Saint Spyridon of Cyprus
Also known as
- Spyridon of Corfu
- Spyridon of Korfu
- Spyridon of Kerkyra
- Spyridon of Tremithus
- Spyridon of Trimithon
- Spyridon of Trimitonte
- Spyridon the Wonder Worker
- Spyridon Thaumaturgos
- Spiridion…
- Spiridione…
- 12 December
- 14 December on some calendars
- 11 August (Corfu)
Profile
Known as a pious youth as he grew up on Cyprus. Shepherd. Married, and father one of daughter. Both his wife and daughter became nuns, and he became a monk at Mount Carmel.
Bishop of Tremithus, Cyprus. Spiritual teacher of Saint Tryphillius of Leucosia. Fought Arianism. During the persecution of Galerus, his right eye was torn out, his left calf cut off, and he was sent to forced labor in the Spanish mines. The Edict of Milan eventually freed him, and allowed him to return to his see, and attended the Council of Nicaea and Council of Sardica.
Legend says that he once ordered a gold ingot to resume its true form; it immediately turned into a serpent.
Another time, while listening to a deacon read Scripture, he saw that the lector was using his speaking ability to draw attention to himself, not the word of God. He silenced the deacon who immediately developed a stammer, understood his error, and lost all desire for people to notice his diction.
Converted a prominent philosopher by using a chunk of pottery to explain the Christian concept of the trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit, unified but distinct). He explained that pottery is made of the three elements of earth, fire, and water, and yet is unified into a single object. During this mini-lesson, water flowed from the bottom of the shard as fire miraculously billowed from the top – hence his patronage of potters.
Born
- c.348 of natural causes
- incorrupt corpse
- wearing a pointed cap
- shepherd standing in a sarcophogus
- shepherd‘s cloak
- holding a barb or awl or something similarly pointed referring to the gouging out of his eye
MLA Citation
- “Saint Spyridon of Cyprus“. CatholicSaints.Info. 25 December 2023. Web. 27 April 2024. <>