Cyrus and John
Encyclopedia
Saints Cyrus and John (d. ca. 304
AD, or 311
) are venerated as martyr
s. They are especially venerated by the Coptic Church and surnamed Wonderworking Unmercenaries (thaumatourgoi anargyroi) because they healed the sick free of charge.
Their feast day is celebrated by the Copts on the sixth day of Tobi
, corresponding to 31 January, the day also observed by the Eastern Orthodox Church
(see January 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
); on the same day they are commemorated in the Roman Martyrology. The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrate also the finding and translation
of their relics on 28 June.
, passion
and miracle
s of Sts. John and Cyrus is the encomium
written by Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem
(d. 638). Of the birth, parents, and first years of the saints we know nothing. According to the Arabic "Synaxarium
", compiled by Michael, Bishop of Athrib and Malig, Cyrus and John were both Alexandria
ns; this, however, is contradicted by other documents in which it is said that Cyrus was a native of Alexandria and John of Edessa
.
, and had a work-shop (ergasterium) which was afterwards transformed into a temple
(church) dedicated to the three Three Young Men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
. He ministered to the sick gratis and at the same time laboured with all the ardour of an apostle of the Faith, and won many from pagan superstition. This took place under the Emperor Diocletian
. Denounced to the prefect
of the city he fled to Arabia where he took refuge in a town near the sea called Tzoten. There, having received the tonsure
and assumed the monastic habit, he abandoned medicine and began a life of asceticism
.
, were arrested at Canopus
and brought to Alexandria. Cyrus and John, fearing lest these girls, on account of their tender age, might, in the midst of torments, deny the Faith, resolved to go into the city to comfort them and encourage them in undergoing martyrdom. This fact becoming known they also were arrested and after dire torments they were all beheaded
on the 31st of January.
The bodies of the two martyrs were placed in the church of St. Mark the Evangelist in Alexandria.
At the time of St. Cyril
, Patriarch of Alexandria
(412-444), there existed at Menuthis
(Menouthes or Menouthis) near Canopus
and present-day Abu Qir
, a pagan temple reputed for its oracles and cures which attracted even some simple Christians of the vicinity. St. Cyril thought to extirpate this idolatrous cult by establishing in that town the cultus of Sts. Cyrus and John. For this purpose he translated
thither their relics (28 June, 414) and placed them in the church built by his predecessor, Theophilus
, in honour of the Four Evangelists
.
Before the finding and transfer of the relics by St. Cyril it seems that the names of the two saints were unknown; it is certain that no written records of them were known prior to then. In the fifth century, during the pontificate of Pope Innocent I
, their relics were brought to Rome
by two monks, Grimaldus and Arnulfus—this according to a manuscript in the archives of the deaconry of Santa Maria in Via Lata
, cited by Antonio Bosio.
Mai, however, for historical reasons, justly assigns a later date, namely 634, under Pope Honorius I
and the Emperor Heraclius
(Spicilegium Rom., III, V). The relics were placed in the suburban church of Santa Passera
(a linguistic corruption of "Abbas Cyrus") on the Via Portuense. In the time of Bosio the pictures of the two saints were still visible in this church (Bosio, op. cit., ib.) Upon the door of the hypogeum
, which still remains, is the following inscription in marble:--
Their tomb became a shrine
and place of pilgrimage
. In Coptic
Cyrus' name became Difnar, Apakiri, Apakyri, Apakyr; in Arabic, Abaqir, 'Abuqir. The city of Abu Qir
, now a suburb of Alexandria
, was named after him.
At Rome three churches were dedicated to these martyrs, Abbas Cyrus de Militiis, Abbas Cyrus de Valeriis, and Abbas Cyrus ad Elephantum —all of which were transformed afterwards by the vulgar pronunciation into S. Passera, a corruption of Abbas Cyrus.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church
and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite
, Cyrus and John are among the saints who are commemorated during the Liturgy of Preparation
in the Divine Liturgy
.
304
Year 304 was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valerius and Valerius...
AD, or 311
311
Year 311 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valerius and Maximinus...
) are venerated as martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
s. They are especially venerated by the Coptic Church and surnamed Wonderworking Unmercenaries (thaumatourgoi anargyroi) because they healed the sick free of charge.
Their feast day is celebrated by the Copts on the sixth day of Tobi
Month of Tobi
Tobi , also known as Touba, is the fifth month of the Coptic calendar. It lies between January 9 and February 7 of the Gregorian calendar...
, corresponding to 31 January, the day also observed by the Eastern Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
(see January 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
January 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Jan. 30 - Eastern Orthodox Church calendar - Feb. 1-Fixed commemorations:All fixed commemorations below are observed on February 13 by Old Calendarists.-Saints:*Martyrs Cyrus and John, holy wonderworkers and unmercenaries...
); on the same day they are commemorated in the Roman Martyrology. The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrate also the finding and translation
Translation (relics)
In Christianity, the translation of relics is the removal of holy objects from one locality to another ; usually only the movement of the remains of the saint's body would be treated so formally, with secondary relics such as items of clothing treated with less ceremony...
of their relics on 28 June.
