Eferius of Chersonesus

Holy Hieromartyr Eferius of Chersonesus was bishop of Tauric Chersonesus in the fourth century and is counted among the seven bishops of Chersonesus, Basil, Ephraim, Eugene, Elpidius, Agathodorus, Eferius and Capito, who brought the Gospel to the northern lands of the Black Sea, from the Danube to the Dnieper, including Crimea, and sealed their apostolate by death.

The Christian faith had come to Crimea long before the Baptism of Saint Vladimir. The enlightenment of Taurida was begun by the Holy Apostle Andrew, and its spread was helped, against their will, by the enemies themselves, for the Roman emperors banished convicts there, among whom, in the first three centuries, were the confessors of Christ. Thus in the time of Trajan Saint Clement, bishop of Rome, was banished to the Inkerman quarries, where he also preached and received martyrdom.

At the beginning of the fourth century the episcopal see of Chersonesus was founded. In the year 300 Hermon, Patriarch of Jerusalem, sent bishops to many lands. Two of them, Ephraim and Basil, reached Chersonesus. Ephraim then went to the peoples along the Danube, where he endured many sorrows, and in the persecution was beheaded. Basil continued the preaching at Chersonesus but was beaten and driven out; withdrawn to a cave, he prayed for those who had driven him out.

The Lord worked a wonder: a rich man of Chersonesus lost his only son, and the dead boy appeared to his parents in a dream and said that Saint Basil, by his prayers to the true God, could raise him. As a result Basil was called back into the city. Nevertheless in 309 the persecution grew fiercer, and pagans burst into his house at night, bound him, dragged him through the streets and killed him with stones and clubs on 7 March 309.

A year later the bishops Eugene, Elpidius and Agathodorus, who had been preaching in the Hellespont region, came to Chersonesus to continue his work and were stoned to death on 7 March 311.

After a few years, in the time of the holy Emperor Constantine the Great, Bishop Eferius came from Jerusalem to Chersonesus. At first he too met opposition from the pagans, but the emperor, who had granted freedom of faith, forbade any violence against him and ordered that the Christians of Chersonesus be permitted to worship without hindrance. Through his labour a church was built in the city, where the saint peacefully shepherded his flock.

To thank the emperor for protecting the Christians, Eferius went to Constantinople. On the way back he fell ill and reposed on the island of Amos in Greece on 7 March. In his place Constantine sent Bishop Capito to Chersonesus, who entered fire in episcopal vestments to convince the pagans and came out unharmed, but later died by drowning, on 21 December.

The preaching of the holy bishops strengthened the faith in Chersonesus. From the fifth century the city became a spiritual centre from which Christianity spread north toward Rus, and in 987 Saint Prince Vladimir was baptized there. Saint Eferius is commemorated on 7 March, together with the other bishops of Chersonesus, that is 20 March in the new style, and on 28 December in the Synaxis of the Saints of Crimea.