Our Father among the Saints Euthymius the Wonderworker, Bishop of Madytos
Life
Saint Euthymius the Wonderworker was a tenth-century bishop of Madytos, a town on the European shore of the Hellespont. Born early in the tenth century at Epivates in Thrace (the modern Selimpasa), he was the brother of Saint Paraskevi of Epivates. After the death of his father, Niketas, his mother entrusted him to a monastery in Constantinople, where he passed some thirty years in the monastic life before withdrawing to solitary asceticism out of his love of silence.
Ordained deacon and then presbyter, he was in time raised to the episcopate of Madytos, where his reputation for miracles and healings earned him the epithet 'Wonderworker.' He reposed in peace toward the close of the tenth century, and myrrh streaming from his tomb confirmed the holiness of his life, drawing the sick to seek his intercession. The Orthodox Church commemorates him on May 5.
Timeline 4 moments
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Early 10th centuryBirth at EpivatesEuthymius was born at Epivates in Thrace (modern Selimpasa). His sister was Saint Paraskevi of Epivates. After his father, Niketas, died, his mother placed him in a monastery in Constantinople.
10th centuryMonastic life and ordinationHe spent about thirty years in the monastery before leaving communal life for solitary asceticism out of his love of silence. He was ordained deacon by the bishop of Perinthos and afterward presbyter, before being elevated to the episcopate of Madytos.
989Visit of Emperor Basil IIAccording to his life, the Emperor Basil II (reigned 976-1025) visited Bishop Euthymius at Madytos, and the saint foretold the emperor's victory over the rebel Bardas Phokas, which fell in 989.
989-996ReposeSaint Euthymius reposed in peace sometime between the years 989 and 996. Myrrh began to gush from his tomb, and he came to be called the 'Myrrhgusher.'
Contributions & Legacy
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Episcopate at Madytos
Madytos lay on the European side of the Hellespont, the narrow strait linking the Aegean to the Sea of Marmara. As its bishop, Euthymius was known both for his charitable work and for the healings attributed to his prayers, which won him the title 'Wonderworker' already during his lifetime.
His life records that the Emperor Basil II came to him at Madytos and received from him a prophecy of victory against the rebel general Bardas Phokas; the rebellion was indeed broken in 989. This episode places Euthymius's episcopate within the turbulent military politics of the late tenth-century Byzantine Empire.
Relics & Shrines
After his repose, myrrh began to flow from the saint's tomb, which his hagiographers understood as a testimony to the sanctity of his life and gave rise to his epithet 'the Myrrhgusher.' The faithful, and especially the sick, came to the tomb with faith and were healed.
The myrrh itself was carried away and used by the faithful, who attributed cures to anointing with it. Several of the miracles preserved in his memory are tied directly to this myrrh and to his tomb.
Miracles
Historically documented: The principal account of the saint's miracles survives in an encomium composed by George of Cyprus, who later became Patriarch of Constantinople in the thirteenth century. He wrote it at the request of Meletios, then bishop of Madytos, who had earlier been bishop of Athens.
Traditional accounts: Among the posthumous miracles recorded are the healing of a widow's son from leprosy after he was anointed with the saint's myrrh; the cure of a wealthy man of Byzantium by the myrrh from the tomb; the restoration of sight to a blind woman at the tomb; the healing of a man with a withered hand; the calming of a storm at sea when his myrrh was poured into the waters; and the deliverance of a captive Roman soldier, who called upon the saint and was freed after the saint appeared to him in his sleep.
