"The Monk" by Kostis Palamas

THE MONK

by Kostis Palamas

You allowed your skete to be on the dry cliff
and lived there
below the depths of heaven,
a monk with prayer.
On the rock you leaned. The years passed.
God shines within you.
With your sacred work you deepened even the cliff,
and it became a temple.


37 Years of Monastic Labor

Pilgrim: Father, how many years have you been in the monastery?

The Elder: 37 years my son and I still have done NOTHING!

And what do we have to say for ourselves?

(by the blessed Elder Damascene, Skete of the Resurrection in Limassol)

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The Relationship Between Saint Gregory Palamas and the Theotokos Together With a Sermon on Her Dormition

St. Gregory Palamas with his righteous family

THE PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP OF ST. GREGORY PALAMAS WITH THE THEOTOKOS

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos, from his book Saint Gregory Palamas as a Hagiorite

Every Saint loves the Panagia. Sainthood is not understood without this Theotokophilia. It occurs because the Saints, after tasting the Love of God, communing of the Body and Blood of Christ, and experiencing the gifts of the incarnation of Christ, feel the need to give thanks also to that person who was the cause of this great joy. It is well known that the Saints are very sensitive and are therefore grateful for even the smallest gifts which they receive, and much more for the great gift of the deification of human nature, which came about in the Tomb of the Theotokos. She gave her flesh to the Son and Word of God for His incarnation.

This is also the case with St. Gregory Palamas. However, the Saint felt love for the Panagia also for other reasons. He was granted to see her in his life; he was her protege. We shall give more details to demonstrate this truth, as his biographer Philotheos Kokkinos, Patriarch of Constantinople, describes them.

The first indication is the fact that from an early age he was given into the protection of the Theotokos by his father. Before his father died, St. Gregory's mother asked him to ask the emperor to protect his children. That Saintly man not only did not accept her words, but rebuked her in a way and said to her. "I do not leave my children to some earthly rulers, but I leave my children to the Mistress of all, the mother of the King of heaven." And indeed at the time when he said these things he was looking at the icon of the Theotokos which was in front of him. St. Philotheos says in the biography of St. Gregory that the words of his holy father came true, because the Theotokos herself persuaded the emperor to take care of the orphan children, and also later "she was seen to be their protectress and guide, and in every way the savior of both their souls and their bodies."

The second circumstance which shows that his father's prophetic words were actually fulfilled and the Theotokos was a wonderful sponsor, governess and guide, came from the period of his studies. At the beginning of his studies the Saint had difficulty in memorizing. Then he placed a restriction on himself not to come near the books and not to begin reading without first having knelt three time before the icon of the Theotokos, saying a prayer at the same time. When he did this every day he succeeded very easily in memorizing and reciting the lessons. But if he sometimes forgot to follow this rule even the recitation failed right away. At the same time, as Philotheos says, the Panagia persuaded the emperor to be the guardian of the children and to assume all their personal expenses. Furthermore the emperor showed particular sympathy, for he invited them to come to see him and talked with them in a kind and loving way.

The third sign is from the period of his asceticism on Mount Athos. Immediately after he came to the Holy Mountain he gave himself over with great zeal to ascesis, fasting, vigil and unceasing prayer. It is significant, according to the information of St. Philotheos Kokkinos, that he prayed unceasingly to the Theotokos. He prayed day and night to God, projecting the Mother of God "as guide, protector and mediator, all the time bringing before his eyes her aid and her countenance, with words and prayers and noetic movements, and pondering the way of obedience with her guidance." So in the first two years the Saint was praying constantly to God, with the Panagia as his guide and mediator. The prayer which he was saying at that time was "enlighten my darkness."

During a great stillness, while his nous had turned inward and to God, John the Evangelist appeared to him, not in a dream, but in a vision, and assured him that he had been sent "as a messenger from the Queen beyond," to find out why he was constantly praying: "Enlighten my darkness, enlighten my darkness." St. Gregory replied that, since he is a passionate man, he was praying to be enlightened by God to be conformed to His saving will. Then John the Evangelist said: "Do not be afraid, do not doubt... the Queen of all is giving the order through us: 'I myself will be your help'." And when again St. Gregory asked when the Theotokos would be his help and ally, in the present or future life, then the Evangelist replied: "Both before and now, and in both the present and the future."

This appearance of St. John the Evangelist, sent by the Most Holy Theotokos, was revealed by St. Gregory himself years later to his fellow-monk Dorotheos, later Metropolitan of Thessaloniki. It is characteristic that the Theotokos heard the prayer and assured him that, just as long ago, so also now and in the future, she would be his helper and defender, and moreover, that she was filling him with divine gifts.

The fourth sign is the revelation which the Theotokos herself made to St. Gregory. It was at the time when he had returned to the Lavra, but he was staying at St. Savas frontisterion outside the Monastery of the Great Lavra. He once prayed for himself and his fellow monk to the Panagia, "the usual governor and deliverer," that both their guidance and their journey toward God might be unimpeded, but also that they might have what they needed for their nourishment, in order not to be very much occupied with collecting supplies and neglect prayer. Then the Panagia, the Queen of all, appeared in a vision, "dressed modestly and purely," just as the holy icons present her. Many saints had appeared and were following her. Then the Theotokos turned and gave them the order to serve St. Gregory and his companion: "From now on you are to be stewards and distributors of the necessities for Gregory and his companion." And St. Gregory was assured that from then on "all that was necessary for our bodily needs was offered us without effort wherever we happened to be."

From what we have said it is clear that St. Gregory Palamas had a close relationship and communion with the Theotokos. All the things that he writes about her, which we shall see further on, are obviously not dry, intellectual thoughts and reasoning conjectures, but experiences of the Panagia. This explains his great love for her. We can also see the progressive manifestation and revelation of the Theotokos. At first, through his father's prayer, she took up his protection. Then she showed him clearly that he must trust in her, for she would protect him throughout his studies. Then, through John the Evangelist, she assured him that she would be his helper and protector, and finally she herself was revealed personally. Throughout his life the Saint was convinced that he had the protection and help of the Theotokos, and therefore he struggled with strength and courage, expounded the theology of the Church in an Orthodox way and defeated the heresies of his time.

