Hieromartyr3rd century

Hieromartyr Therapon Bishop of Sardis

3rd century

Also known as Therapon of Sardis

A bishop of Sardis in Lydia who brought many of the pagan Greeks to Christ and baptized them, and after grievous scourgings received the crown of martyrdom.

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Commemorated as

The Holy Hieromartyr Therapon, Bishop of Sardis

Life

Therapon was a third-century bishop of Sardis, a city in Lydia in the Roman province of Asia. Tradition records that in the course of his episcopal ministry he drew many of the pagan Greeks of the region to the Christian faith and baptized them, and that this missionary success brought him to the attention of the imperial authorities. Arrested and tried before a governor named Julian, he openly confessed himself a Christian bishop and was condemned to a prolonged martyrdom.

His passion was remembered for the journey of torments to which he was subjected across Asia Minor and for the account that the stakes used to bind him took root and grew into trees with healing properties. The Orthodox Church commemorates him as a hieromartyr on May 27.

Troparion1 hymnReadHide

TroparionTone 4

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 Therapon, entreat Christ God to save our souls. (The Typikon does not prescribe a Kontakion.)

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

Timeline4 momentsReadHide

3rd centuryBishop of SardisTherapon served as bishop of Sardis in Lydia, Asia Minor, and according to the synaxarion brought many of the pagan Greeks of the area to the Christian faith and baptized them.
3rd centuryTrial before the governor JulianBrought to trial before a governor named Julian, he fearlessly declared himself a Christian bishop. He was imprisoned and, by the accounts, left to suffer hunger and thirst before being handed over to torture.
3rd centuryJourney of tormentsThe synaxarion relates that he was led in chains to Sinaion in Phrygia and then to Ancyra, where he was tortured again, before being taken to the River Astala.
c. 259Martyrdom at the River AstalaBy tradition he was stretched naked upon the ground, fastened to four stakes, and beaten until he died. Several sources place his death in the time of the emperor Valerian, about the year 259.

Contributions & Legacy

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Historical Setting

Sardis was the ancient capital of Lydia and an early Christian center; it is named among the seven churches addressed in the Book of Revelation. The surviving notices of Therapon are brief and hagiographic rather than archival, and they describe a missionary bishop active among the Greek population of the region during a period of imperial persecution.

The sources differ slightly on chronology. The OCA synaxarion and OrthodoxWiki place his life broadly in the third century, while other Menaion-derived accounts specify the reign of the emperor Valerian and date his death to about 259. The detailed itinerary of his sufferings — Sardis, Sinaion in Phrygia, Ancyra, and the River Astala, with his contest ending in the area of the Satalia diocese — is preserved in the fuller synaxarion tradition.

Martyrdom and Miracles

Historically Documented: The hagiographic accounts agree that Therapon confessed his episcopal rank before the governor Julian and was subjected to imprisonment, deprivation, and repeated scourging across several cities before his death by beating while bound to four stakes at the River Astala.

Traditional Accounts: The synaxarion relates that the four stakes to which he had been tied, soaked with his blood, put forth green shoots and grew into large trees whose leaves were found to have curative powers, and that many of the sick received healing through them.

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Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints