The Church commemorates Saint John the Faster, Patriarch of Constantinople († 595) and Holy Great Martyr Mamas the Wonderworker, who was born in Paphlagonia to Christian parents, Theodotus and Rufina. For their love of Christ and the Church, they were arrested and imprisoned. Before dying from various hardships and tortures, Rufina brought to life Mama, who had been orphaned from a very young age.
However, he was raised by a wealthy Christian woman. He was named Mamas because the infant used to call this woman “mom”. At the age of 15, Mamas was arrested by pagans and subjected to horrific torture because of his courageous activity in preaching of the Holy Gospel.
His experience in prison and the knowledge that he is the offspring of martyrs gave him courage and strength to endure suffering and hardship. He was initially struck with an iron rod on his neck and thrown into the sea. However, he was rescued and then thrown into a burning fireplace, from which he again recovered. Then they threw him to the wild beasts, but managed to make the beasts docile.
According to tradition, a lion took Saint Mamas on his back and carried him away from the other beasts. This is the reason why the saint is depicted on the back of a lion in icons. Eventually, he was executed with a trident, thus surrendering his spirit to the Lord.
Source; Church of Cyprus
