Saint Spyridon, Bishop in Cyprus

Spyridon, bishop of Trimithus in Cyprus, flourished at this time. To show his virtues, I think the fame that still surrounds him is enough. The wonderful works he did with God’s help are, it seems, well known to the people who live in that region. I will not hide what has come to my knowledge. [a]

He was a farmer, married, with children, yet he was not for that reason lacking in spiritual attainments. It is told that one night some wicked men got into his sheepfold and were in the act of stealing his sheep when they were suddenly bound, though no one had bound them. The next day, when he went to the fold, he found them tied fast and set them free from their invisible bonds. He scolded them for choosing to steal what they could lawfully have earned and taken, and for going to so much trouble by night. Yet he felt sorry for them, and wishing to teach them so as to lead them to a better life, he said to them, “Go, and take this ram with you. You are worn out from staying awake, and it is not right that your labor should be so ill rewarded that you go home from my sheepfold empty-handed.”

This deed is well worth admiring, but no less so is the one I will tell next. A man left something valuable in the keeping of Spyridon’s daughter, a virgin named Irene. To keep it safer, she buried it. It so happened that she died soon afterward without telling anyone about it. The owner of the deposit came to ask for it. Spyridon did not know what to answer him, so he searched the whole house for it. When he could not find it, the man wept, tore his hair, and seemed ready to die. Spyridon, moved with pity, went to the grave and called the girl by name. When she answered, he asked her about the deposit. Having learned what he needed, he went back, found the treasure in the place she had told him, and gave it to its owner. Since I have taken up this subject, it may not be out of place to add the following story as well.

It was Spyridon’s custom to give a certain share of his produce to the poor, and to lend another share without interest to anyone who wanted it. But neither in giving nor in taking back did he hand anything out or receive anything himself. He simply pointed out the storehouse and told those who came to him to take as much as they needed, or to put back what they had borrowed. A certain man who had borrowed in this way came as if to repay. When, as usual, he was told to put back his loan in the storehouse, he saw an opportunity to cheat. Thinking that no one would know, he did not pay off the debt. He falsely pretended to have settled what he owed, and went away as though he had made the repayment. But this could not stay hidden for long. Some time later the man came back to borrow again, and was sent to the storehouse with leave to measure out for himself as much as he needed. Finding the storehouse empty, he went to tell Spyridon, who said to him, “I wonder, my man, how it is that you alone have found the storehouse empty, without the things you need. Think whether you paid back the first loan, now that you are in need a second time. If you had, you would not be short of what you are looking for. Go, trust, and you will find.” The man felt the rebuke and admitted his wrongdoing. [b]

The firmness and the strictness of this godly man in managing the affairs of the church also deserve admiration. It is said that on one occasion afterward the bishops of Cyprus met to consult about some urgent matter. Spyridon was there, and so was Triphyllius, bishop of the Ledri, an eloquent man in other respects, who had lived alone at Berytus because of his practice of law. When the assembly had gathered, Triphyllius was asked to address the people. In the middle of his sermon he had occasion to quote the text, “Take up your bed and walk,” and he put the word “couch” in place of the word “bed.” Spyridon was indignant and exclaimed, “Are you greater than he who said ‘bed,’ that you are ashamed to use his words?” When he had said this, he turned away from the priest’s throne and looked toward the people. By doing so he taught them to keep within bounds a man who is proud of his eloquence. And he was a fit man to give such a rebuke, for he was revered and most famous for his works, and at the same time he was that presbyter’s senior both in age and in the priesthood. [d]

How Spyridon welcomed strangers can be seen from the following incident. During the Forty Days, a traveler on a journey happened to come to visit him on one of the days on which it was his custom to keep an unbroken fast with his household; and on the day set for taking food, he would go without eating until midday. Seeing that the stranger was very tired, Spyridon said to his daughter, “Come, wash his feet and set food before him.” The young woman answered that there was neither bread nor barley meal in the house, since it would have been pointless to lay in such things during the fast. Spyridon first prayed and asked forgiveness. Then he told her to cook some salted pork that happened to be in the house. When it was ready, he sat down at table with the stranger, ate some of the meat, and told him to follow his example. But when the stranger declined, saying that he was a Christian, Spyridon said to him, “That is the very reason you ought not to refuse the meat. For the divine word shows that to the pure all things are pure.” These are the things I had to tell about Spyridon. [f]