Saint Tryphon the Martyr
Holiday date: 01/02
Saint Tryphon came from Lampsacus in Phrygia and lived in the years of the emperors Gordianus (238-244), Philip (244-249) and Decius (249-251). He came from a poor family and in his childhood, he herded geese for a living. At the same time, however, he diligently studied the Holy Bible and performed his religious duties with reverence. Thus, little by little, Tryphon with his pious scholarship, managed not only to be taught himself, but also to teach the eternal truths of his faith. Quickly his pious soul received the grace of the Holy Spirit and God claimed Tryphon to work miracles.
But the Saint healed not only every disease, but also purified souls contaminated by demons. When the emperor Gordianus learned of Tryphon’s miraculous abilities, he begged him to heal his sick daughter. The emperor tried to express his gratitude by offering the Saint offices and money, but Tryphon politely refused.
When Decius became emperor, he unleashed a fierce persecution against the Christians. In 250 AD the Saint, because he did not worship the gods of the pagan religion and was a Christian, was arrested by a certain military man named Phrontus (or Fortus) and brought before the proconsuls of the East, Tiberius Gracchus and Claudius Aquilinus in Nicaea in Bithynia. The seer Pompeyanos presented him to the rulers. Saint Tryphon courageously confessed his faith. He was then subjected to horrific torture. They pierced him with swords all over his body, then tied him by the feet to horses and dragged him, in hours of terrible cold, to difficult and stony places.
He was praying and saying: “Lord, do not impute this sin to them.” After the horrible torture they asked him if he was imprisoned and wanted to sacrifice to idols. The Martyr of Christ then answered the prefect Aquilinus: “You foolish and evil leader, is it possible to be imprisoned when you are drunk by the devil? I always live my life with wisdom, because I have Christ as the helper of my hope”. After that, they locked him up in the jail with the intention of giving him time to get rid of his “dementia” and to deny his faith in Christ. A few days later the prefect called the Saint and asked him if the length of time and torture had convinced him to sacrifice to the gods. The Saint again confessed with spiritual prowess the Name of God. They then dragged him naked on iron nails, then whipped him and then burned his ribs with torches. In the end, as soon as the Martyr surrendered his soul to God saying “Lord Jesus Christ, receive my spirit”, they cut off his honest head.
The Christians received the honest relic of the Martyr and after anointing it with precious myrrh and wrapping it in a shroud, deposited it in an altar and sent it to the city of Lampsakou according to his wish.
The Synagogue of the Holy Martyr Tryphonos was held in his Martyrdom, which was inside the sept Apostoleum of John the Theologian, near the Great Church.
A temple dedicated to Saint Tryphon was built by Justinian the Great (527-565 AD) on the site of Pelargos of Constantinople. Monastery of Agios Tryphonos is also mentioned after the middle of the 9th century AD, adjacent to the Metropolis of Chalkidonos, where the later Patriarch Nikolaos the Mystic (901-907, 912-925 AD) was a monk.
