Demetrian

Last updated
Demetrian
BornSika, Cyprus
Diedc. 912
Cyprus
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church,
Eastern Orthodox Church
Feast 6 November
Patronage Prisoners

Saint Demetrian (d. 912?) is a saint from Cyprus. In the 9th and 10th centuries, he served the Christian Church as a monk and an abbot, and ultimately as the bishop of the ancient city of Khytri. He is venerated for his apparently miraculous rescue of Christian Cypriots who had been enslaved by Saracen invaders.

Contents

Life

Contemporaneous documentation of Demetrian's life is limited to a single manuscript. [1] [2] Complicating his record, he has at times been called by the common names Demetrio or Demetrius. [3] The lone manuscript holds that Demetrian was the son of a priest, [1] born in a small village named Sika in medieval Cyprus. [4] [5] As a young man, he wed a woman who died only a few months after marriage. [1] After her death, he devoted himself to the Christian Church. [1] [4]

Demetrian served in a monastery dedicated to Saint Anthony, and he was eventually ordained as that institution's abbot, or hegoumenos , a position he is said to have held for forty years. [3] [4] Church leaders then elevated him to bishop of the city of Khytri, but at first he resisted the appointment. Not wanting to exchange his quiet monastic life for a busy episcopal office in the city, he is said to have fled, and was hidden in a cave by a friend. [1] [2] Ultimately, however, his friend became uncomfortable with the situation, and Demetrian was convinced to return to the city and embrace his appointment. [1] [2] He served as bishop of Khytri for some twenty-five years, from 885 until his death, and is acknowledged by the Catholic Encyclopedia as that office's most famous inhabitant. [6]

Near the end of his life, Demetrian saw Cyprus overrun by Saracen invaders. Many Christians were taken captive and marched toward Baghdad to become slaves. Despite his advanced age, Demetrian followed them on the road and pleaded desperately for their release. Seemingly miraculously, the Saracens were persuaded and they released the captives to him. [1] [2] [5]

Legacy

A longstanding devotional following of Saint Demetrian continues through the present day in Cyprus. [1] [4] His annual feast day is celebrated on 6 November. [5]

Venerated as a patron saint of prisoners, Demetrian is also invoked in a more general fashion by a preamble to Catholic prayer: "Loving Father, through the intercession of Saint Demetrian, rescue me from the anxieties that hold me captive". [1]

Related Research Articles

Calendar of saints Christian liturgical calendar celebrating saints

The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does not mean "a large meal, typically a celebratory one", but instead "an annual religious celebration, a day dedicated to a particular saint".

Aelred of Rievaulx

Aelred of Rievaulx ; also Ailred, Ælred, and Æthelred; was an English Cistercian monk, abbot of Rievaulx from 1147 until his death, and known as a writer. He is regarded by Anglicans and Catholics as a saint.

Hymns to Mary

Marian hymns are Christian songs focused on the Virgin Mary. They are used in both devotional and liturgical services, particularly by the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran churches. They are often used in the month of May devotions. Some have also been adopted as Christmas hymns. Marian hymns are not popular among Protestants, as many Protestants see Marian veneration as idolatry. However, the practice is very common among Christians of Catholic traditions, and a key component of the Eastern Orthodox liturgy. There are many more hymns to Mary within the Eastern Orthodox yearly cycle of liturgy than in Roman Catholic liturgy.

Saint Pantaleon

Saint Pantaleon, counted in the West among the late-medieval Fourteen Holy Helpers and in the East as one of the Holy Unmercenary Healers, was a martyr of Nicomedia in Bithynia during the Diocletianic Persecution of 305 AD.

Fulgentius of Ruspe 5th and 6th-century Bishop of Ruspe and saint

Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe was bishop of the city of Ruspe, Roman province of Africa, North Africa, in modern day Tunisia, during the 5th and 6th century. He was also canonized as a Christian saint.

Ansbert Frankish Benedictine abbot and saint

Ansbert, sometimes called Ansbert of Chaussy, was a Frankish monk, abbot and bishop of Rouen, today regarded as a saint in the Catholic Church.

Saint Johns Abbey, Collegeville

Saint John's Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Collegeville Township, Minnesota, United States, affiliated with the American-Cassinese Congregation. The abbey was established following the arrival in the area of monks from Saint Vincent Archabbey in Pennsylvania in 1856. Saint John's is one of the largest Benedictine abbeys in the Western Hemisphere, with 133 professed monks. The Right Reverend Fr. John Klassen, OSB, serves as the tenth abbot.

Lydia of Thyatira

Lydia of Thyatira is a woman mentioned in the New Testament who is regarded as the first documented convert to Christianity in Europe. Several Christian denominations have designated her a saint.

Euthymius the Great

Saint Euthymius the Great was an abbot in Palestine. He is venerated in both Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches.

Stephen the Sabaite

Saint Stephen the Sabaite, also known as Stephen the Hymnographer, was a Christian monk from Julis, a district of Gaza. He was a nephew of St. John of Damascus and spent a half-century in the monastery of Mar Saba. He is venerated as a saint in the Orthodox Church.

Julia of Corsica

Saint Julia of Corsica, also known as Saint Julia of Carthage, and more rarely Saint Julia of Nonza, was a virgin martyr who is venerated as a Christian saint. The date of her death is most probably on or after AD 439. She and Saint Devota are the patron saints of Corsica in the Catholic Church. Saint Julia was declared a patroness of Corsica by the Church on August 5, 1809; Saint Devota, on March 14, 1820. Both were martyred in pre-Christian Corsica under Roman rule. Julia's feast day is May 23 in the Western liturgical calendar and July 16 in the East.

Felix of Bourges was a bishop of Bourges who later became recognized as a saint.

Peter of Atroa (773–837) was an abbot who was later canonized as a saint.

Eustace of Luxeuil, also known as Eustasius, was the second abbot of Luxeuil from 611. He succeeded his teacher Columbanus, to whom he had been a favorite disciple and monk. He had been the head of the monastic school.

John Theristus

Saint John Theristus was an Italian Byzantine monk, called Theristus or “Harvester”. Despite dying almost a century after the Great Schism of 1054, he is notably a saint in both the Catholic and Orthodox Church. The life of this monk is handed down by legends and popular beliefs.

Saint Peleus

Saint Peleus was an early Christian martyr. An Egyptian bishop, Peleus was one of four Christians who led Mass for the persecuted Christians condemned to work in the Palestinian quarries in the wake of the Diocletianic Persecution. When the Roman emperor Galerius learned of this, he had Peleus burned alive along with the other leaders, and the Christians dispersed to mines in Cyprus and Lebanon. He is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Church.

Nilus of Palestine was an early Christian martyr. An Egyptian bishop, Nilus was one of four Christians who led Mass for the persecuted Christians condemned to work in the Palestinian quarries in the wake of the Diocletianic Persecution. When the Roman emperor Galerius learned of this, he had Nilus burned alive along with the other leaders, and the Christians dispersed to mines in Cyprus and Lebanon. He is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Church.

Elias of Palestine was an early Christian martyr. A priest, Elias was one of four Christians who led Mass for the persecuted Christians condemned to work in the Palestinian quarries in the wake of the Diocletianic Persecution. When the Roman emperor Galerius learned of this, he had Elias burned alive along with the other leaders, and the Christians dispersed to mines in Cyprus and Lebanon. He is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Church.

Patermutius was an early Christian martyr. A layman, Patermutius was one of four Christians who led Mass for the persecuted Christians condemned to work in the Palestinian quarries in the wake of the Diocletianic Persecution. When the Roman emperor Galerius learned of this, he had Patermutius burned alive along with the other leaders, and the Christians dispersed to mines in Cyprus and Lebanon. He is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Church.

Elias R. Lorenzo American Benedictine monk and bishop

Elias RIchard Lorenzo OSB is an auxiliary bishop for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark, consecrated in 2020. He was previously the abbot president of the American-Cassinese Congregation of Benedictine monasteries. He was the third member of St. Mary's Abbey to hold this position and the first to become a bishop.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Saint Who? Saint Demetrian". Magnificat . Magnificat USA. 18 (3): 121. May 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Butler, Alban (1995) [1756]. Butler's Lives of the Saints. 11. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press. p. 47. ISBN   9780860122609.
  3. 1 2 "Saint Demetrian of Cyprus". CatholicSaints.info. 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Saint Demetrian". Catholic.org. Catholic Online. 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 Walsh, Michael J. (2007). A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press. p. 150. ISBN   9780814631867.
  6. ↑ Pétridès, Sophrone (1908). "Chytri". The Catholic Encyclopedia. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.