Life and Historicity
The principal source of information regarding the lifeHagiography
Hagiography is the study of saints.From the Greek and , it refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of saints and ecclesiastical leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though less common...
, passion
Passion (Christianity)
The Passion is the Christian theological term used for the events and suffering – physical, spiritual, and mental – of Jesus in the hours before and including his trial and execution by crucifixion...
and miracle
Miracle
A miracle often denotes an event attributed to divine intervention. Alternatively, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. Others suggest that a god may work with the laws...
s of Sts. John and Cyrus is the encomium
Encomium
Encomium is a Latin word deriving from the Classical Greek ἐγκώμιον meaning the praise of a person or thing. "Encomium" also refers to several distinct aspects of rhetoric:* A general category of oratory* A method within rhetorical pedagogy...
written by Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem
Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem
The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem is the head bishop of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, ranking fourth of nine Patriarchs in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Since 2005, the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem has been Theophilos III...
(d. 638). Of the birth, parents, and first years of the saints we know nothing. According to the Arabic "Synaxarium
Synaxarium
Synaxarion, Synexarion, pl. Synaxaria —Latin: Synaxarium, Synexarium—the name given in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches to a compilation of hagiographies corresponding roughly to the martyrology of the Roman Church.There are two kinds of synaxaria:*Simple...
", compiled by Michael, Bishop of Athrib and Malig, Cyrus and John were both Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
ns; this, however, is contradicted by other documents in which it is said that Cyrus was a native of Alexandria and John of Edessa
Edessa, Mesopotamia
Edessa is the Greek name of an Aramaic town in northern Mesopotamia, as refounded by Seleucus I Nicator. For the modern history of the city, see Şanlıurfa.-Names:...
.
Cyrus
Cyrus practised the art of medicineMedicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, and had a work-shop (ergasterium) which was afterwards transformed into a temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
(church) dedicated to the three Three Young Men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are characters in the biblical Hebrew book of Daniel Chapters 1 – 3, known for their exclusive devotion to God. In particular, they are known for being saved by divine intervention from the Babylonian execution of being burned alive in a fiery furnace...
. He ministered to the sick gratis and at the same time laboured with all the ardour of an apostle of the Faith, and won many from pagan superstition. This took place under the Emperor Diocletian
Diocletian
Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....
. Denounced to the prefect
Prefect
Prefect is a magisterial title of varying definition....
of the city he fled to Arabia where he took refuge in a town near the sea called Tzoten. There, having received the tonsure
Tonsure
Tonsure is the traditional practice of Christian churches of cutting or shaving the hair from the scalp of clerics, monastics, and, in the Eastern Orthodox Church, all baptized members...
and assumed the monastic habit, he abandoned medicine and began a life of asceticism
Asceticism
Asceticism describes a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from various sorts of worldly pleasures often with the aim of pursuing religious and spiritual goals...
.
John
John belonged to the army, in which he held a high rank; the "Synaxarium" cited above adds that he was one of the familiars of the emperor. Hearing of the virtues and wonders of Cyrus, he betook himself to Jerusalem in fulfillment of a vow, and thence passed into Egypt where he became the companion of St. Cyrus in the ascetic life.Martyrdom of Cyrus and John
During the persecution of Diocletian three holy virgins, Theoctista (Theopista), fifteen years old, Theodota (Theodora), thirteen years old, and Theodossia (Theodoxia), eleven years old, together with their mother AthanasiaAthanasia
Athanasia is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family....
, were arrested at Canopus
Canopus, Egypt
Canopus was an Ancient Egyptian coastal town, located in the Nile Delta. Its site is in the eastern outskirts of modern-day Alexandria, around 25 kilometres from the centre of that city....
and brought to Alexandria. Cyrus and John, fearing lest these girls, on account of their tender age, might, in the midst of torments, deny the Faith, resolved to go into the city to comfort them and encourage them in undergoing martyrdom. This fact becoming known they also were arrested and after dire torments they were all beheaded
Decapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
on the 31st of January.
Veneration
At the time of St. Cyril
Cyril of Alexandria
Cyril of Alexandria was the Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444. He came to power when the city was at its height of influence and power within the Roman Empire. Cyril wrote extensively and was a leading protagonist in the Christological controversies of the later 4th and 5th centuries...
, Patriarch of Alexandria
Patriarch of Alexandria
The Patriarch of Alexandria is the Archbishop of Alexandria and Cairo, Egypt. Historically, this office has included the designation of Pope , and did so earlier than that of the Bishop of Rome...
(412-444), there existed at Menuthis
Menouthis
Menouthis was a sacred city in ancient Egypt, devoted to the Egyptian goddess and god Isis and Serapis. The city was submerged under water in the 8th century as a result of earthquakes or a Nile flood...
(Menouthes or Menouthis) near Canopus
Canopus
Canopus |Alpha]] Carinae) is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Carina and Argo Navis, and the second brightest star in the night-time sky, after Sirius. Canopus's visual magnitude is −0.72, and it has an absolute magnitude of −5.53.Canopus is a supergiant of spectral...
and present-day Abu Qir
Abu Qir
Abū Qīr is a village on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, northeast of Alexandria by rail, containing a castle used as a state prison by Muhammad Ali of Egypt....
