The Holy Martyr Tryphon was from Lampsacus in Phrygia, and as a young man he tended geese. Being filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, he also healed sufferings and cast out demons. During the reign of the Emperor Decius, about the year 250, he was betrayed as a Christian and taken to Nicea, where he was beaten, bound to horses and dragged over rough ground, then dragged naked over nails; his sides were burned with torches; finally he was sentenced to beheading, but gave up his holy soul in his torments before the stroke of the sword. Saint Tryphon is one of the Holy Unmercenaries, and is also invoked for the protection of gardens from insects and pests.
Reading copyright Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA, used by permission. All rights reserved.