ORTHODOX HERITAGE, OCTOBER 2004, BROTHERHOOD OF ST .POIMEN

_______________________________________

A Homily on the Dormition of Our Supremely Pure Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary

by St. Gregory Palamas

Both love and duty today fashion my homily for your charity. It is not only that I wish, because of my love for you, and because I am obliged by the sacred canons, to bring to your God-loving ears a saving word and thus to nourish your souls, but if there be any among those things that bind by obligation and love and can be narrated with praise for the Church, it is the great deed of the Ever-Virgin Mother of God. The desire is double, not single, since it induces me, entreats and persuades me, whereas the inexorable duty constrains me, though speech cannot attain to what surpasses it, just as the eye is unable to look fixedly upon the sun. One cannot utter things which surpass speech, yet it is within our power by the love for mankind of those hymned, to compose a song of praise and all at once both to leave untouched intangible things, to satisfy the debt with words and to offer up the first fruits of our love for the Mother of God in hymns composed according to our abilities.

If, then, “death of the righteous man is honorable” (cf. Ps. 115:6) and the “memory of the just man is celebrated with songs of praise” (Prov. 10:7), how much more ought we to honor with great praises the memory of the holiest of the Saints, she by whom all holiness is afforded to the Saints, I mean the Ever-Virgin Mother of God! Even so we celebrate today her holy dormition or translation to another life, whereby, while being “a little lower than angels” (Ps. 8:6), by her proximity to the God of all, and in the wondrous deeds which from the beginning of time were written down and accomplished with respect to her, she has ascended incomparably higher than the angels and the archangels and all the super-celestial hosts that are found beyond them. For her sake the God-bearing prophets pronounce prophecies, miracles are wrought to foreshadow that future marvel of the whole world, the Ever-Virgin Mother of God. The flow of generations and circumstances journeys to the destination of that new mystery wrought in her; the statutes of the Spirit provide beforehand types of the future truth. The end, or rather, the beginning and root of those divine wonders and deeds is the annunciation to the supremely virtuous Joachim and Anna of what was to be accomplished: namely, that they who were barren from youth would beget in deep old age her that would bring forth without seed Him that was timelessly begotten of God the Father before the ages. A vow was given by those who marvelously begot her to return her that was given to the Giver; so accordingly the Mother of God strangely changed her dwelling from the house of her father to the house of God while still an infant. She passed not a few years in the Holy of Holies itself, wherein under the care of an angel she enjoyed ineffable nourishment such as even Adam did not succeed in tasting; for indeed if he had, like this immaculate one, he would not have fallen away from life, even though it was because of Adam and so that she might prove to be his daughter, that she yielded a little to nature, as did her Son, Who has now ascended from earth into heaven.

But after that unutterable nourishment, a most mystical economy of courtship came to pass as regards the Virgin, a strange greeting surpassing speech which the Archangel, descended from above, addressed to her, and disclosures and salutations from God which overturn the condemnation of Eve and Adam and remedy the curse laid on them, transforming it into a blessing. The King of all “hath desired a mystic beauty” of the Ever-Virgin, as David foretold (Ps. 44:11) and, “He bowed the heavens and came down” (Ps. 17:9) and overshadowed her, or rather, the enhypostatic Power of the Most High dwelt in her. Not through darkness and fire, as with Moses the God-seer, nor through tempest and cloud, as with Elias the prophet, did He manifest His presence, but without mediation, without a veil, the Power of the Most High overshadowed the sublimely chaste and virginal womb, separated by nothing, neither air nor aether nor anything sensible, nor anything supra-sensible: this was not an overshadowing but a complete union. Since what overshadows is always wont to produce its own form and figure in whatever is overshadowed, there came to pass in the womb not a union only, but further, a formation, and that thing formed from the Power of the Most High and the all-holy virginal womb was the Word of God incarnate. Thus the Word of God took up His dwelling in the Theotokos in an inexpressible manner and proceeded from her, bearing flesh. He appeared upon the earth and lived among men, deifying our nature and granting us, after the words of the divine Apostle, “things which angels desire to look into” (1 Pet. 1:12). This is the encomium which transcends nature and the surpassingly glorious glory of the Ever-Virgin, glory for which all mind and word suffice not, though they be angelic. But who can relate those things which came to pass after His ineffable birth? For, as she co-operated and suffered with that exalting condescension (kenosis) of the Word of God, she was also rightly glorified and exalted together with Him, ever adding thereto the supernatural increase of mighty deeds. And after the ascent into the heavens of Him that was incarnate of her, she rivaled, as it were, those great works, surpassing mind and speech, which through Him were her own, with a most valiant and diverse asceticism, and with her prayers and care for the entire world, her precepts and encouragements which she gave to God’s heralds sent throughout the whole world; thus she was herself both a support and a comfort while she was both heard and seen, and while she labored with the rest in every way for the preaching of the Gospel. In such wise she led a most strenuous manner of life proclaimed in mind and speech.

Therefore, the death of the Theotokos was also life-bearing, translating her into a celestial and immortal life and its commemoration is a joyful event and festivity for the entire world. It not merely renews the memory of the wondrous deeds of the Mother of God, but also adds thereto the strange gathering at her all-sacred burial of all the sacred apostles conveyed from every nation, the God-revealing hymns of these God-possessed ones, and the solicitous presence of the angels, and their choir, and liturgy round about her, going on before, following after, assisting, opposing, defending, being defended. They labored and chanted together to their uttermost with those who venerated that life-originating and God-receiving body, the saving balsam for our race and the boast of all creation; but they strove against and opposed with a secret hand the Jews who rose up against and attacked that body with hand and will set upon theomachy. All the while the Lord Sabaoth Himself, the Son of the Ever-Virgin, was present, into Whose hands she rendered her divinely-minded spirit, through which and with which its companion, her body, was translated into the domain of celestial and endless life, even as was and is fitting. In truth, many have been allotted divine favor and glory and power, as David says, “But to me exceedingly honorable are Thy friends, O Lord, their principalities are made exceeding strong. I will count them and they shall be multiplied more than the sand” (Ps. 138:17). And according to Solomon, “many daughters have attained wealth, many have wrought valiantly; but she doth exceed, she hath surpassed all, both men and women” (cf. Prov. 31:29). For while she alone stood between God and the whole human race, God became the Son of Man and made men sons of God; she made earth heavenly, she deified the human race, and she alone of all women was shown forth to be a mother by nature and the Mother of God transcending every law of nature, and by her ineffable childbirth - the Queen of all creation, both terrestial and celestial. Thus she exalted those under her through herself, and, showing while on earth an obedience to things heavenly rather than things earthly, she partook of more excellent deserts and of superior power, and from the ordination which she received from heaven by the Divine Spirit, she became the most sublime of the sublime and the supremely blest Queen of a blessed race.

