Saint Cyriacus the Anchorite
Hermit
Born	448, Corinth Corinth Corinth is a city and former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Corinth, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit...
Died	557, Cave of St. Chariton, Palestine
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox
Beatified	?
Canonized	?
Major 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....	?
Feast Calendar of saints The calendar of saints is a traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the feast day of said saint...	September 29 September 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Sep. 28 - Eastern Orthodox Church calendar - Sep. 30All fixed commemorations below celebrated on Oct. 12 by Old Calendarists-Saints:*Saint Cyriacus the Anchorite *Saint Theophanes the Merciful of Palestine...
Attributes	?
Patronage Patron saint A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...	?

For other uses of the name, see Cyriacus (disambiguation)

Cyriacus (disambiguation)

Cyriacus, also Cyriac or Quiricus is a Latinized form of the Greek Kyriakos, which means "of the Lord". Cyriacus is the name of several people...

.

Saint Cyriacus the Anchorite

Anchorite

Anchorite denotes someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society so as to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, ascetic, and—circumstances permitting—Eucharist-focused life...

 (also known as 'Cyriacus the Hermit') (Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

: , Kyriakos o Anachōritēs) was born in Corinth

Corinth

Corinth is a city and former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Corinth, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit...

 in the year 448. His father was a priest named John and his mother's name was Eudoxia. Further Cyriacus had Bishop Peter of Corinth for a relative, who made Cyriacus a reader in church.

Cyriacus's studies of the Scriptures encouraged him to want what the culture deemed a pure and saintly life. Cyriacus, before turning 18, attended a church service on (Gospel of Matthew

Gospel of Matthew

The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...

 16:24) that so deeply moved him he immediately he went to the harbour, got onto a ship, and set off to Jerusalem instead of going home.

After visiting holy places of Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

, Cyriacus dwelt for several months at a monastery

Monastery

Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

 not far from Sion

Sion

-In geography:*Sion, Switzerland, the capital of the canton of Valais*Sion, Gers, a municipality in France*Sion, Mumbai, a suburb of Mumbai*Sion, Netherlands, part of Rijswijk in South Holland*Sion, Czech Republic, a castle in the Czech Republic, near Kutná Hora...

. This placed him in obedience to Hegumenos Abba Eustorgius. With his support he made his way to the wilderness Lavra

Lavra

In Orthodox Christianity and certain other Eastern Christian communities Lavra or Laura originally meant a cluster of cells or caves for hermits, with a church and sometimes a refectory at the center...

 of St. Euthymius the Great (January 20). St. Euthymius was impressed by him and tonsured him into the monastic schema and placed him under the guidance of St. Gerasimus (March 4). He then pursued 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...

 at the Jordan in the monastery of St. Theoctistus.

Gerasimus, seeing that Cyriacus was still quite young, ordered him to live in the community with the brethren. Gerasimus became something of a mentor to the young man and each Sunday imparted the Holy Mysteries of his faith to his disciple. The young monk took to monastic obediences: he prayed fervently, he slept little, he ate food only every other day, and nourished himself with bread and water.

After the death of Gerasimos, the twenty-seven-year-old Cyriacus intended to return to the Lavra of Euthymios, but he had since died. Therefore Cyriacus asked for a solitary cell where he pursued asceticism in silence. During this period he communicated only with the monk Thomas. Later even that ended as Thomas was sent to 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...

 where he was consecrated bishop. This meant Cyriacus spent ten years in total silence. At 37 years of age he was ordained to the diaconate.

When a split occurred between the monasteries of Euthymius and Theoctistus, Cyriacus withdrew to the Souka monastery of St. Chariton (September 28). At this monastery they received even 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...

d monks as novices

Novitiate

Novitiate, alt. noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a novice monastic or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether they are called to the religious life....

, and so was Cyriacus received. He toiled at the regular monastic obediences. After several years, Cyriacus was ordained priest and chosen canonarch

Canonarch

A canonarch is a lead cantor, or reader, in Eastern Christian churches of the Byzantine tradition. The canonarch ensures that other readers chant from the correct texts and use the proper tones. The canonarch preserves the canonical order in the liturgical services through proper use of the...

 and did this obedience for eighteen years. He would spend thirty years at the monastery of St. Chariton.

Strict fasting and devotion distinguished Cyriacus even among the ascetics of the Lavra. In his cell each night he read the Psalter

Psalter

A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the later medieval emergence of the book of hours, psalters were the books most widely owned by wealthy lay persons and were...

, interrupting the reading only to go to church at midnight. The ascetic slept very little. When the monk reached seventy years of age, he went to the Natoufa wilderness taking with him his disciple John.

In the desert the hermits fed themselves only with bitter herbs, which hagiographical accounts say were rendered edible. After five years one of the inhabitants found out about the ascetics and brought to them his son and Cyriacus reportedly healed him. From that time many people began to approach the monk with their needs, but he sought complete solitude and fled to the Rouva wilderness, where he dwelt five years more. But the sick still came for him so he helped who he could.

At his 80th year of life Cyriacus fled to the hidden Sousakim wilderness, where two dried up streams passed by. The brethren of the Souka monastery came to him seven years after his arrival, beseeching his spiritual help during the time of debilitating hunger and illness. After his intervention seemed to improve the situation they wished him to return to the monastery. Therefore he settled in a cave which St. Chariton had once lived.

Cyriacus worked against the religious movement Origen

Origen

Origen , or Origen Adamantius, 184/5–253/4, was an early Christian Alexandrian scholar and theologian, and one of the most distinguished writers of the early Church. As early as the fourth century, his orthodoxy was suspect, in part because he believed in the pre-existence of souls...

ism. By prayer and by word, he led many to abandon it for a strengthened Orthodox faith. According to Eastern Orthodox tradition the Theotokos

Theotokos

Theotokos is the Greek title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its literal English translations include God-bearer and the one who gives birth to God. Less literal translations include Mother of God...

 appeared to him to strengthen him in his efforts against Origenism. After the deaths of Nonnus

Nonnus

Nonnus of Panopolis , was a Greek epic poet. He was a native of Panopolis in the Egyptian Thebaid, and probably lived at the end of the 4th or early 5th century....

 and Leontius

Leontius (writer)

Leontius , theological writer, born at Constantinople, flourished during the sixth century. He is variously styled Byzantinus, Hierosolymitanus Leontius (c. 485 – c. 543), theological writer, born at Constantinople, flourished during the sixth century. He is variously styled Byzantinus,...

, which it is said he predicted, the movement ceased to spread.

At the age of ninety-nine, Cyriacus again went off to Susakim and lived there with his disciple John. This period is full of several legends involving him saving people from lions or his prayers causing rain to fall.

For the two years before his death Cyriacus returned to the monastery and again settled into the cave of Chariton. Until the end of his life he was never idle in prayer or work. Before his death Cyriacus summoned the brethren and blessed them all. He quietly fell asleep in the Lord, having lived 109 years. He died in the year 557.