Venerable Neophytos the Recluse of Cyprus

IMPORTANT NOTE: the stub "Neophytos 2" contained no date and gave no direct way to determine which "second Neophytos" was intended (the database already has an entry for the Great Martyr Neophytos of Nicaea, a boy-martyr). Among saints of this name, the strongest candidate for a separate, standalone entry is Venerable Neophytos the Recluse of Cyprus — the most famous "second Neophytos" in church tradition; no direct source confirms the stub specifically intended him, hence verification_status=uncertain. A far less likely alternative candidate is the Venerable Martyr Neophytos of Lipsi (island of Lipsi, Dodecanese, d. April 6, 1558, martyred under Ottoman persecution, feast June 28) — categorically closer to "martyr" but extremely thinly attested.

Venerable Neophytos was born around 1134 in the village of Lefkara, Cyprus. At age 18 he entered the monastery of St. John Chrysostom at Koutsovendis to escape a marriage arranged by his parents, and was tonsured a monk. He became a hermit, and later founded the Enkleistra ("Enclosure") hermitage near Paphos, hewn into the rock — which grew into a monastery, of which he became the first abbot.

Neophytos was a prolific theologian, chronicler, and hagiographer; he wrote in demotic Greek and is considered one of the first authors to use the Cypriot dialect in literature. His "Typike Diatheke" (Rule-Testament, 1214) is a key source for his biography. He also left a chronicle of the Third Crusade and Richard the Lionheart's 1191 conquest of Cyprus — a valuable eyewitness historical account.

He reposed after 1214 (the exact date of repose is variously given as 1214, 1219, or 1220). His feast is kept on January 24, with his repose separately marked on April 12 and the translation of his relics on September 28, 1750.