But now the Mother of God has her dwelling in Heaven where she was today translated, for this is meet, Heaven being a suitable place for her. She “stands at the right of the King of all clothed in a vesture wrought with gold and arrayed with diverse colors” (cf. Ps. 44:9), as the psalmic prophecy says concerning her. By “vesture wrought with gold” understand her divinely radiant body arrayed with diverse colors of every virtue. She alone in her body, glorified by God, now enjoys the celestial realm together with her Son. For, earth and grave and death did not hold forever her life-originating and God-receiving body - the dwelling more favored than Heaven and the Heaven of heavens. If, therefore, her soul, which was an abode of God’s grace, ascended into Heaven when bereaved of things here below, a thing which is abundantly evident, how could it be that the body which not only received in itself the pre-eternal and only-begotten Son of God, the ever-flowing Wellspring of grace, but also manifested His Body by way of birth, should not have also been taken up into Heaven? Or, if while yet three years of age and not yet possessing that super-celestial indwelling, she seemed not to bear our flesh as she abode in the Holy of Holies, and after she became supremely perfect even as regards her body by such great marvels, how indeed could that body suffer corruption and turn to earth? How could such a thing be conceivable for anyone who thinks reasonably? Hence, the body which gave birth is glorified together with what was born of it with God-befitting glory, and the “ark of holiness” (Ps. 131:8) is resurrected, after the prophetic ode, together with Christ Who formerly arose from the dead on the third day. The strips of linen and the burial clothes afford the apostles a demonstration of the Theotokos’ resurrection from the dead, since they remained alone in the tomb and at the apostles’ scrutiny they were found there, even as it had been with the Master. There was no necessity for her body to delay yet a little while in the earth, as was the case with her Son and God, and so it was taken up straightway from the tomb to a super-celestial realm, from whence she flashes forth most brilliant and divine illuminations and graces, irradiating earth’s region; thus she is devotedly venerated and marvelled at and hymned by all the faithful . Willing to set up an image of all goodness and beauty and to make clearly manifest His own therein to both angels and men, God fashioned a being supremely good and beautiful, uniting in her all good, seen and unseen, which when He made the world He distributed to each thing and thereby adorned all; or rather one might say, He showed her forth as a universal mixing bowl of all divine, angelic and human things good and beautiful and the supreme beauty which embellished both worlds. By her ascension now from the tomb, she is taken from the earth and attains to Heaven and this also she surpasses, uniting those on high with those below, and encompassing all with the wondrous deed wrought in her. In this manner she was in the beginning “a little lower than the angels” (Ps. 8:6), as it is said, referring to her mortality, yet this only served to magnify her pre-eminence as regards all creatures. Thus all things today fittingly gather and commune for the festival.

It was meet that she who contained Him that fills all things and who surpasses all should outstrip all and become by her virtue superior to them in the eminence of her dignity. Those things which sufficed the most excellent among men that have lived throughout the ages in order to reach such excellency, and that which all those graced of God have separately, both angels and men, she combines, and these she alone brings to fulfillment and surpasses. And this she now has beyond all: that she has become immortal after death and alone dwells together with her Son and God in her body. For this reason she pours forth from thence abundant grace upon those who honor her - for she is a receptacle of great graces - and she grants us even our ability to look towards her. Because of her goodness she lavishes sublime gifts upon us and never ceases to provide a profitable and abundant tribute in our behalf. If a man looks towards this concurrence and dispensing of every good, he will say that the Virgin is for virtue and those who live virtuously what the sun is for perceptible light and those who live in it. But if he raises the eye of his mind to the Sun which rose for men from this Virgin in a wondrous manner, the Sun which by nature possesses all those qualities which were added to her nature by grace, he shall straightaway call the Virgin a heaven. The excellent inheritance of every good which she has been allotted so much exceeds in holiness the portion of those who are divinely graced both under and above heaven as the heaven is greater than the sun and the sun is more radiant than heaven.

Who can describe in words thy divinely resplendent beauty, O Virgin Mother of God? Thoughts and words are inadequate to define thine attributes, since they surpass mind and speech. Yet it is meet to chant hymns of praise to thee, for thou art a vessel containing every grace, the fullness of all things good and beautiful, the tablet and living icon of every good and all uprightness, since thou alone hast been deemed worthy to receive the fulness of every gift of the Spirit. Thou alone didst bear in thy womb Him in Whom are found the treasuries of all these gifts and didst become a wondrous tabernacle for Him; hence thou didst depart by way of death to immortality and art translated from earth to Heaven, as is proper, so that thou mightest dwell with Him eternally in a super-celestial abode. From thence thou ever carest diligently for thine inheritance and by thine unsleeping intercessions with Him, and thou showest mercy to all.

To the degree that she is closer to God than all those who have drawn nigh unto Him, by so much has the Theotokos been deemed worthy of greater audience. I do not speak of men alone, but also of the angelic hierarchies themselves. Isaiah writes with regard to the supreme commanders of the heavenly hosts: “And the seraphim stood round about Him” (Isaiah 6:2); but David says concerning her, “at Thy right hand stood the queen” (Ps. 44:8). Do you see the difference in position? From this comprehend also the difference in the dignity of their station. The seraphim are round about God, but the only Queen of all is near beside Him. She is both wondered at and praised by God Himself, proclaiming her, as it were, by the mighty deeds enacted with respect to Him, and saying, as it is recorded in the Song of Songs, “How fair is my companion” (cf. Song of Songs 6:4), she is more radiant than light, more arrayed with flowers than the divine gardens, more adorned than the whole world, visible and invisible. She is not merely a companion but she also stands at God’s right hand, for where Christ sat in the heavens, that is, at the “right hand of majesty” (Heb. 1:3), there too she also takes her stand, having ascended now from earth into the heavens. Not merely does she love and is loved in return more than every other, according to the very laws of nature, but she is truly His Throne, and wherever the King sits, there His Throne is set also. And Isaiah beheld this throne amidst the choir of cherubim and called it “high” and “exalted” (Isaiah 6:1), wishing to make explicit how the station of the Mother of God far trancends that of the celestial hosts.