, a pagan temple reputed for its oracles and cures which attracted even some simple Christians of the vicinity. St. Cyril thought to extirpate this idolatrous cult by establishing in that town the cultus of Sts. Cyrus and John. For this purpose he translated
Translation (relics)
In Christianity, the translation of relics is the removal of holy objects from one locality to another ; usually only the movement of the remains of the saint's body would be treated so formally, with secondary relics such as items of clothing treated with less ceremony...
thither their relics (28 June, 414) and placed them in the church built by his predecessor, Theophilus
Theophilus of Alexandria
Theophilus of Alexandria was Patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt, from 385 to 412. He is regarded as a saint by the Coptic Orthodox Church....
, in honour of the Four Evangelists
Four Evangelists
In Christian tradition the Four Evangelists are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament that bear the following titles:*Gospel according to Matthew*Gospel according to Mark...
.
Before the finding and transfer of the relics by St. Cyril it seems that the names of the two saints were unknown; it is certain that no written records of them were known prior to then. In the fifth century, during the pontificate of Pope Innocent I
Pope Innocent I
-Biography:He was, according to his biographer in the Liber Pontificalis, the son of a man called Innocens of Albano; but according to his contemporary Jerome, his father was Pope Anastasius I , whom he was called by the unanimous voice of the clergy and laity to succeed -Biography:He was,...
, their relics were brought to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
by two monks, Grimaldus and Arnulfus—this according to a manuscript in the archives of the deaconry of Santa Maria in Via Lata
Santa Maria in Via Lata
Santa Maria in Via Lata is a church on the Via del Corso , in Rome, Italy.-History:It is claimed that St. Paul spent two years here, in the crypt under the church, whilst under house arrest waiting for his trial. This conflicts with the tradition regarding San Paolo alla Regola...
, cited by Antonio Bosio.
Mai, however, for historical reasons, justly assigns a later date, namely 634, under Pope Honorius I
Pope Honorius I
Pope Honorius I was pope from 625 to 638.Honorius, according to the Liber Pontificalis, came from Campania and was the son of the consul Petronius. He became pope on October 27, 625, two days after the death of his predecessor, Boniface V...
and the Emperor Heraclius
Heraclius
Heraclius was Byzantine Emperor from 610 to 641.He was responsible for introducing Greek as the empire's official language. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, successfully led a revolt against the unpopular usurper Phocas.Heraclius'...
(Spicilegium Rom., III, V). The relics were placed in the suburban church of Santa Passera
Santa Passera
Santa Passera is a church in the south of Rome on the other bank of the curve in the river from the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls.The current church, erected in the ninth century, incorporated a Roman tomb...
(a linguistic corruption of "Abbas Cyrus") on the Via Portuense. In the time of Bosio the pictures of the two saints were still visible in this church (Bosio, op. cit., ib.) Upon the door of the hypogeum
Hypogeum
Hypogeum or hypogaeum literally means "underground", from Greek hypo and gaia . It usually refers to an underground, non-Christian temple or a tomb...
, which still remains, is the following inscription in marble:--
- Corpora sancta Cyri renitent hic atque Joannis
- Quæ quondam Romæ dedit Alexandria magna
Their tomb became a shrine
Shrine
A shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other such objects associated with the figure being venerated....
and place of pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
. In Coptic
Coptic language
Coptic or Coptic Egyptian is the current stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century. Egyptian began to be written using the Greek alphabet in the 1st century...
Cyrus' name became Difnar, Apakiri, Apakyri, Apakyr; in Arabic, Abaqir, 'Abuqir. The city of Abu Qir
Abu Qir
Abū Qīr is a village on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, northeast of Alexandria by rail, containing a castle used as a state prison by Muhammad Ali of Egypt....
, now a suburb of Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, was named after him.
At Rome three churches were dedicated to these martyrs, Abbas Cyrus de Militiis, Abbas Cyrus de Valeriis, and Abbas Cyrus ad Elephantum —all of which were transformed afterwards by the vulgar pronunciation into S. Passera, a corruption of Abbas Cyrus.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite
Byzantine Rite
The Byzantine Rite, sometimes called the Rite of Constantinople or Constantinopolitan Rite is the liturgical rite used currently by all the Eastern Orthodox Churches, by the Greek Catholic Churches , and by the Protestant Ukrainian Lutheran Church...
, Cyrus and John are among the saints who are commemorated during the Liturgy of Preparation
Liturgy of Preparation
The Liturgy of Preparation, also Prothesis or Proskomedia , is the name given in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Byzantine-rite Eastern Catholic Churches to the act of preparing the bread and wine for the Eucharist...
in the Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches. Armenian Christians, both of the Armenian Apostolic Church and of the Armenian Catholic Church, use the same term...
.
External links
- Cyrus and John at the Catholic EncyclopediaCatholic EncyclopediaThe Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia and the Original Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language encyclopedia published in the United States. The first volume appeared in March 1907 and the last three volumes appeared in 1912, followed by a master index...
- Unmercenaries Cyrus & John Iconograms
- Ciro e Giovanni