Therinus of Buthrotum

Saint Therinus (in Greek Therinos) of Buthrotum is a saint venerated in Albania, associated with the city of Butrint (Buthrotum). His commemoration is on 23 April. Our sources do not show how he was canonized; they say only that he is venerated in Albania.

The Martyrdom of Therinus is a manuscript written in Epirus, probably between the fifth and eighth centuries. It tells that during the reign of the emperor Decius the local governors of the Roman provinces were replaced by more brutal ones, with the intent of prosecuting more Christians. In the Roman city of Buthrotum a new governor, Philip, of the province of Thesprotia, was confronted by Therinus, who professed his Christian faith. Because of this the governor decided to torture him in many ways, and here the manuscript breaks off.

In the ending of the Latin version, from all the miraculous deliverances from the tortures he inflicted on Therinus, the governor was converted. He lived three and a half years more, after which he was massacred in a wave of persecution against Christians, most likely in the time of Decius (249 to 251). Therinus is celebrated on 23 April and was buried in a city called Bosrena, which is believed to be a corruption of the Greek Botrotos (Butrint). Another theory, that the Arab city of Bosra is meant, is highly unlikely. A Greek source says only that he was slain in the third century, probably in the reign of Decius.