For this reason the Prophet introduces the angels themselves as glorifying the God come from her, saying, “Blessed be the glory of the Lord from His Place” (Ezek. 3:12). Jacob the Patriarch, beholding this throne by way of types (enigmata), said, “How dreadful is this Place! This is none other than the House of God, and this is the Gate of Heaven” (Gen. 28:17). But David, joining himself to the multitude of the saved, who are like the strings of a musical instrument or like differing voices from different generations made harmonious in one faith through the Ever-Virgin, sounds a most melodic strain in praise of her, saying: “I shall commemorate thy name in every generation to generation. Therefore shall peoples give praise unto thee for ever, and unto the ages of ages.” Do you see how the entire creation praises the Virgin Mother, and not only in times past, but “forever, and unto the ages of ages”? Thus it is evident that throughout the whole course of the ages, she shall never cease from benefacting all creation, and I mean not only created nature seen round about us, but also the very supreme commanders of the heavenly hosts, whose nature is immaterial and transcendent. Isaiah shows us clearly that it is only through her that they together with us both partake of and touch God, that Nature which defies touch, for he did not see the seraphim take the coal from the altar without mediation, but with tongs, by means of which the coal touched the prophetic lips and purified them (cf. Isaiah 6:6-7). Moses beheld the tongs of that great vision of Isaiah when he saw the bush aflame with fire, yet unconsumed. And who does not know that the Virgin Mother is that very bush and those very tongs, she who herself (though an archangel also assisted at the conception) conceived the Divine Fire without being consumed, Him that taketh away the sins of the world, Who through her touched mankind and by that ineffable touch and union cleansed us entirely. Therefore, she only is the frontier between created and uncreated nature, and there is no man that shall come to God except he be truly illumined through her, that Lamp truly radiant with divinity, even as the Prophet says, “God is in the midst of her, she shall not be shaken’(Ps. 45:5).

If recompense is bestowed according to the measure of love for God, and if the man who loves the Son is loved of Him and of His Father and becomes the dwelling place of Both, and they mystically abide and walk in him, as it is recorded in the Master’s Gospel, who, then, will love Him more than His Mother? For, He was her only-begotten Son, and moreover she alone among women gave birth knowing no spouse, so that the love of Him that had partaken of her flesh might be shared with her twofold. And who will the only-begotten Son love more than His Mother, He that came forth from Her ineffably without a father in this last age even as He came forth from the Father without a mother before the ages? How indeed could He that descended to fulfill the Law not multiply that honor due to His Mother over and above the ordinances of the Law?

Hence, as it was through the Theotokos alone that the Lord came to us, appeared upon earth and lived among men, being invisible to all before this time, so likewise in the endless age to come, without her mediation, every emanation of illuminating divine light, every revelation of the mysteries of the Godhead, every form of spiritual gift, will exceed the capacity of every created being. She alone has received the all-pervading fullness of Him that filleth all things, and through her all may now contain it, for she dispenses it according to the power of each, in proportion and to the degree of the purity of each. Hence she is the treasury and overseer of the riches of the Godhead. For it is an everlasting ordinance in the heavens that the inferior partake of what lies beyond being, by the mediation of the superior, and the Virgin Mother is incomparably superior to all. It is through her that as many as partake of God do partake, and as many as know God understand her to be the enclosure of the Uncontainable One, and as many as hymn God praise her together with Him. She is the cause of what came before her, the champion of what came after her and the agent of things eternal. She is the substance of the prophets, the principle of the apostles, the firm foundation of the martyrs and the premise of the teachers of the Church. She is the glory of those upon earth, the joy of celestial beings, the adornment of all creation. She is the beginning and the source and root of unutterable good things; she is the summit and consummation of everything holy.

O divine, and now heavenly, Virgin, how can I express all things which pertain to thee? How can I glorify the treasury of all glory? Merely thy memory sanctifies whoever keeps it, and a mere movement towards thee makes the mind more translucent, and thou dost exalt it straightway to the Divine. The eye of the intellect is through thee made limpid, and through thee the spirit of a man is illumined by the sojourning of the Spirit of God, since thou hast become the steward of the treasury of divine gifts and their vault, and this, not in order to keep them for thyself, but so that thou mightest make created nature replete with grace. Indeed, the steward of those inexhaustible treasuries watches over them so that the riches may be dispensed; and what could confine that wealth which wanes not? Richly, therefore, bestow thy mercy and thy graces upon all thy people, this thine inheritance, O Lady! Dispel the perils which menace us. See how greatly we are expended by our own and by aliens, by those without and by those within. Uplift all by thy might: mollify our fellow citizens one with another and scatter those who assault us from without like savage beasts. Measure out thy succor and healing in proportion to our passions, apportioning abundant grace to our souls and bodies, sufficient for every necessity. And although we may prove incapable of containing thy bounties, augment our capacity and in this manner bestow them upon us, so that being both saved and fortified by thy grace, we may glorify the pre-eternal Word Who was incarnate of thee for our sakes, together with His unoriginate Father and the life-creating Spirit, now and ever and unto the endless ages. Amen.

© Holy Transfiguration Monastery

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The Holy Snakes of the Virgin Mary in Kefallonia (2 of 2)

The most recent photograph of the Holy Snakes enclosed under the miraculous icon of Panagia Fidousa (Photo taken August 12, 2009). It is reported that three snakes appeared in 2009 and are enclosed in a glass box from August 6-15 and only allowed to be handled after midnight when the box is unlocked.

The village of Markopoulo

Katelios (traditional location where the pirates landed in 1705)

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The Holy Snakes of the Virgin Mary in Kefallonia (1 of 2)

The Miraculous Icon of Panagia Fidousa

By John Sanidopoulos

Excerpt from the book The Holy Snakes of the Virgin Mary: Examining the Mysterious Annual Appearance of Snakes in Kefallonia which can be purchased here.

Knowledge of the mysterious snakes of Kefallonia came to me when I was 15 years old while on a pilgrimage to Greece in the summer of 1991. There were many fascinating and mysterious sacred shrines of Orthodoxy throughout Greece I had heard of up to that time which perplexed me and seemed strange to my American bred mentality. In America we are taught to be fascinated and mystified by the paranormal, UFO’s, haunted sites, strange phenomena like the Bermuda Triangle, and strange creatures such as Bigfoot and Mothman; the majority of which, though interesting, seem more shady or demonic in nature than godly. On the other hand, in Greece it seemed every city, town and village had tangible shrines and historical tales of God’s presence among his people and revealed the centuries old piety and faith of Orthodox Christians which any pilgrim could visit, venerate and reflect upon.1 It was on such a pilgrimage that I embarked upon that summer.

