Ascetic Life
Baradates lived as a desert-dweller in the Diocese of Cyrrhus in Syria, in a region near Antioch. By tradition he first dwelt in a small hut, then built for himself a cell of stone upon a hill, so cramped and low that he could stand within it only in a stooped position.
The cell had neither window nor door, so that wind, rain, and cold passed in through its cracks; in this enclosure he endured the heat of summer and the cold of winter alike. Accounts of his life describe a habit of leather or animal skins that left exposed only his mouth and nose.
He sustained himself on whatever came to hand and gave every possible moment to prayer. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, who recorded the lives of the ascetics of his diocese, called him "the admirable Baradates" and esteemed him for a learning that extended to theological matters.