Saint Epiphanius Bishop of Constantia and Archbishop of Cyprus

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Saint Epiphanius was born into a poor Jewish peasant family in the village of Visandouki (or Visandouk), near Eleftheroupoli, Palestine, in 310 AD. (Cypriot folk tradition states that Saint Epiphanius was born in Kalopanagiotis, Cyprus, a village of Marathasa and grew up in Visandouki). His parents had another child, Kallitropo.

After the death of his parents and at the age of ten, Epiphanius was attracted to Christianity by two monks famous for their knowledge and asceticism, Lucian and Hilarion. Seven days after his baptism, Epiphanius settled his sister in a nunnery and left for the desert of Palestine. There he lives close to the most prominent ascetics, practicing restraint, practicing and studying the Holy Scriptures, becoming a role model for his ascetics. His fame and virtues soon spread and he became bishop of Constantia in Cyprus in 367 AD, to which he resorted miraculously when his ship, which was sailing to Palestine, due to a storm, arrived in Cyprus. (Constantia was originally called Salamis. The city was built by the hero of the Trojan War Teukros, the son of Telamon, in honor of the homeland of Salamis and was destroyed in the 4th century AD. from an earthquake. The city was rebuilt by the son of Constantine the Great, Constantius and was named Constantia. It became the seat of the Archbishop of Cyprus, when Cyprus had 14 bishops and remained so until 1191 AD, when Cyprus was conquered by the Franks. Today the seat of the Archbishop is Nicosia).

From this position, the Saint began the evangelization of his flock and fought with great zeal for the preservation and strengthening of the Orthodox doctrines, fighting all the heretical beliefs and delusions of his time and especially those of Origen. Constantly using the words of the Bible and writing numerous anti-sectarian writings, he fought to keep the faithful in the unadulterated Christian faith.

In 381 AD, together with four other Cypriot bishops, Epiphanius took part in the Second Ecumenical Council.

Epiphanius died at sea from Constantinople, who had gone for ecclesiastical affairs to Constantia, on May 12, 403 AD, after a 36-year priesthood. His holy relic was moved to Constantinople by the emperor Leo VI the Wise. His Synaxis was held in his holiest house, which was in the church of Agios Philemon.

Epiphanius Constantius built the great basilica (he did not complete it until his death), the ruins of which are preserved to this day. This great Archbishop, a very important teacher and father of the Church, was also a remarkable writer. The works of "Panarion" (contains arguments for the reconstruction of the sects that existed then), "Anchored" (in 120 paragraphs includes an epitome of modern Theology to the Holy Epiphany), "On meters and stations", "On the twelve stones of beings in the ornaments of Aaron ", are precious gems in the mega mosaic of the Patriarchal Secretariat.

Finally, it is worth mentioning some miracles performed by Saint Epiphanius: he healed the daughter of the king of Persia from the demon that tormented her, resurrected the dead child of a Persian lord, killed a lion coming out of the forest and ate the people passing by. from nearby, he expelled the demon from a Callisto who was the son of the first Prefect of Rome and finally healed Theodosius the Great, the emperor, from paralysis of the lower extremities.