On a visit to the holy shrine of Saint Nektarios in Aegina, I purchased a book titled Eµφανισεις και Θαυματα της Παναγιας (Appearances and Miracles of the All-Holy Virgin).2 Written therein was a description of this strange phenomenon of snakes which visited a tiny mountain village in southern Kefallonia called Markopoulo. They appear every year some time during the Dormition fast of the Theotokos after the feast of the Holy Transfiguration (between August 6-15) in a chapel built on the ruins of an old convent. This chapel is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and enshrines one of her miraculous icons. These snakes, with distinctly small naturally formed crosses on their head and tongue, make their appearance during the services conducted during the fast, venerate the icons and Gospel book, and are handled without bringing any harm to the handler. When the feast is over on August 15th, they disappear until their reappearance the following year. I thus made the necessary arrangements to visit this mysterious shrine that August in the hopes of witnessing what was hailed as a “miracle.”

One of the most famous shrines in all of Greece is the Monastery of Saint Gerasimos in Kefallonia. This holy shrine contains the greatest of Kefallonia’s mysteries – the incorrupt relics of Saint Gerasimos. Saint Gerasimos founded this monastery, now a convent, in the sixteenth century, and lived such a holy life that his body did not decay after death and exuded a beautiful fragrance as a foretaste of the resurrection and a testimony to his acquisition of the Holy Spirit. Since then, this shrine has been the site of numerous healings, especially for those possessed by demons. This is where I came on August 5th with my mother and two grandmothers and stayed for two nights in their pilgrim’s quarters.

The original bell tower from which the snakes emerge

The next morning I attended Matins and Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the Transfiguration of Christ. Interestingly, at the point in the service when the Saint’s tomb was opened for viewing, a lady next to me fell paralyzed on the floor. This woman had earlier yelled at me for whispering something to my grandmother during the service. It was speculated among the worshippers that she seemed to be demon possessed and I should leave her be. After receiving Holy Communion and venerating the exposed relics, we departed for Argostoli via bus to get some breakfast and catch a taxi to Markopoulo.

We arrived around noon and found out the Paraklisi3 Service and the appearance of the snakes would not begin until 8:30PM. Knowing how eager I was to stay and experience the phenomenon, my mother and grandmothers waited with me eight hours in the hot August sun underneath an olive tree. Consequently, this gave us the opportunity to converse with the locals concerning the snakes of the Virgin Mary, among whom was a local villager for eighty-plus years. It also gave me the opportunity to reflect in the chapel and walk around the area.

The locals explained, besides the common history and traditions, how in the olden days some twenty to thirty snakes would appear yearly. However, years ago a fire consumed the village all the way down the mountain to the sea during which bombs were dropped to prevent it from spreading throughout the heavily forested island.4 They speculated that because of this many snakes must have died, since that year only seven snakes appeared, followed by three the following year, and finally only one appeared in 1990. We were also informed of a local who ran over a snake and killed it while riding his carriage with his horse. This was before the fire however, and he brought it to the church for burial.5 Because only one snake appeared the previous year, I began to worry whether any would appear this year.

For the sake of my story, I would have liked to inform the reader that I witnessed the miracle of the holy snakes. Unfortunately, the snakes did not appear this night, which is not uncommon since sometimes they appear even in the early morning hours. Yet the side doors were opened6 and everyone in attendance did keep their eyes open for some sign of their presence. After the service ended about 10:30PM, we took a taxi back to the monastery and departed the island the next day. I found out later that summer the snakes did eventually appear and have appeared every year since.7

Though I was not a witness of this mysterious phenomenon, I was able to acquire enough knowledge and see enough pictures to satisfy most of my curiosity. Recently I researched this phenomenon of the holy snakes on the internet and came across a lot of distorted and contradictory information,8 together with articles by skeptics attempting to refute this from being called a miracle. For this reason, I decided to write an accurate account of this mystery together with an explanation to the skeptics who do not quite understand why this phenomenon is considered a unique miracle by thousands who have witnessed it.

Island of Mysteries

The largest of the seven Ionian islands, Kefallonia is a place of natural wonders and rare beauties. Kefallonia is also full of mysteries. Some of these mysteries have been explained scientifically, some have not. Andreas Laskaratos (1811-1902), the famous satirical poet and social activist of Kefallonia, wrote extensively concerning the mysteries of Kefallonia.9 Yet he used these as a vehicle to criticize the politicians and clergy of his day which he accused of keeping the people in the darkness of superstition. Though excommunicated for his harshness against the clergy and the Orthodox Church, he was forgiven by the bishop before death and given a Christian burial as well as a statue in Lixouri.10

The island is famous for its peculiar geological phenomena, which are unique in the world. Outside the beautiful capital Argostoli is the phenomenon of the Katavothres, in which sea water pours through cracks in the rocks near the shoreline and disappear into the endless subterranean tunnels. In 1963 Austrian geologists discovered these waters reappeared after two weeks on the other side of the island at Lake Melissani, a semi-underground lake of indigo colorations. Nearby is the Drogarati Cave, a stalactitic and stalagmitic cavern 144 feet below ground. Lake Avythos (Gr: bottomless) is so deep that local tradition makes it bottomless.11 Kounopetra (Gr: the moving rock), southwest of Lixouri in Paliki, is a huge monolithic rock that sticks out slightly into the sea which made a small, rhythmic, non-stop motion until the 1953 earthquakes stabilized it and stopped its movement.

Dominating the island is the imposing Mt. Ainos. On this mountain, surrounding the Monastery of Zoodochos Pege (Gr: Life-Giving Spring), lives a rare species of wild horses (or ponies) unseen anywhere in the world.12 It is from this mountain also that official government records from the seventeenth century describe a strange story of a man and sheep eating dragon that was slayed by two local brothers in 1509. Furthermore, the unique Kefallonian Fir Tree of Ainos is endemic of Greece and efforts to plant it elsewhere have failed. Agia Dynati is home to animals such as hares and goats with gold and silver plated teeth. Research has shown this is due to the mineral substance “mica” in the soil of that particular mountain. It is also reported that certain goats on the island do not drink water for six months at a time.

