Saint Spyridon

Saint Spyridon was one of the Desert Fathers quoted in the Apophthegmata Patrum (Sayings of the Desert Fathers).

Quotes

Wortley, John (2014). Give Me a Word: The Alphabetical Sayings of the Desert Fathers. Yonkers, New York: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press. ISBN 978-0-88141-497-4. 

• Concerning Spyridon, so great was the sanctity when he was a shepherd that he was deemed worthy to become a shepherd of men too. He was called to be bishop of one of the cities of Cyprus, Trimithus by name. Being a very modest person, he tended his sheep while holding the bishopric.
  Once in the middle of the night some thieves crept up to the sheepfold intending to steal some of the sheep. But God, who was saving the shepherd, saved the sheep too: the thieves were trussed up near the fold by an unseen force.
  At first light the shepherd came to the sheep and, finding [the thieves] with their hands [tied] behind their backs, he realized what had happened. He offered a prayer then released the thieves. He admonished and exhorted them at some length to pursue honest work rather than live from evil-doing.
  He gave them one ram and sent them on their way; calling out laughingly he said: “The ram is so you will not seem to have been up all night for nothing.”
  • Saying 1