12 October 2024 (MIA)

Macedonian Orthodox Church Calendar

Venerable Cyriacus, the Hermit

Very few saints who emerged from Christendom’s ever-growing numbers seen to have come from a “middle ground” way of life. It merely appears that way because so many saints, particularly those selected from the hierarchy, spent a lifetime in the public eye, while others loved in such insular remoteness. It appears on the surface that they dropped out of the society of man. One such recluse who withdrew from the crowds in search of God was a man named Kyriakos whose incredibly long span of years was one of the longest sustained periods of service to Jesus Christ in church history. Born in Corinth in 448 to parents named John and Eudoxia, Kyriakos belonged to a branch of a family tree which boasted several members of the hierarch, notably his uncle Peter, the bishop of the diocese of Corinth whose spiritual leadership earned him an intimacy with Emperor Theodosios II. With such a family background it was apparent that Kyriakos would one day acquire a stature in the Church which would bring him recognition equal to the extent that he achieved sainthood; but he preferred virtual anonymity as a hermit until found to be possessed of those virtues that bind a man so close to God that he becomes an instrument of the Almighty. This, in turn, brings men closer to him for true spiritual uplifting. At eighteen, he encountered men of equal dedication, chief of whom was Saint Gerasimos who sponsored him in the monastic life on the recommendation of the eminent Saint Euthymios of Jerusalem. When Euthymios died, Kyriakos remained close to Gerasimos in their holy work; but with the death of the latter, the younger monk chose to go to another monastery in an area known as Suka. Refusing any form of tribute or honor, Kyriakos finally consented to have himself ordained a priest at the age of forty, some twenty-two years after he answered the call to Christ. He remained at the cloister as a preacher and counselor until, at the age of seventy, he felt called upon to refresh his spirit with total isolation. He vanished into a forbidding area of the desert called Natufa, where he managed to survive in a wasteland fit for insects and scorpions. He is said to have emerged from this barren land at the age of ninety, like Moses descending from Sinai, appearing hearty for a man of his years. Settling at the edge of the trackless waste, he exuded a spiritual mood captured by many passersby and pilgrims whom he counseled until his death on 29 September 557, after a phenomenal ninety years devoted to Jesus Christ.

Catholic Calendar

St. Seraphinus

Capuchin and spiritual advisor, also called Seraphino. Born at Montegranaro, Italy, in 1540, he worked as a shepherd in his youth and was reportedly much abused by his older brother. At the age of sixteen he entered the Capuchins as a lay brother at Ascoli Piceno, earning a reputation for his holiness. He was graced with considerable spiritual gifts and wisdom, as well as devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. Seraphinus gave counsel to ecclesiastical and secular leaders. He was canonized in 1767.