By Dr. George Kakkouras
Information about Saint Thyrsos, unfortunately, is scarce.1 These mainly come from the well-known manuscript of Monk Akakios of Karpasia and the Service of the Saint, which is the work of the same Akakios.
Akakios says the following about this lack of information: "Like Saint Philon, the Bishop of Karpasia, where he performed so many miracles, and they are not seen recorded, and like Saint Synesios, who was also a hierarch of Karpasia, whose life cannot be found in any book, or printed, or handwritten manuscript to be seen, and we only have it by word of mouth."2 Likewise little information is provided by the living local tradition concerning Saint Thyrsos.
Saint Thyrsos in the local dialect is also called Therissos. When he lived is unknown, though he is remembered as the third Bishop of Karpasia after the other two well-known and famous bishops of Karpasia, Philon and Synesios.
The Saint must have lived in the Byzantine years. In the Church of Saint George of Sakka in Gialousa, a fragment of a fresco of a hierarch is preserved, which probably belongs to Saint Thyrsos, since the last four letters are "RSOS". This fresco has been dated to the end of the 11th and beginning of the 12th century.3
The oldest known portable icon of the Saint is the one that was in the iconostasis of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Rizokarpaso and is the work of Bishop Ioannikios I of Kitios (1679/80-1704).4
This story is also found in the Synaxarion of Saint Thyrsos by Akakios:
"Today's saint was a hierarch, as can be seen from his holy icons, and as testified by the most-holy high priest of Larnaca Ioannikios, because in the one thousandth and six hundred and eighty years after Christ, in a village called Gialousa, there was only one priest in the church of the saint, who they called Papademetrios.
This man, because of the great reverence he had for the saint, decided to paint an icon of him. And hearing that this Ioannikios was an excellent painter in the art, he went to him, and asked him to make him an icon of the saint mentioned above, and the high priest answered him and said, 'Is it a martyr, or a venerable, or a hierarch?' And the priest answered him, "I don't know for sure, holy master, what he is.'
And the high priest said to him, 'Be patient, my child, and God, who knows all things, will reveal the truth to us.'
And so, that high priest, praying all night long, said, 'Lord Jesus Christ my God, who knows all things before they come into being, show me Your servant the truth.'
Thus praying the whole night, the priest also went up in haste, and having seen him the high priest said to the priest, 'My son, this is the high priest of Karpasia.' And so, taking the things he needed, he painted for him a most sublime and beautiful icon. It was, as they say, this high priest, very virtuous."5
As it is mentioned in the Service of the Saint, Thyrsos was "the most beautiful native of Karpasia and a most wondrous fellow-citizen of the Karpasians,"6 a phrase that indicates the origin of the Saint. Thyrsos with love and faith followed Christ and joined the ranks of the clergy. Because of his virtuous and ascetic life, he was found worthy by the people of God in Karpasia to pastor this diocese.
The Bishop of Karpasia Thyrsos, when he resigned from his episcopal throne, "went a little far from his diocese, and became an ascetic where his church is now."7 He lived in asceticism in a cave and for this reason he is also called "the Anchorite".
His ascetic cave was located between Rizokarpaso and Gialousa, near the site of Mahairiona.
"Today's saint was a hierarch, as can be seen from his holy icons, and as testified by the most-holy high priest of Larnaca Ioannikios, because in the one thousandth and six hundred and eighty years after Christ, in a village called Gialousa, there was only one priest in the church of the saint, who they called Papademetrios.
This man, because of the great reverence he had for the saint, decided to paint an icon of him. And hearing that this Ioannikios was an excellent painter in the art, he went to him, and asked him to make him an icon of the saint mentioned above, and the high priest answered him and said, 'Is it a martyr, or a venerable, or a hierarch?' And the priest answered him, "I don't know for sure, holy master, what he is.'
And the high priest said to him, 'Be patient, my child, and God, who knows all things, will reveal the truth to us.'
And so, that high priest, praying all night long, said, 'Lord Jesus Christ my God, who knows all things before they come into being, show me Your servant the truth.'
Thus praying the whole night, the priest also went up in haste, and having seen him the high priest said to the priest, 'My son, this is the high priest of Karpasia.' And so, taking the things he needed, he painted for him a most sublime and beautiful icon. It was, as they say, this high priest, very virtuous."5
As it is mentioned in the Service of the Saint, Thyrsos was "the most beautiful native of Karpasia and a most wondrous fellow-citizen of the Karpasians,"6 a phrase that indicates the origin of the Saint. Thyrsos with love and faith followed Christ and joined the ranks of the clergy. Because of his virtuous and ascetic life, he was found worthy by the people of God in Karpasia to pastor this diocese.
