The Relics from the East
Tryphon Saint Tryphon and His Devotion By Fr. Giuseppe Diana (Translated by L. Pavese) The relics that came from the Orient. Saint Basil the Great (329-379 AD), wrote about the relics of the martyrs: “By touching the relics of the martyrs we participate in the sanctity and in the grace contained therein.” The worship of the relics of martyrs spread throughout the Roman Empire, especially after Emperor Constantine’s Edict of Milan of 313, when freedom of worship led also to some excesses; to the point that Emperor Theodosius l (347-395 AD) had to prohibit the transportation of the relics, although his edict did not go actually into effect, and only in a limited way, until the 9 th century. According to the Sinexarion of Constantinople and the Russian calendars, the reported day of the martyrdom of Saint Tryphon was February 2 but due to the Candlemas, it was moved to February 3. With the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, which was enthusiastically welcomed in Europe, Pope Clemen