Rare horses of Ainos

In the villages of Demoutsanata and Pastra, there is another unusual wonder in the village churches. On the Feast of the Ascension of Christ, which usually falls in May or early June, women on the island pick lilies and place them in the village church. Whereas any botanist would argue that once a flower is cut and its stem dry it cannot bud again, these flowers do. On August 22nd, at the Vespers of the leavetaking of the Feast of the Dormition, the lilies are placed in front of the icon of the Holy Virgin. When morning comes, these same lilies fully blossom again. One can see on the icon a fully blossomed lily with a dry stem. The locals consider this a wonder of the Virgin Mary.

It was on this island that Saint Kosmas Aitolos (1714-1779), whose crosses are enshrined on the island,13 made some of his famous prophecies, including his foretelling of the telephone.14 Kefallonia has produced many beloved Saints of the Orthodox Church, most famous of whom is Saint Gerasimos, whose body has shown very little decay and heals many sick and demon possessed by God’s grace. There are numerous other peculiar stories associated with the Saint, including a deep well he dug which overflows and a five-branch plane tree he planted which bows during his festive procession on August 16th, as well as the numerous sightings of the Saint by the locals prior to the devastating earthquake of 1953.

Kefallonia is also the home of four other more modern sacred shrines of Orthodoxy. The first is that of the native Saint Anthimos Kourouklis (1727-1781), who founded six monasteries in Kefallonia and is entombed in the place of his asceticism in Lepeda. There is also the original casket of the sainted Patriarch Gregory V (+1821) constructed by native Kefallonian Nikolaos Sklavos, when he recovered his corpse from the waters of the Bosporus after being hanged by the Turks in Constantinople.15 This relic is kept at The Holy Theotokos Church of Ntomata. Another prophet and miracle-worker native to Kefallonia is Saint Panagis Basias (1801-1888), whose tomb and sacred remains are kept in a silver larnax at Saint Spyridon’s Church in Lixouri. One can also visit the famous pilgrimage site that lies in ancient Sami at Saint Fanentes Monastery which houses a wonderworking icon of the Holy Martyrs Gregory, Theodore and Leon.

It is on this island where the holy snakes make their yearly appearance. The phenomenon has become so famous, that it is reported yearly by the Greek media on TV and in the newspapers, but it is little known elsewhere. With the increased tourism due to the popularity of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin in the 1990’s and the mention De Bernieres made of the snakes, it has become more and more well known, especially in Europe.16

The History of the Panagia Fidiotissa Icon and the Sacred Church of Langouvarda17

A. The Establishment of the Convent

Unfortunately there are no known historical records in existence regarding the convent that existed on the site of the present church prior to its destruction in 1705. Nothing of the convent remains, except the bell tower from which the snakes emerge, and pious villagers who were mainly illiterate lived more by a strong oral tradition than the written word. Fortunately the tradition has been handed down regarding the purpose of the convents’ location and its eventual destruction.

It is said that years before the destruction of the convent, the villagers of Markopoulo noticed a tree on fire further up the hill. To prevent the fire from spreading into the forests and eventually into the village, the villagers hurried to put out the flames. When they arrived, the tree had burned to the ground, but at its root lay an icon of the Virgin Mary unharmed and unconsumed.

The find perplexed the villagers and they considered this a divine sign. With great joy and amazement, they took up the icon, venerated it, and placed it in the main church of the village square. The next morning the icon was missing, only to be found later at the same spot the tree had burned. Thinking this was done by human rather than divine hands, the villagers this time placed the icon back in the church and locked it. After the same reoccurrence three times, the villagers eventually realized the Holy Virgin wished the icon be housed at the location of the burnt tree. At first an icon stand housed the icon until a church was eventually built. A little later, this developed into a convent.

Snakes on the festal icon of the Dormition

B. The Destruction of the Convent

America’s first war with Islamic terrorism began in the beginning of the nineteenth century under President Thomas Jefferson. At this time the Barbary Pirates of North Africa terrorized Europe, capturing Christians and enslaving them.18 They were so feared that European nations and America were paying them a tribute to ensure safe passage in the Atlantic and Mediterranean.19 In fact, the United States Navy was created to fight the Barbary Pirates, and subdued them in 1815.

A century earlier, in 1705, it is believed these same Barbary Pirates invaded Kefallonia for looting. Kefallonia was no stranger to the wrath of pirates. During this time Kefallonia was under Venetian rule, and since 1537 when Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent declared war on Venice, the famed pirate and admiral of the Ottoman fleet Barbarossa20 and his later chieftains attacked Kefallonia continuously. It took more than two centuries before Kefallonia was at rest from these pirate invasions.

The significance of 1705 rests in the fact that it was in this year the convent of Markopoulo was invaded. Monasteries and convents were often looted because of the treasures they contained and the food they stored, which is why many monasteries have walls surrounding them. Markopoulo rests three hundred meters above sea level, easily visible from the sea, and it was to this location the Muslim pirates climbed. In fact, according to tradition, the first pirate invasion of the convent in Markopoulo took place in the 1400’s. It is said during this invasion the pirates raped, looted and pillaged. Another horrible pirate attack took place in 1690. For this reason, when the pirates came the third time, the nuns knew the horrors they faced and earnestly sought the protection of the Holy Virgin.

At this point the story gets a little sketchy. According to one theory, when the pirates docked at Katelios and reached the monastery, the nuns ran to the bell tower as the convent burned in fear of being raped and captured for slavery. There they prayed to be transformed into snakes so as to escape unharmed. God answered their prayer and they slithered away to safety. Others say the nuns merely prayed for protection while the convent was burning, and suddenly snakes appeared everywhere around the convent, frightening the pirates away. What can be said for sure is that according to the tradition, snakes played a significant role in somehow saving the nuns, and since then they have appeared every year during the feast of the Dormition.

Though some relate the story of the discovery of the wonderworking icon of the Holy Virgin that is written above concerning the burning tree, there is also another story. Some say when the convent burned in 1705 everything was destroyed except the wonderworking icon of the Holy Virgin. Eventually a church replaced the convent to house the miraculous icon which was preserved unharmed. Of course, the two stories need not be contradictory, but could be complimentary. It could be that just as the icon was miraculously discovered, so also it was miraculously preserved.

Snakes on the festal icon of the Dormition

C. Significant Moments in the 20th Century

Because this miracle was so localized to the small village of Markopoulo and the surrounding island, we only have stories of the contemporary villagers from about thirty years ago to the present to rely on its history, together with the few archives of the Metropolis of Kefallonia and government records.

