Therinus

Saint Therinus of Buthrotum
Saint Therinus (middle), depicted in a mosaic inside the Rotunda of Thessaloniki.
Martyr
Born	Buthrotum, Epirus Vetus, Roman Empire (modern Butrint, Albania)
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church
Feast	April 23

Therinus (Albanian: Terin, Greek: Θερινός),[1] also known as Therinus of Buthrotum, was a Christian saint revered in Albania.

Life and martyrdom

“The Martyrdom of Therinus” was a manuscript written in Epirus probably during the 5th-8th century AD.[2]It explains during the reign of Roman Emperor Decius, the local governors of Roman provinces were replaced by more brutal ones with the intent of prosecuting more christians.[2] In the Roman-controlled city of Buthrotum, a new governor, Phillipos, of the province of Thesprotia was confronted by Therinus who professes his faith to Christianity.[2] Because of this, the governor decides to torture Therinus in multiple various ways and from there, the manuscript was broken off.[2]

In the ending of the Latin version of the manuscript, from all the miraculous salvations of all the tortures that he inflicted upon Therinus, causes the governor to convert. He lives 3 and a half more years before he died[2] and was massacred during a wave of anti-Christian persecution, most likely at the time of Emperor Decius(r. 249–251). His feast day is celebrated on April 23rd[3] and he was buried in a city called ‘Bosrena’.[2] The city Bosrena is believed to be a corruption of the Greek derived Botrotos (Bouthroton). Another theory proposed was the Arabic city of Bosra, which is highly unlikely.

See also

• Buthrotum
• Donatus of Butrint

References

1. Elsie, Robert (2000). "The Christian Saints of Albania". Balkanistica. 13. American Association for South Slavic Studies: 36.
2. Nikolaos (2018). E06577: The Greek Martyrdom of *Therinos (martyr of Bouthroton, S00395) is written probably in Bouthroton/Buthrotum (Epirus, western Balkans), and probably at some point from the 5th to the 8th century.. University of Oxford. Online resource. https://doi.org/10.25446/oxford.13904981.v1
3. Elsie, Robert (2000). A dictionary of Albanian religion, mythology, and folk culture. NYU Press. p. 249. ISBN 0-8147-2214-8.