Tryphon of Apamea

Saint Tryphon, also called Tryphon of Apamea or of Campsada, was a young Christian of the third century, a healer and wonderworker, who died for the faith in the time of the emperor Decius, about the year 250, at Nicaea. The Church honours him as a great martyr and a holy unmercenary physician, and the people regard him as protector of vineyards, gardens and fields.

Life and the gift of healing

According to his Life, he was born around 232 of poor Christian parents in the village of Campsada near Apamea Cibotus, in Phrygia. Other sources place him at Lampsacus in Mysia. His name comes from the Greek tryphe, meaning gentleness or delicacy. From childhood he was known for his piety and earned his bread keeping geese, but even in his youth he was drawn to the Holy Scriptures and received the gift of healing. He healed the sick, especially animals, cast demons out of those possessed, and brought people to the faith. The Greek Euchologion keeps the tradition that by his prayer harmful creatures and insects were driven away and the people of Campsada were saved from famine.

Tradition adds that in the time of the emperor Gordian III, the emperor's daughter Gordiana was tormented by an unclean spirit. Through the girl's mouth the spirit declared that only the youth Tryphon could cast it out. The emperor summoned him to Rome, and Tryphon healed her. The emperor wished to reward him with honours and wealth, but the saint put them aside, choosing humility and the service of God. Some versions say that at the emperor's command the devil was forced to show himself, and many came to believe in Christ through it.

Martyrdom

In the time of Decius, who began a fierce persecution and required everyone to sacrifice to the gods, Tryphon was seized and brought before the judges at Nicaea. He confessed that he served Christ alone and did not acknowledge fortune, only the providence of God. He was cruelly tortured, among other things having nails driven into his feet and being led through the city, yet he would not deny Christ. Some sources name Respicius as a companion in his sufferings. Sentenced to be beheaded, he prayed in thanksgiving, and according to the Life the Lord received his soul even before the executioners could carry out the sentence. The Western tradition adds that he had brought the prefect Licius to the faith.

Relics and veneration

His relics were first laid in Campsada, his birthplace. They are said to have been moved later to Constantinople and from there in part to Rome. His head is kept in the cathedral of Kotor in Montenegro, of which the saint is protector. A particle of his relics was given in 1803 to a church in Moscow dedicated to the saint, and he is also counted among the patrons of Moscow.

The emperor Leo VI the Wise delivered a eulogy in his honour, and many churches were dedicated to him. Vine growers in Serbia, North Macedonia and Bulgaria keep his day as the feast of the first pruning of the vines, known in Bulgaria as Trifon Zarezan, and Greek growers too keep customs on this day. In Russia he is honoured as patron of birds and hunters, and prayers to him are read against rodents and locusts. On icons he is often shown with a falcon on his hand, from a Moscow legend of a falconer who lost the tsar's falcon and found it again through the saint's prayers. His feast is on 1 February.