Memorial Day of St. Niphon, Bishop of Cyprus

January 5 is marked in the Orthodox calendar as the day of remembrance of St Niphon, Bishop of Cyprus He went through a difficult path and found the strength to rise from the abyss of the Fall Nifont's struggle still inspires people and gives them hope that sincere repentance leads to forgiveness Niphon was born in the Paphlagonian city of Plagion As a child, he was a kind and meek child, often visiting the temple with his parents Nifont received his education in the Byzantine Empire, where his immediate circle was formed Friends led Nifont along a crooked path He began to lead a depraved life and stopped attending church Niphon was sure that his sins would not find forgiveness, so there was no point in begging him Every year he sank lower and lower, until finally, during a chance meeting, one of his friends named Nicodemus told Niphon that his face had turned black He compared him to an Ethiopian The future bishop at that moment realized that all the dirt of his soul began to poison his body Nifont finally realized the depth of the abyss into which he had been rapidly falling over the past years Frightened by his fate, he went to the temple in horror, where he asked for help in the fight against his sins A small miracle happened here Nifont turned his gaze to the icon depicting the Virgin Mary and she smiled at him Taking this as a good sign, Niphon began to desperately pray to the Mother of God When he returned to the crooked path and committed sins, the face of the Virgin Mary turned away from him If Nifont again took the right path and sincerely repented of what he had done, then she would illuminate him with her merciful smile Nifont was an ordinary person; it was difficult for him to resist temptations One of the most terrible sins of the future bishop was idle talk Although Niphon tried to eradicate it, all his attempts were in vain As punishment, God sent him a serious illness that exhausted his body Niphon suffered, but one day Anastasia the Pattern Maker and the Virgin Mary came to him in a dream, they convicted him of the sin of idle talk and healed him of a terrible illness This moment became a turning point in Nifont’s life He finally realized what fate was in store for him, so he resolutely renounced everything worldly and took monastic vows The man repented and spent days frantically praying to God, trying to receive forgiveness Niphon realized that his spirit was too weak, and therefore his flesh was easily led by temptations He decided to tame his body The monk exhausted himself in order to subjugate the flesh to the spirit The demons tried to prevent the cleansing of Niphon They hated him, whispered blasphemous speeches and came up with new temptations They managed to sow doubt in his soul, which sprouted from a tiny seed and entwined his spirit with steel shackles Nifont spent four years in difficult spiritual struggle Ultimately, he prayed to Jesus to remove his doubts and convince him of his existence Another miracle happened - at the command of the Lord, the Face of the Savior came to life, which strengthened Nifont’s faith and put an end to the fight against demons From the grace that descended on Niphon, he began to cry, and the demons stopped all attempts to tempt him, because they no longer had power over his spirit Saint Niphon received a blessing and an amazing gift He could see demons among people and drive them out by the power of his faith and prayer This gift helped Nifont save many from a terrible fate Already a gray-haired old man, the saint went to Alexandria On the eve of his arrival, the patriarch had a vision in which God pointed to the newcomer as a person worthy of a high rank Niphon was ordained bishop of one of the cities of Cyprus - Constantia Unfortunately, after moving to his new abode, he lived very little It is believed that Nifont learned about his imminent death three days in advance In the last hour of his earthly life, the elder was met by the Virgin Mary with many saints Since Nifont was a famous fighter against evil spirits, on his holiday in Rus' they baked flat cakes according to a special recipe It was believed that such a treat would help protect livestock from the machinations of harmful spirits Before baking began, the barn was thoroughly cleaned The walls were thoroughly caulked if, during the inspection, cracks were found that released precious heat The floor was covered with fresh straw, and bunches of thistles were hung from the beams near the ceiling This plant was believed to ward off evil spirits After completing the cleaning, they began to knead the dough The main ingredient was bran The cakes were taken out of the oven and still hot, wrapped in a clean towel It was extremely important to do this quickly so that not a single evil spirit had time to touch the baked goods Then the cakes were carried to the barn and given a piece to the horses, cows, goats, and sheep The chickens were fed special grain The day before the holiday, it was placed in a pole in front of the stove and it warmed up for a day For themselves, people baked gingerbread in the shape of animals It was believed that windy weather on this day predicted a good harvest