Memorial Day of St. Neophytos in Cyprus (24/01)

Nine kilometers from Paphos is one of the most beautiful, largest and most visited monasteries in Cyprus — Monastery of St. Neophytos. This saint was a native of the famous mountain village of Levkara, famous throughout the world for the art of lace making and jewelry making, as well as household items made of silver.

From a very young age, Neophytos decided that he would serve God and began to prepare himself to accept monasticism. Neophyte's parents saw him as the successor of the family and wanted to marry him, but the young man was adamant in his decision and eventually left home. He went to the mountain monastery of St. John Chrysostom and took monastic vows.

Neophyte cultivated vineyards and loved to spend time in solitude, reading prayers and theological works. He was so successful in this that he managed to memorize the Psalter. Neophyte began to ask the experienced elders to let him go to prepare a place for complete solitude, but was refused. The elders dissuaded the young monk from this act, guided by the considerations that he would not be able to cope with all the temptations and temptations that would overtake him.

Neophyte decides to visit the Holy Places in Jerusalem and try to find peace in one of the deserts. But not finding one, he returned to his homeland and tried to sail by ship to a monastery settlement, to Asia Minor, but this was not possible either. Neophytos' fate gave him the opportunity to find solitude in Cyprus itself.

One day Neophyte found a cave that was not man-made, set it up and settled in it. First he built a church in the name of the Holy Cross, and then erected a small monastery «Enclistra», which translated means «Place of the gate». He did not allow any of the monks to approach his settlement, but, at the insistence of Bishop Basil Kimanos of Paphos, four years later he agreed to accept one student, and then many others.

The Cypriots have a legend that Neophyte made a small hole in the roof of the first church he built and listened to beautiful monastic singing. This served as the only «entertainment» of the hermit.

He went to the Lord at a respectable age, he was over 80. No one still knows the exact date of his death. Cypriots sacredly honor Neophyte by coming to his cave and asking for his help in a variety of everyday situations. On January 24, a solemn religious procession takes place to the cave of St. Neophyte. It is memorable that this day for the memory of Neophytos was established by the saint himself, during his lifetime, when he miraculously survived the construction of a new cave called «New Zion».

The service in the small cave temple is performed once a year. The Cypriots also glorify Neophyte on September 28, the day when his holy relics were miraculously found.

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