Biography
Tikhon of Amathus
About Tikhon of Amathus
Tikhon came from Amathus on Cyprus, where his father kept a bakery. The church tradition remembers him giving bread to poor people despite his father’s initial anger. In the story, an empty store of grain was then found replenished, persuading his father to allow the charity. Another miracle narrative associates Tikhon with discarded vine cuttings that took root and yielded fruit used for Eucharistic wine.
He served first as a reader, then as a deacon under Bishop Mnemonios. After that bishop’s death, he was chosen to succeed him, with Epiphanius presiding at his consecration. The account describes an energetic campaign against pagan worship, including the destruction of a temple, alongside generosity toward those who approached him. His death is conventionally placed in 425 by this notice. The miracle stories preserve the devotional character of his memory and require distinction from independently established biographical dates.
Catholic Online identifies him as patron of winegrowers on Cyprus. This designation is recorded explicitly, rather than inferred from the vine miracle.
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