St. Philogonius was brought up to the law, and made a considerable figure at the bar, being admired for his eloquence, and still more for the purity of his manners and the sanctity of his life. This was a sufficient motive for dispensing with the canons, which require some time spent among the clergy before a person be advanced to the highest station in the church Philogonius was placed in the see of Antioch upon the death of Vitalis in 318, and St. Chrysostom mentions the flourishing state of that church in his time, as an authentic proof of his zeal and excellent administration. When Arius broached his blasphemies at Alexandria in 318, St. Alexander condemned him, and sent the sentence in a synodal letter to St. Philogonius who strenuously defended the Catholic faith before the assembly of the council of Nice. In the storms which were raised against the church, first by Maximin II., and afterwards by Licinius, St. Philogonius deserved the title of Confessor: he died in the year 322, the fifth of his episcopal dignity. His festival was celebrated at Antioch on the 20th of December, in the year 386, in which St. Chrysostom pronounced his panegyric, touching lightly on his virtues, because, as he says, he left the detail of them to his bishop Flavian, who was to speak after him.

St. Chrysostom extols in the most amiable terms the overflowing peace which this saint now enjoys in a state of bliss, where there are no conflicts, no irregular passions, no more of that cold word, mine and shine