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| St. Philon, Bishop of Karpasia (Feast Day - January 24) |
By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas
Saint Philon was born in Karpasia, Cyprus, in the 4th century AD and was the spiritual child of Saint Epiphanios, Archbishop of Constantia, Cyprus, who, appreciating his many gifts, ordained him Bishop of Karpasia. In fact, he esteemed him so much that, when he needed to be absent, he appointed him as his replacement on the Archbishopric throne. For example, when he traveled to Rome in 382 AD for ecclesiastical matters and later in Constantinople in 401 AD, shortly before his death, he assigned him the administration of the Archbishopric and, moreover, with the right to ordain Clergy.
The Karpasia region is the peninsula located at the northeastern tip of Cyprus, in which valuable Sacred Temples dedicated to the memory of Saint Philon were built at times, with characteristic frescoes, which, unfortunately, were removed after the Turkish invasion of 1974, and the Sacred Temples remain looted and abandoned.
We obtain information about the life and conduct of Saint Philon from the Synaxaria, his Service and the life of Saint Epiphanios, where we see that “with his ardent zeal he attracted to the Church many unbelievers and those who had fallen into error,” and that “he was a holy man,” “educated,” who “searched the depths of wisdom,” “a cleric from among those who orate on the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures.” According to the historian Souda, he wrote memoirs on the Pentateuch and the Song of Songs. Furthermore, his writing is also mentioned by the historians Leontios Machairas and Stefano Lusignan. Saint Philon had the special blessing of being under the guidance of Saint Epiphanios, and this is very important, because on the one hand he had proper guidance, and on the other hand he had a model of a holy Bishop in his episcopal ministry. He reposed in peace.
His life and his conduct give us the occasion to emphasize the following.
First, a characteristic feature of the holy Clergy is that they shepherd the rational flock entrusted to them by Christ through the Church, in accordance with its inspired teaching, which they apply in practice, as well as with selfless-sacrificing love. After all, these two are not separated from each other, namely theology and the “pastoralism of love”, but are connected. This is clearly seen in the life and conduct of the great Fathers of the Church, who, as His Eminence Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou emphasizes, “pastored while theologizing and theologized while pastoring.”
The saints love truly and sacrificially, because the Holy Spirit who dwells in their pure hearts teaches them perfect love which does not discriminate between friends and enemies, since all people are creations of God and living images of Christ. That is why they do not distinguish people into “theirs” and “others”, they do not criticize those of other faiths, the unbelievers, the deceived, and do not attack sinners, but they pray for their repentance and their salvation. They do not refuse dialogue to anyone, but converse with all those who desire it, without, however, betraying the faith of their Fathers, but remaining firm and unwavering in it. They also pray, so that this dialogue may be fruitful and that all unbelievers and those who have been misled may be led into the bosom of the Church.
A prayer of Saint Philon has been preserved, in which he addresses Christ and implores Him especially for the deceived, saying to Him: “Lord Jesus Christ, my God, who for the salvation of mankind You descended to earth, took on the flesh of Your servants, and suffered so many temptations from the world, where You were crucified, buried and resurrected, saving mankind; do now arrange, so that these deceived men, whom the devil has deceived, may also be saved.”
We see in this prayer the great love of the Saint. He does not wish for the deceived to be damned, but for them to be saved. He does not accuse them of their error, but says that they have been “deceived by the devil” and prays for their salvation. He begs Christ, who became man, experienced many temptations, was crucified, buried and resurrected for the salvation of all people, to free the deceived from the bonds and wickedness of the devil and to save them. Unfortunately, however, the deceived, as well as the schismatics and heretics, rarely repent because of their pride. However, the effort must be made, and especially through prayer, so that God's Grace can work and lead them to repentance.
Prayer for others presupposes love, as Saint Gerasimos of Jordan emphasizes, who says that "when I pray for others, it means that I love them." And as is known, with his love he “captured” a lion, which he freed from the pain caused by a nail in its foot, and that lion out of gratitude followed him to his Monastery and served him with miraculous obedience, a paradoxical fact for the “uninitiated”. However, in the lives of the saints this is something “natural”, since the saints, with the Grace of God and their struggle, “escaped” the unnatural, “were rescued” to the natural and “ascended” to the supernatural, which means that they were united with God, “in the person of Jesus Christ.” That is why the Grace of God that dwells in their entire existence attracts and transforms even these “wild beasts” into “harmless lambs.”
Secondly, it is very important for one to have a saint as a model in one’s life, because one is inspired by his way of life and conduct and is moved to imitate him. Athanasius the Great, addressing those who asked him to tell them about the life and conduct of Saint Anthony, says, among other things, the following: “For me it is a great gain and a great benefit just to mention the name of Anthony. I know that you too, who will hear of his life and conduct, will admire the man and will want to envy his intention.”
The struggle to imitate, as far as possible, the life of Christ and the saints helps in the acquisition of spiritual courage, by the rejection of sloth, and in the inheritance of the Kingdom of God, as the Apostle Paul writes in his Epistle to the Hebrews: “That you may not become slothful, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
