Conon of Naso

Conon was born on June 3, 1139, and spent his life in Naso, Sicily, where he became a Basilian monk and eventually abbot, guiding his community in prayer, discipline, and charity. Tradition remembers him as a man deeply attentive to God’s voice and to the spiritual welfare of others. During a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Conon received a striking vision of a priest he knew being suffocated by a snake. On returning home, he sought the priest out, and with humble courage spoke of what he had seen; the priest confessed to misusing church funds, and Conon gently led him to repentance and reform. Another beloved story tells of Conon healing a Sicilian boy suffering from apoplexy, strengthening the people’s trust in his intercession. Long after his death on March 28, 1236, the town of Naso continued to invoke him as its patron. In 1571, during a terrible famine, the people prayed to him, and he was said to have appeared to a ship captain who brought grain, saving the town. Saint Conon is honored as patron of Naso and San Cono. His feast day is March 28.