. Conon persuaded him to give all his riches to the poor. After returning to Sicily, Conon healed a boy afflicted with apoplexy. In 1571, over three centuries after Conon's death, the city of Naso was stricken with a famine resulting from stormy weather that had prevented both the harvesting of the grain crop and the import of provisions by ship. The people thereupon invoked the intercession of Conon. As a sea captain was preparing to sail with a load of grain from a Sicilian port, Conon appeared to him in a vision and asked him to change his destination to a port near Naso. Torn between his fear of the rough seas and his reverential fear of the vision, the skipper in the end did as Conon had asked and completed the voyage safely. The grain from his ship reached Naso, ending the famine.
Patron: of Naso, Italy
Birth: 1139
Death: 1236
Jewelry Sale 15% OFF
FREE Shipping over $60
Conon (3 June 1139 – 28 March 1236) was a Basilian abbot at Naso, Sicily.
Religious life
A famous tale from the life of Conon tells that he made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and whilst there he received a vision. In this vision, Conon witnessed a priest he knew being suffocated by a snake. Having returning from the Holy Land, he went directly to this priest and told him what he had seen. The priest at once confessed to Conon that he was taking church funds and keeping them for himself. Conon then persuaded his fellow priest to change his ways. Another tale tells of how Conon healed a Sicilian boy of his apoplexy.
Legacy and veneration
In 1571, Naso was in the midst of a dire famine. The people of the city prayed for the intercession of Conon, their patron. Conon then appeared to a ship captain, who brought grain to Naso, and thus the people of Naso survived the famine.
