A bishop of Cyprus who suffered martyrdom for Christ; few details of his life are preserved.
The Holy Hieromartyr Therapon, Bishop of Cyprus
Therapon, also rendered Therapontus, was a bishop on the island of Cyprus who is venerated as a hieromartyr. According to the synaxarion tradition, he first pursued the ascetic life in a monastery before being raised to the episcopate, and he is depicted in iconography as a monk. The specific details of his origin and the years of his life have largely been lost; the Orthodox Church in America places his confession and death during the persecution under the emperor Diocletian (284-305), while other accounts note simply that the era is not securely documented.
His memory is preserved chiefly through the later history of his relics, which were celebrated as a source of healing on Cyprus and afterward in Constantinople. He is commemorated on two dates in the church calendar, May 14 and May 25.
By sharing in the ways of the Apostles,
you became a successor to their throne.
Through the practice of virtue, you found the way to divine contemplation, O inspired one of God;
by teaching the word of truth without error, you defended the Faith,
even to the shedding of your blood.
Hieromartyr Therapontus, entreat Christ God to save our souls.
Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).
The accounts of Therapon agree that he embraced monastic asceticism before serving as a bishop in Cyprus, and that he died a martyr's death after confessing Christ. The Orthodox Church in America situates his martyrdom within the Diocletianic persecution of the early fourth century. Other traditions are more cautious, noting that his parentage, origin, and the precise period of his life are unknown and that much of the historical record has been lost to time.
The relics of the hieromartyr were first kept on Cyprus, where they were associated with numerous miracles. By tradition they were translated to Constantinople when the island was threatened with invasion by the Saracens; one account relates that the saint appeared to the guardians of his reliquary and directed that the transfer be made. The Orthodox Church in America dates this translation to the year 806.
The same tradition holds that during the sea voyage myrrh began to flow from the relics and that those aboard the ship were delivered from a storm through prayers to the saint. Upon reaching Constantinople the relics were placed first in a church dedicated to the Icon of the Mother of God of Eleousa, and later in a church dedicated to Therapon himself, where they continued to be venerated as a place of healing.
Therapon is commemorated on both May 14 and May 25. The arrival of his relics in Constantinople is associated with the May 14 observance, while May 25 marks his principal feast in the synaxarion.
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