Commemorated on August 27
Who this Saint was and when he lived is not known. He is greatly venerated on Rhodes and Crete. In the year 1500 Phanourios appeared to people on the island of Rhodes, where he manifested miracles of healing. There, an old icon of him was found in which Phanourios is portrayed as a young soldier holding a cross in his right hand, and a lighted taper in his left.
St. Phanourios is greatly venerated in Egypt as well. In Egypt, there exists a tradition that his mother was a grievous sinner whom even he, her son, was unable to correct. Even so, his filial love for his mother was extraordinarily great. He prayed for his mother’s salvation more than his own.
When pagans stoned him to death for the sake of Christ, St. Phanourios prayed to God:”For the sake of my suffering for Thee, Lord, help all of those who pray to Thee for the salvation of Phanourios’s sinful mother.: In Egypt many Christians pray thus: “Save, O Lord, the mother of St. Phanourios, and help me a sinner.” Many receive help through these prayers.
Troparion & Kontakion
Troparion — Tone 4
A heavenly song of praise is chanted radiantly upon the earth / the company of angels now joyfully celebrates an earthly festival, / and from on high with hymns they praise your contests, / and from below, the church proclaims the heavenly glory / which you have found by your labors and struggles, / O glorious Phanourius.
Kontakion — Tone 3
You saved the priests from an ungodly captivity, / and broke their bonds by divine power, O godly-minded one; / you bravely put to shame the audacity of the tyrants, / and made glad the orders of the angels, O great martyr. / Therefore, we honor you, O divine warrior, glorious Phanourius.