Martyr Barypsabas in Dalmatia
Saint Barypsabas (Βαρυψάβας) of Dalmatia was a hermit and a Martyr, the guardian of the blood of Christ. According to one source, a righteous man named Jacob, who was present at the crucifixion of the Savior, collected blood and water from the Lord’s side in a vessel made from a gourd. In order to conceal the holy object from wicked men, Jacob filled the vessel with oil; and from its contents many healings and miracles took place. After Jacob’s death, the vessel passed to two hermits. One of them, before his death, gave the vessel to Barypsabas, or perhaps to the Syrians, who later fought in the area of Kattara Sukhrei (Σουχρεῶν), in Persia. Before his martyrdom in the second century, Saint Barypsabas gave the vessel to his disciple. The author of the Life of Saint Barypsabas, published in Acta Sanctorum (BHG, No. 238), is unknown.
The story of those who shed the Savior's blood appears in the MENOLOGION of Basil II (X century), which also mentions the martyrdom of Saint Barypsabas. Some villains, who heard about the miracles and healings from the hidden vessel containing the blood of Christ, decided to seize the vessel and use it for mercenary purposes. After attacking Barypsabas during the night, they killed him, but they did not find what they were looking for in the vessel.
According to Saint Νikόdēmos the Hagiorite, the vessel, of which Barysabas was the guardian, did not contain the actual blood and water which flowed from Christ's side, but rather from an icon of Christ, when some Jews stabbed His side on the icon.
The legend of the "Miracle in Berite" (BHG, No. 780) is attributed to Saint Athanasios the Great, Patriarch of Alexandria. However, according to the Roman Martyrology, this miracle occurred in 765. The blood from the icon of the Savior in Berite was transferred to Constantinople in the X century, during the reign of Emperor John Tzimiskes.