The first significant moment took place in 1924. Whereas previously all Orthodox Christians followed the Julian Calendar, a synod was held in Constantinople to update the calendar to the more accurate Revised Julian Calendar. This caused tremendous confusion and protests amongst the pious faithful throughout Greece, many of whom considered this a disguised ecumenical innovation rather than a mere scientific progression. The residents of Kefallonia were not exempt from this confusion. Because they could not make up their minds, they decided to leave the issue to the guidance of the All-Holy Virgin through her tiny Snakes. Since the snakes come out yearly during the specific days of August 6th to the 15th then disappear, they wanted to see if the snakes this particular year would come out during the normal Old Calendar reckoning or according to the New Calendar, a thirteen day difference. To everyone’s amazement the snakes appeared according to the New Calendar reckoning, confirming in their conscience the will of God. For this reason the entire island follows the New Calendar.

It is believed among the locals the appearance of the snakes bear a prophetic significance. Their appearance is a sign the land will fair well, that it will be a good year and peaceful. For this reason, from the evening of the 5th of August it used to be that the children would light candles in search of the snakes around the bell tower to ensure their appearance and hope for a special blessing for the upcoming year. When found, they would yell “βγηκανε τα φιδια!" (“the snakes have come out”!) with great joy.

These snakes are considered property of the Virgin Mary through which she reveals her protective grace among the local faithful. For this reason they are held to be sacred and to be cared for appropriately. It is said that one time a certain Christian decided to steal a snake and sealed it in a bottle. When he arrived home he placed the bottle in front of his icons. A short while later he noticed the sealed bottle was empty. As the locals advise, no matter where you take or enclose the snakes, within forty days they will disappear. This is also why, as mentioned earlier, when a snake is accidentally killed, the appropriate measures must be taken. Many such people have claimed to receive a visitation from the Holy Virgin in their dreams in which she asks them to return the snake back. They do this by offering the church silver or gold plated images of the snakes, as can be seen today in the chapel.23

Whereas the appearance of the snakes signifies blessing and good fortune, their failure to appear is a sign that some sort of distress will befall the inhabitants of the island. This actually happened twice, in 1940 and 1953. Anyone familiar with English author Louis De Bernieres’ international best seller Captain Corelli’s Mandolin24 published in 1994, or the film adaptation released in 2001, knows the great distress the inhabitants of the island suffered within this turbulent period.

In August of 1940 the islanders gathered in the Dormition Church and expected the usual appearance of the holy snakes. The final celebration of August 15th came and went with no appearance. As expected this not only brought sadness and confusion, but speculation as to what was happening since this never happened before.

It was precisely on August 15, 1940, off the eastern coast of Greece near the Aegean island of Tinos, an island especially dedicated to the Holy Virgin more than any other,25 that a great tragedy struck. As thousands upon thousands of pilgrims were celebrating the joyous feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, the crew of a Greek light cruiser called Elli was also participating in the festivities off shore. Suddenly the ship was torpedoed and sunk by an Italian submarine. The wharf of Tinos was also torpedoed amongst the festivities. This initiated the beginning of Greece’s involvement in World War II.26

Though it is possible the snakes did not appear in Kefallonia for this tragic reason, what the locals know for sure is that within a year their island was to undergo tremendous suffering as well.

On April 6, 1941, Hitler attacked Greece for the first time and united his forces with those of the Italians. The island of Kefallonia began its occupation by Axis powers on April 30, 1941. Until late 1943 the occupying force was predominantly Italian -- the Acqui division plus Navy personnel totalled 12,000 men -- but about 2,000 troops from Nazi Germany also were present.

The German occupation in Kefallonia began on September 24, 1943. Nazi brutality reached a climax in the mass slaughter of officers of the Acqui Division, who had surrendered to the Allies. The prisoners of war, approximately 6000 of them, were led to the "Red Villa" and from there to a cave higher up, where they were executed. The Nazi occupation lasted only a year, but it was a bitter ordeal for the indomitable people of Kefallonia. The majority of the islanders joined the organized national resistance movement. Lootings, arrests and executions were daily occurrences. The German occupation forces finally left the island on September 10, 1944. While the Second World War ended in 1945, Kefallonia remained in conflict due to the Greek Civil War. Peace did not return to Greece and the island until 1949.

Though it is commonly held the snakes did not make their appearance in 1940, others insist that it was throughout these turbulent years, or at least in certain years of the occupation, that the snakes did not appear as well. Even De Bernieres writes: “In the year of the German occupation [1944], the Holy Snakes did not appear at the Church of our Lady at Markopoulo, and neither did the Sacred Lily flower at Demoutsandata.”27 It should also be noted the original church of Langouvarda was burned in the fire of 1945 and completely destroyed in the earthquakes of 1953.

Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos, where the snakes make their appearance

Earth tremors are a part of everyday life in Kefallonia, as they are throughout all of Greece. Between August 9 and 14, 1953 a series of devastating earthquakes hit Kefallonia, which is so vividly described in Louis De Bernieres' novel. Tremors reaching 7.2 on the Richter scale shook the Ionian islands of Zakynthos, Kefallonia, Ithaca and Lefkada, with almost every house and building destroyed in Kefallonia, leaving only Fiscardo on Mt. Ainos to the north untouched. Damage was estimated in tens of millions of dollars. However, the real damage to the economy occurred when residents left the island.28 Since the quakes occurred during the fast of the Dormition, the snakes failed to appear, whether by instinct or not is unknown, but the residents knew something was wrong when they failed to appear before the 9th.

Since the Langouvarda Church was destroyed in 1953, it was soon rebuilt and the snakes appeared every year since at the present church dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos. The number of snakes vary, but apparently they are smaller in number now than before the war. It is said when the snakes are fewer in certain years than others, then something unpleasant is occuring or will occur on the island, such as in 1981 when the Metropolitan was in a dispute with many in his flock and only two snakes appeared.

Panagia Langouvardiotissa, otherwise known as Panagia Fidiotissa, protectress of Markopoulo

Continued in Part Two...
________________________________

1 It is reminiscent of the sacred nature of Biblical holy sites, such as those mentioned in the historical books of the Old Testament visited by the Patriarchs and Prophets, and in the New Testament which were memorialized by Jesus and his Apostles.

