Saint Epiphanius of Salamis

Epiphanius was born around 310 AD into a very poor Jewish farming family near Eleutheropolis in Palestine. After his parents' death, at the age of ten, he was drawn to Christianity under the influence of two well-known ascetics, Lucian and Hilarion, and withdrew to the Palestinian desert.

There he lived as an ascetic for many years studying the Scriptures, gaining a reputation for virtue, and in 367 became bishop of Constantia (formerly Salamis) in Cyprus. From that position he spent decades combating the heresies of his time, especially the teachings of Origen, and wrote numerous works, among them the "Panarion", a refutation of eighty heresies.

In 381 he took part in the Second Ecumenical Council. He died at sea while returning from Constantinople, on 12 May 403, after 36 years as bishop.