Saint Spyridon

Life story

Spyridon was born on Cyprus towards the end of the third century, around 270 according to some sources, and worked as a shepherd. He married and had a daughter (named Irene in tradition); when his wife died he entered the clergy. Under the emperor Constantine he was chosen bishop of Trimythous, a city near modern Famagusta, and kept a simple life, with many accounts stressing his hospitality.

Tradition counts him among the bishops at the Council of Nicaea in 325. His Life tells that there he debated a philosopher inclined to Arianism and used a brick to illustrate the Trinity; this is a story from his hagiography, not independent history. Other miracle stories, such as bringing rain in a drought or toppling an idol in Alexandria, are likewise only handed down by tradition. The earliest surviving biographies are seventh-century Lives, such as that by Theodore of Paphos around 655; the poem of his pupil Triphyllius is lost.

In the seventh century, when the Arabs took Cyprus, his body was moved to Constantinople. When that city fell in 1453 a Corfiote monk took the relics out of it; by one account they reached Corfu around 1460 by way of Serbia and Epirus, and they remain in the church of Saint Spyridon there. His right hand was kept in Rome until it was returned to Corfu in 1986. The Eastern churches keep his feast on 12 December, and the West on 14 December.

Works and witness

• Shepherd who became bishop of Trimythous on Cyprus
• By tradition, took part in the Council of Nicaea in 325
• Known for hospitality and helping the poor
• His relics were moved from Cyprus to Constantinople and then Corfu
• Feast on 12 December (East) and 14 December (West)

Saints from the same country

Saint Barnabas, Saint John the Almsgiver, Saint Hilarion, Saint Epiphanius of Salamis

References

• Orthodox Church in America, Lives of the Saints: Saint Spyridon the Wonderworker, Bishop of Tremithus
• Neos Kosmos, Happy name day Spyros and Spyridoula (12 December 2020; relics, Corfu, right hand)
• Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Life of St Spyridon (tyoos.org; Kalochairetis, Epirus, Corfu c.1460)
• Wikipedia, Saint Spyridon (Life by Theodore of Paphos c.655)

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.