June 16. Tikhon of Amafunt.
Our Holy Father Tikhon, Bishop of Amafunt, Wonderworker.
Venerable Tikhon of Lukh. Holy Martyrs Tigria the Presbyter and Eutropiy the Reader.
Venerable Tikhon of Kaluga (Medyn).
Saint Tikhon, Bishop of Amafunt
Saint Tikhon, Bishop of Amafunt, was born in the city of Amafunt on the island of Cyprus. His parents raised him in Christian piety and taught him to read the Holy Scriptures. Tradition holds that the gift of wonderworking appeared in him even from his youth.
His father owned a bakery and would send the boy to sell loaves of bread. The holy youth would give the bread freely to the poor. When his father learned of this, he was angry, but the boy replied that he had read in the sacred books, “He that giveth to God shall receive an hundredfold.” “I,” said the youth, “am lending the bread to God.” He then invited his father to visit the granary. To his astonishment, the father found the once-empty storehouse filled to overflowing with wheat. From that day forward, he no longer forbade the boy from giving bread to the needy.
One day, a gardener threw out dry, pruned vine branches. Saint Tikhon gathered them and planted them in his garden, praying that the Lord would cause them to take root and bear fruit beneficial for the health of men. And the Lord granted his prayer through the faith of the holy youth. The branches took root and bore fruit of special and delightful taste. The grapes were used during the saint’s lifetime and afterward to make wine for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.
The devout youth was received into the church clergy, made a reader, and later ordained deacon by Bishop Memnon of Amafunt. After Bishop Memnon’s repose, Tikhon was chosen by common agreement to succeed him as bishop. His consecration was performed by Saint Epifaniy, Bishop of Cyprus (†403; commemorated May 12).
As bishop, Saint Tikhon labored zealously to eradicate the remnants of paganism in Cyprus. He destroyed idol shrines and planted the Christian faith. The saint was merciful, his house always open to all. He listened with love and responded to the requests of every person who came to him. Unafraid of threats or torment, he boldly and unwaveringly confessed his faith before the pagans.
In the church service to Saint Tikhon, it is said that he foresaw the time of his repose, which took place in the year 425.
Venerable Tikhon of Kaluga
Details of the life of Venerable Tikhon of Kaluga have been preserved only through oral tradition. It is said that in his youth, he was a monk of the Chudov Monastery in Moscow, and later withdrew to a wilderness some 17 versts from Kaluga. There he settled in the hollow of a great oak tree.
The holiness of his life drew many disciples to him, and thus a monastery was founded in honor of the Dormition of the Most Holy God-bearer, known as the Tikhonov Hermitage (Tikhonova pustyn’). He reposed in the year 1492.