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- An important church holiday - Memorial Day of Spiridon of Trimiphunt: miracles, what to pray for today
An important church holiday - Memorial Day of Spiridon of Trimiphunt: miracles, what to pray for today
On December 25, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the feast day of St. Spyridon of Trimiphunt. The prayers addressed to him list the miracles that the saint performed during his lifetime. As a rule, to his help and intercession resort to his help and intercession in material difficulties - problems with finding a job, lack of funds for life and so on. What else you can ask the saint and how he is connected with Nicholas the Wonderworker - in the material "Izvestia".
Spyridon of Trimiphunt: a brief biography
Spyridon of Trimiphunt - one of the great saints and hierarchs of the Christian Church in the middle of the IV century. He is honored in Orthodoxy and in Catholicism as a miracle worker. Little is known about his earthly life. It is believed that the saint was born around 270 in Cyprus.
Through his life, Spyridon strove to imitate the Old Testament righteous: David - in meekness, Jacob - in heartfelt kindness, Abraham - in his love for travelers. For his good deeds, God endowed the future saint with the gifts of clairvoyance, healing incurable diseases, exorcising demons and raising the dead.
Icon of Spiridon of Trimiphunt in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior
His family did not belong to the noble class, so from an early age Spiridon worked, he was a shepherd. In his youth he married an honest chaste girl, they had a daughter Irina, whom Spiridon himself baptized. Family life did not last long, soon his wife died. However, after the heavy loss Spyridon did not fall into despondency, but continued to serve God. During the reign of Emperor Constantine the Great and his son Constantius II, St. Spyridon was elected bishop of the Cypriot city of Trimiphunta (now the settlement of Tremetusia). In his person the flock acquired a loving father.
Nikolai Savchenko, a priest of the Church of St. Peter, Metropolitan of Moscow, on Romenskaya Street in St. Petersburg, notes that at that time Christianity was just beginning to gain public recognition.
Church of St. Peter the Metropolitan of Moscow in St. Petersburg
"Everywhere bishops became those servants of the Church who had previously undergone persecution from the pagans or who had shown themselves best in conditions when the Church was still small, persecuted and was just beginning to be filled with the newly baptized as a result of good and heartfelt preaching," the clergyman notes.
According to Church legend, St. Spyridon performed many miracles. Seeing the secret sins of people, the saint called them to repentance and correction. Those who did not heed the voice of conscience and the words of the saint were punished.
According to the hagiography, Spyridon, in his humility, led a simple way of life. He was extremely concerned about the strict observance of church rank and the preservation of the Holy Scriptures in all their inviolability. God revealed to the saint the approach of his death: the saint died about the year 348 while praying. His last words were dedicated to love of God and neighbors. He was buried in the church in honor of the Holy Apostles in Trimithunta.
Parishioners worship the relics of St. Spyridon of Trimiphunte
Because of the Arab invasion of Cyprus at the end of the 7th century, the relics of the saint were transferred to Constantinople. After the capture of the capital of Byzantium by the Turks in 1453, the priest of the temple, George Kaloheteres, took the relics of St. Spyridon and transferred them through Thrace and Macedonia to Epirus. Then in 1456, for the sake of greater safety, he crossed to the island of Corfu (Kerkyra) in the Ionian Sea. The relics of St. Spyridon are still kept there to this day in the Cathedral of St. Spyridon, founded in 1589.
Miracles of Spiridon of Trimiphunt: how St. Spiridon and Nicholas the Wonderworker are connected
Numerous testimonies of miracles performed by Spiridon of Trimiphunt have come down to our days. A number of historians of the IV-V centuries (Socrates Scholasticus, Sozomen, Rufinus of Aquileia) described in detail such of his amazing deeds as the healing of the Roman Emperor Constantius II, the resurrection of his daughter, the attendance of angels, the multiplication of oil, the rescue from execution of a slandered friend, and so on.
Political scientist and religious scholar Alexander Stenko in conversation with "Izvestia" told about the miracle, which is associated with one approaching extremely important event for the whole world Christianity - the upcoming next spring 1700th anniversary of the first Ecumenical Council in Nicea. At this event, organized in 325 by Emperor Constantine, for the first time in history all the key Christian bishops from different parts of Asia, Africa and Europe, including the archpastor of the city of Trimiphunt, St. Spyridon, gathered.
Icon "Ecumenical Council of Nicea"
- During the heated discussions that unfolded at the Council of Nicaea with representatives of the early Christian heretical movement of the Arian (who rejected the divine origin of Jesus Christ and, consequently, the Holy Trinity), he took a brick (according to other sources, a piece of tiled roofing board) in his hands and squeezed it: instantly fire went up out of it, water down, and the clay remained in the hands of the miracle worker. "These are three elements, but the brick is one; so also in the Most Holy Trinity there are three Persons, but the Godhead is one," said Spyridon of Trimiphunt. Thanks to such a visual and miraculous proof, many heretic Arians returned to the confession of the true Christian faith, - said Alexander Stenko.
It is curious that it was at the Ecumenical Council in Nicea that St. Spyridon met for the first and apparently the only time with his outstanding contemporary, a Christian ascetic and another saint fully venerated in the Russian Orthodox Church - Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra.
