I was recently commissioned to translate some profound and inspiring works by our Righteous Father Alexei Mechev, which I put together in a booklet. Unfortunately, after printing 500 copies, circumstances changed and the one who commissioned the work has been hospitalized and called off the purchase. Since I am at an unforeseen personal loss with this, I wanted to make these never before translated texts available to my followers for only $11.95 a copy, which includes shipping and handling. I would like to sell all of these as quick as possible, and it would be great reading material for the lenten season. As an added incentive, for the first 50 people who order, I will also offer a never before published text by Fr. John Romanides titled "The Canon and the Inspiration of the Holy Scripture" free of charge.

Pages

November 27, 2020

How Saint James the Persian Became the Patron Saint of the Deaf in Cyprus

 

 
Saint James the Persian holds a special place of honor in Cyprus. Not only are there noteworthy churches there named in his honor, some of which date back many centuries, but there is even a village named after him. But Cypriots don't call him by either of the two English translations of his name, which are James or Jacob, nor is he known by his Greek name, which is Iakovos, but in Cyprus alone he is called upon by the faithful as Akouphos.

The reason Saint James is called Akouphos is due to folk etymology. As we said, the Greek name for James is Iakovos, which somewhere down the line of history was shortened, as Greeks often do with multi-syllable names, to Akovos, which somewhere further down the line of history became falsely pronounced as Akophos and then eventually Akouphos. The Greek word "akouphos" in translation means someone who is able to hear, or someone who is not deaf. Now that Saint James became associated with deafness due to folk etymology alone, it was assumed he was also a special patron of deafness, hearing problems and ear infections. Therefore, those who had any of these ailments would flee to Saint James with faith and call upon him as "Saint Akouphos" (more commonly in Cypriot Greek as Άης Άκουφος) to be healed of their ailment, especially on his feast day which is November 27th.


Become a Patreon or Paypal Supporter

Recurring Gifts