The Church celebrates the memory of St. Therapon and the memory of New Martyr John of Bulgaria (Raiko-John of Shumena), the goldsmith.
According to Andrew of Crete, Saint Therapon was born noble and pious parents. He despised all the necessities of life and devoted himself to the study of the Church’s Holy Tradition.
His life was simple. He wanted to fight with God’s help to acquire virtues and attain moral perfection. This is why he practiced for the love of Christ by abstaining, fasting and praying. He became a great preacher of God’s word.
It is worth noting that Saint Therapon did not want offices, but obeyed the command of the divine Grace and was ordained a Bishop. He converted many people from various heresies to the True Faith of Orthodoxy.
Saint Therapon opposed and criticized the iconoclasts, calling them heretics and irreverent. They did not tolerate the saint’s opprobrium, so they slandered him, imprisoned him and exiled him.
He later traveled to Jerusalem where he preached the Holy Gospel and carried out charity work to help the people. But with the people honoring him and having already become quite famous throughout the region, he decided to leave Jerusalem and traveled to Cyprus. However, his fame was so great that he was already known on Cyprus.
He was initially hosted by Sosios who and his wife were ill. His wife had been bedridden for nine years with a high fever. Thanks to their goodness, the saint gave them the coveted health through Jesus Christ. When they learned of this, many patients begged the saint to heal them. So Saint Therapon by putting his hands on their heads cured all the diseases while preaching to the whole world the True Faith of Orthodoxy.
The then governor of the island begged him to stay near him, giving him the Diocese of Larnaca. The saint accepted and became Bishop of Kition. The faithful were happy because, apart from being a bishop, the saint became the unmercenary doctor of the whole island.
During the Arab invasion of Cyprus, he was arrested and beheaded at the altar. But as soon as that happened, celestial melodies and the uncreated light hovered above the Holy Table. This miracle gave the believers strength while the Arabs were afraid and remorseful for what they did. The body of St. Therapon the Hieromartyr was buried by the faithful at the place where his first temple was built.
After a few centuries, and shortly before the Hagarenes attacked Cyprus again, the saint appeared in a dream and ordered his bones to be transported to Constantinople, so that they would not be raided by unbelievers. In fact, they were transferred to Constantinople, where a temple dedicated to his memory was built. A neighbourhood in Constantinople is still called Therapia in honor of Saint Therapon.
There is a church dedicated to Saint Therapon in the occupied community of Angastina in Mesaoria.
Source: Church of Cyprus