The Bishop of Karpasia Thyrsos, when he resigned from his episcopal throne, "went a little far from his diocese, and became an ascetic where his church is now."7 He lived in asceticism in a cave and for this reason he is also called "the Anchorite".
His ascetic cave was located between Rizokarpaso and Gialousa, near the site of Mahairiona.
When he reposed peacefully, the pious inhabitants of the area buried the ascetic body of Saint Thyrsos in his cave. During the 14th-15th century, a chapel dedicated to the Saint was built over the cave and the tomb. Holy Water then began to spring up in the cave.8
The Holy Water is believed to have healing properties, especially for skin diseases and eye diseases, which should be connected with one of the two miracles of the Saint, described by Akakios.
This well-known miracle, according to Akakios, is as follows:
"And it is necessary to write a few miracles which he did and is doing to the glory of God... There was a Christian whose eyes were in pain for a long time, until... they could not see completely. And not having anything for the poor man to do about it, he made an offering, and candles, and incense, and he invited a priest, and they went and performed the liturgy in the morning... and he saw the place clearly, as before when he was healthy, and he glorified God, and thanked the saint."9
On July 23rd, the Saint's feast day,10 a local festival is held in the town of Gialousa, during which the faithful come reverently to invoke the help of their beloved Saint Therissos.
Notes:
1. Βλ. Σπυριδάκι, «Εισαγωγή», σσ. κε’-κζ’. Ταουσιάνη. Ἡ ἐπισκοπὴ Καρπασίας, σσ. 125-130. Γεωργίου, «Η επισκοπή Καρπασίας από την ίδρυσή της έως τα μέσα του ΙΓ’ αιώνα», σσ. 135-136.
2. Κ.Σ. σ. 67.
3. Αθ. Παπαγεωργίου. «Γεωργίου Αγίου του Σακκά εκκλησία, Γιαλούσα». Μεγάλη Κυπριακή Εγκυκλοπαίδεια, τ. 4. Λευκωσία 1986, σσ. 54-55.
4. Χατζηχριστοδούλου, «Οι άγιοι της Καρπασίας στην Τέχνη», σσ. 408- 409.
5. Κ.Σ. σσ. 67-68.
6. Στο ίδιο, σ. 56.
7. Στο ίδιο, σ. 68.
8. Για το αγίασμα βλ. Χατζηχριστοδούλου, «Αγιάσματα νήσου Κύπρου», σσ. 520-521.
9. ΚΣ. σσ. 69-70.
10. Κύπρια Μηναία, τ. Θ’ (Ιούλιος). Λευκωσία 2005, σσ. 158-171.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
The Holy Water is believed to have healing properties, especially for skin diseases and eye diseases, which should be connected with one of the two miracles of the Saint, described by Akakios.
This well-known miracle, according to Akakios, is as follows:
"And it is necessary to write a few miracles which he did and is doing to the glory of God... There was a Christian whose eyes were in pain for a long time, until... they could not see completely. And not having anything for the poor man to do about it, he made an offering, and candles, and incense, and he invited a priest, and they went and performed the liturgy in the morning... and he saw the place clearly, as before when he was healthy, and he glorified God, and thanked the saint."9
On July 23rd, the Saint's feast day,10 a local festival is held in the town of Gialousa, during which the faithful come reverently to invoke the help of their beloved Saint Therissos.
Notes:
1. Βλ. Σπυριδάκι, «Εισαγωγή», σσ. κε’-κζ’. Ταουσιάνη. Ἡ ἐπισκοπὴ Καρπασίας, σσ. 125-130. Γεωργίου, «Η επισκοπή Καρπασίας από την ίδρυσή της έως τα μέσα του ΙΓ’ αιώνα», σσ. 135-136.
2. Κ.Σ. σ. 67.
3. Αθ. Παπαγεωργίου. «Γεωργίου Αγίου του Σακκά εκκλησία, Γιαλούσα». Μεγάλη Κυπριακή Εγκυκλοπαίδεια, τ. 4. Λευκωσία 1986, σσ. 54-55.
4. Χατζηχριστοδούλου, «Οι άγιοι της Καρπασίας στην Τέχνη», σσ. 408- 409.
5. Κ.Σ. σσ. 67-68.
6. Στο ίδιο, σ. 56.
7. Στο ίδιο, σ. 68.
8. Για το αγίασμα βλ. Χατζηχριστοδούλου, «Αγιάσματα νήσου Κύπρου», σσ. 520-521.
9. ΚΣ. σσ. 69-70.
10. Κύπρια Μηναία, τ. Θ’ (Ιούλιος). Λευκωσία 2005, σσ. 158-171.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
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