HIEROMARTYR CYRIL, BISHOP OF GORTYNA.

When Cyril was sixty-eight years old, he was consecrated Bishop of Gortyna in Crete, and he served the Church for twenty-five years. During the Christian persecutions of Emperor Diocletian, Cyril persisted in his teachings to save people from idolatry. He foresaw a vision of his death, that of a large bird carrying away his head and putting it on a high mountain. At the age of 93, he was arrested and brought before Governor Agrianos. Cyril publicly denounced the idols and the myths surrounding them and the bloody sacrifices that were abhorrent. The governor sentenced Cyril to death. He was bound and thrown into a flaming fire, but only the fetters that bound him burned, and the flames turned to ashes. When the governor saw that Cyril remained unharmed, he released him. However, when Cyril continued to convert the Greek pagans to Christianity, it was decided to put him to death. St. Cyril was taken to a remote mountainous place and was beheaded in the year 299. There is a chapel in his memory at the summit of the Asterousia Mountains of Crete.