According to the expert, both miracle-workers not only managed to defend the canonical doctrine at the Council of Nicaea, but also by all their other deeds forever left a trace in world Christianity, as they devoted their lives to preaching the true faith and suffered persecution from the pagans.
It is extremely symbolic that the memory of the two saints in the Russian Orthodox Church is commemorated only a few days apart - December 19 (St. Nicholas the Wonderworker) and December 25 (Spyridon of Trimiphunte). In addition, on some Orthodox icons these saints are even depicted together.
Fragment of a copy of the fresco "St. Nicholas the Wonderworker"
In addition, the life of Spyridon of Trimiphunt describes an incident when the saint had to go to a village where his friend, falsely convicted of a crime and sentenced to execution, lived. Suddenly a stream appeared on the bishop's way, which could not be bypassed. Then the bishop, trusting in the power of God, commanded the water to part, "so that I might cross over and the man for whose sake I was hurrying might be saved."
At the same moment the flow of water stopped, and the saint's path on dry land was opened to him. The witnesses of what had happened immediately went to the judge to warn him of the miracle. After which the judge immediately released the condemned man, and soon Spyridon met his friend.
Another miracle described in the life of Spiridon of Trimiphunt is connected with the restoration of justice. One dishonest merchant refused to lend a poor peasant some grain. The Saint, learning of this, promised that the next day the merchant himself would beg the peasant to take the bread from him for free. During the night a heavy downpour destroyed the barns, so that the morning the merchant went to his neighbors and begged them to take the scattered grain so that it would not be lost.
What pray to Spiridon of Trimiphunt today: strong prayers
Orthodox believers honor the saint as a peaceful, but very strong intercessor and first of all ask him for help in case of material problems. Such a thing is mentioned in the prayer texts dedicated to Spyridon of Trimiphunt.
Alexander Stenko explains this by the fact that even during his earthly life, as numerous descriptions say, the saint was known for his unselfishness: the ascetic gave money to the needy, at the request of the farmers of arid Cyprus after his prayers came rain.
According to most Orthodox opinions, the saint favors everyone who wants to work honestly, so he is asked for support in finding a good job and solving material problems.
A line of parishioners at Christ the Savior Cathedral, where the relics of St. Spyridon of Trimiphunte are located
- But the saint also helps believers in other matters - healing from incurable diseases, overcoming the death of cattle and small horned cattle, getting rid of demon possession," explains the religious scholar.
Christians believe that the saint, who lost his wife early, especially patronizes married couples. Therefore, they pray to Spiridon of Trimiphunt for peace in themselves and help in raising children, singles ask him to arrange a personal life.
Brief prayer to Spyridon of Trimiphunte
O Hierarch of God, St. Spiridon the Wonderworker! I pray you, your servant (name), ask for mercy from our God and Savior Jesus Christ, that through your prayers he may grant me (the content of the petition) and the remission of all my sins. Amen.
Troparion
Thou art the champion and wonderworker of the Council of the First Cathedral,/ Our father, the Theotokos Spyridonos,/ By this thou hast cried out to the dead in the tomb,/ And hast changed the serpent into gold,/ And when thou hast sung holy prayers to thee,/ Thou hast the angels ministering unto thee, O most holy one./ Glory to Him who gave you strength,/ Glory to Him who crowned you,/ Glory to Him who makes you heal all.
Kontakion
Vulnerable to the love of Christ, O most holy one,/ with your mind filled with the dawn of the Spirit,/ with your deed you have found action, O most holy one,/ being the altar of the Godhead,/ asking for the divine radiance of all.
Magnification
We magnify you, O holy Father Spyridon, and honor your holy memory, for you pray for us, O Christ our God.
Schedule of Divine Services on the Feast Day of Spyridon of Trimiphunte
Spyridon of Trimiphunt is considered an extremely important figure for the Christian Church. He began to be honored almost immediately after his repose in 348. Since ancient times, monasteries and temples have been named after the saint in Russia, dozens of which can still be found throughout the country - from Kaliningrad to the town of Susuman in the Magadan region.
In St. Petersburg, a church at the Admiralty and a chapel on Vasilyevsky Island are consecrated in honor of St. Spiridon. Statues of the miracle-worker Spyridon are installed in Donetsk or at the chapel of St. Michael the Archangel in Yalta.
View of the Admiralty
Religious scholar Alexander Stenko notes that the Orthodox ascetic has always been especially honored in Moscow. The first church in honor of the saint was founded in 1633 by personal order of His Holiness Patriarch Philaret of Moscow and All Russia, the father of the first Russian tsar of the Romanov family - Mikhail Fedorovich.
Traditionally in the churches of the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia and abroad on the day of the memory of St. Spyridon, Bishop of Trimiphunt, services dedicated to him are held.
Thus, on the eve of December 25, an evening Divine Liturgy is often held, and on the feast day itself an akathist to the saint and a prayer service are celebrated. In those churches whose heavenly patron saint is the miracle worker Spyridon, separate solemn events are held, called the Feast of the Throne, which include, for example, an all-night vigil with a liturgy and a procession around the church, performed by the clergy and parishioners.
Procession around the church
The schedule of liturgies may vary from church to church. However, most often morning services in Orthodox churches begin at 8:00-10:00 a.m. and evening services begin between 3:00 and 5:00 p.m.
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