Venerable Cyriacus the Hermit

Life

Born in Corinth to parents named John and Eudocia. His father John was a presbyter, and the local bishop Peter was a kinsman of his. In his early youth the bishop appointed him reader of the cathedral church. Reading the Holy Scriptures, the young Cyriacus marveled at the Providence of God: how He glorified all the true servants of the living God, and how He wrought the salvation of the human race. In his eighteenth year the desire for the spiritual life led him to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem he entered the monastery of a certain man of God, Eustorgius, who gave him his initial instruction in the monastic life. He then went to Saint Euthymius, who foresaw in him a future giant of the spirit, clothed him in the great schema, and sent him to Saint Gerasimus on the Jordan, where Cyriacus spent nine years. After the death of Gerasimus he returned to the monastery of Saint Euthymius, where he remained in stillness for ten years. After that he changed place after place, fleeing the praise of men. He practiced asceticism also in the community of Saint Chariton, where at last he ended his earthly path, having completed one hundred and nine years of life. A renowned ascetic and wonderworker, Saint Cyriacus was large and strong of body, and remained so into deep old age, despite his severe fasting and vigils. In the desert he sometimes ate nothing but raw herbs for years at a time. He was greatly zealous for the Orthodox faith, denouncing heresies, especially the heresy of Origen. He said of himself that since becoming a monk the sun had never seen him eating nor being angry at anyone. By the rule of Saint Chariton the monks ate only once a day, and that after sunset. Cyriacus was a great luminary, a pillar of Orthodoxy, a glory to monastics, a mighty healer of the sick, and a gentle comforter of the sorrowful. Having lived long for the benefit of many, he departed to the eternal joy of his Lord in 557.

From the Hymn of Praise

Mary, of beautiful face,Was born fair.Mary, faithful to Christ,Prayed to Christ: