"The world is the general name for all the passions... Someone has said of the Saints that while alive they were dead; for though living in the flesh, they did not live for the flesh. See for which of these passions you are alive. Then you will know how far you are alive to the world, and how far you are dead to it." — Saint Isaac the Syrian

🔸 Synaxis of All Saints of Cyprus 🔸 Today, the first Sunday of October, we commemorate the Synaxis of all the Saints who have shone forth on Cyprus, the “Island of Saints”. From apostolic times until the present day, we know of 240 Saints from Cyprus - many more remain unknown to us. There are also many Saints which are only known to the Cypriot people, preserved by local tradition, which are not included in the official synaxarion. For this reason, on the first Sunday of October is commemorated all the Saints of the island of Cyprus, both known and unknown. At the base of the icon we see the Holy Apostles Barnabas and Paul holding the Church of Cyprus. Saint Barnabas was a native of the island, and he is regarded as the first Bishop and founder of the Church of Cyprus. The two preached there together during Paul’s first missionary journey. Behind them we see Saints Constantine and Helen who founded the Stavrovouni Monastery (shown directly behind them) in 327 AD. This monastery stands on the top of a hill called Stavrovouni (“the mountain of the Cross”), and derives its name because it is one of the few places which preserves to this day a piece of the True Cross on which Christ was crucified. Tradition holds that after Saint Helen found the True Cross in Jerusalem, she stopped in Cyprus on her return to Constantinople and left this portion there. Among the Apostles and Holy Fathers who preached on the island, we also see Lazarus of Bethany who, after he was raised from the dead by Christ, preached the Gospel in Cyprus and became the first Bishop of Kition (modern-day Larnaca). A great Church in Larnaca dedicated to Saint Lazarus preserves his tomb and relics. This icon of the choir of Saints who laboured on the island also includes: Saint Mark the Evangelist, Saint Spyridon of Trimythous, Saint Neophytos the Recluse, Saint John Lampadistes, Saint John the Merciful, Saint Photini of Cyprus, Saint Epiphanius of Salamis, and Saint Philoumenos of Jacob’s Well. At the top of the icon we see the Panagia enclosed in a halo bearing several of her names/titles associated with Cyprus: “Machairiotissa”, “Kykkotissa” and “Trooditissa”.