Spyridon of Trimythous

Our father among the saints Spyridon of Trimythous was born in Trimythous in Cyprus in 270 AD. He had no education. Like his parents, he was a peasant farmer and shepherd, and even after his wife died and he became Bishop of of Trimythous, he did little to change his humble way of living.

Through simplicity and deep devotion to God, he worked miracles throughout his life and became known as a great wonderworker, calling forth rain in the midst of drought, healing and even raising people from the dead, in addition to having the gift of prescience.

He was present at the First Ecumenical Council of Nicea in 325 AD where he astonished many with his simple explanations of the Orthodox Faith. Though not well-educated, he surprised everyone at the Council of Nicea by converting a famous philosopher to Orthodoxy from Arianism. He explained the unity and diversity of the Trinity by holding up a brick, then commonly thought to be a combination of the elements fire, earth and water; as he spoke, fire blazed from the top of the brick while water gushed out underneath. There too, at Nicea, he met St. Nicholas of Myra, with whom he formed a lasting friendship.

During the Maximilian persecutions he was arrested and exiled. St. Spyridon lived most of his earthly life in Cyprus, where he also reposed in 348 AD and was buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Trimythous.

When the Saracens took the island, the Cypriots opened his grave in order to remove his sacred bones to Constantinople. They found that his body had remained intact, while from the grave emanated a scent of basil, true signs of the sainthood he had shown during his lifetime. When Constantinople fell in 1453, he was transferred to Serbia, then a Corfiot elder, Georgios Kalohairetis, brought him to the island of Corfu in Greece where he is currently burried.

To this day St. Spyridon's incorrupt relics at his shrine in Corfu continue to manifest the power of God, wondrous in His saints. He is called the "walking saint" because the silk slippers which clothe the feet of his relics wear out each year and are replaced on his feast day. He is commemorated by the Church on December 7.