2 Monk Isaac. Eµφανισεις και Θαυματα της Παναγιας. Sacred Monastery of Paraklitou. Attica, Greece, 1991. Other good resources in Greek are: Gouveli, Archimandrite Daniel. Το Θαυμα της Πιστεως. Athens, 1985; Nikolaou, Metropolitan Fthiotidos. Оι Εμφανισεις της Παναγιας: Μυθος η Πραγμακοτης; Apostoliki Diakonia. Athens, 1997.

3 During the fast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, two services are celebrated on alternate days from August 1st-14th – the Great Paraklisis and the Small Paraklisis. These services are supplications to the Virgin Mary for the health of body and soul through her intercessions.

4 This was probably the great fire of 1945, though many fires have devastated the area since then.

5 This was lost in the fire.

6 It is from these doors the snakes enter.

7 I am not sure of the exact number of snakes, but they are multiple according to pictures and reports.

8 This information is especially spread by people who have not witnessed the miracle nor are they really interested in presenting the facts (for example, the travel guides to Kefallonia).

9 Among his influential works are: The Mysteries of Kefallonia; Behold the Man; Poems and Anecdotes; Customs and Beliefs in Kefallonia; My Persecutions Come To Light; A Reply To Excommunication; and Autobiography. Laskaratos promoted a primitive form of Christianity uninfluenced by the Church and its traditions. He died in 1902 at Argostoli.

10 It is said among the locals that when he was excommunicated, somebody visited him to inform him of the news. Laskaratos replied: “I’m grateful to the bishop for excommunicating me, but I’d like to ask him to excommunicate my children’s shoes as well, so they will never wear out.” He said this because it is a common folk belief that whoever is excommunicated justly, their body will not decay after death. Only one priest was allowed to serve at his funeral.

11 The lake Avythos (bottomless) or Akoli is located near St. Nicholas Village in the area of Pyrgi. The lake was thus named because its bottom has not yet been detected, a fact that creates a lot of mystery around it. However, there is another theory claiming that the lake is intervened by a subterranean river whose force throws aside all measuring instruments.

12 They are descendants of the horses of the Pindos Mountains in northeastern Greece. The many decades of life in isolation, the hard living conditions and their resistance and adjustment to hardship brought their differentiation to the point of being a separate pure breed. Their medium height classifies them between the breeds of Pindos and Skyros. The horses of Ainos are direct descendants of the Greek horses of Alexander the Great and they are one of the few species in Greece and in the world existing today in a free state.

13 One cross is located at the Church of Evangelistria in Faraklata. Other crosses are kept at Agrilia Monastery and in Assos.

14 While in Assos in 1765, he predicted: “…there will come a time when the entire world will be encircled by a thread” referring to telephone wires. He also said: “There will come a time that people will speak from a far away place like they were in the next room, like from Constantinople to Russia.”

Another preserved local prediction he made was the following: “The Red Hats will come and then the British for 54 years, after which it will become Greek.” Red Hats was a term then used for the French Army alluding to the color of the soldier’s berets in the era of Napoleon. In fact, after the Venetians, the island was occupied by the French who were followed by the British. The British occupied the island for 54 years, just as he had predicted!

15 In 1871 the relics of Saint Gregory were brought to the Cathedral in Athens from Odessa.

16 On August 15, 2006 this event was featured on CNN, the BBC and in American newspapers.

17 The locals call the church by the name “Langouvarda.” It seems the name originates from the Langobardi or Longobardi, the Latin name for the Lombards. The association between the Lombards and the church in Markopoulo is significant, though it is unknown as to why the association exists. Some speculate it has something to do with the origin of the icon and/or the church.

The Lombards were a Germanic people originally from Northern Europe that entered the Roman Empire in the 570’s. The name “Lombardy” applied to the whole of Northern Italy until the 15th century. During the seventh century Kefallonia belonged to the Eleventh Thema of the Eastern Roman Empire which included Italy and the seven Ionian islands, and was called “the Thema of Langovardia” until the eleventh century. The island’s administrators at the time were titled: “General of Kefallonia and Langovardia.” At the end of the eighth century the Lombards raided and captured Kefallonia for a short period.

To bring the matter closer to the reason why the church is called Langouvarda, it is interesting to note the association between the village name of Markopoulo, and the legendary explorer Marco Polo. Though some have postulated the possibility that Marco Polo may have been born in Kefallonia, this seems very unlikely since Albanians occupied Markopoulo in 1450 and the name of the village could be associated with Markopoulo in Attica. However, Dante does refer to Marco Polo as a Lombard in his Purgatorio (C, XVI. 46), and therefore the village may have had a significant role with the Lombards.

18 According to the calculations of historian Robert Davis, between 1 million and 1.25 million European Christians were captured and forced to work in North Africa from the 16th to 18th centuries. Davis, Robert, C. CHRISTIAN SLAVES, MUSLIM MASTERS: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast and Italy, 1500-1800. New York. Pelgrave, 2003.

19 In 1784 the U.S. Congress was appropriating $60,000 annually as tribute to the Barbary states. This ended in 1801 when the wars along the North African coast began. Some European nations were paying annual tribute into the 1830’s.

See also: London, Joshua E. Victory in Tripoli: How America's War with the Barbary Pirates Established the U.S. Navy and Shaped a Nation. New Jersey. John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2005; Leiner, Frederick C. The End of Barbary Terror: America's 1815 War against the Pirates of North Africa. Oxford University Press, 2006; and Lambert, Frank. The Barbary Wars: American Independence in the Atlantic World. Hill & Wang, 2005.

20 The pirate brothers Barbarossa were Aruj Barbarossa who died in 1518, and Khayrad'din Barbarossa who died in 1546. Both were born on the island of Lesvos; their father was a Janissary (he was forced to convert as a child from Orthodox Christian to Muslim) soldier named Yaqub, who had been granted land on the island, and their mother Katerina was a widow of an Orthodox Christian priest. The Greek born Barbarossa (Italian: 'redbeard') brothers founded the power of the Barbary corsairs in the 1500's, attacking Christian shipping and coastal towns around the Mediterranean. It was Aruj the elder who had the red beard, which became their nickname, and not the younger Khizr, who became better known as Khayrad'din and carried a brown or an auburn beard.

Corsair pirates were both Muslim and Christian and operated in the Mediterranean Sea between the 15th and 19th centuries. Muslim corsairs, such as the Barbarossa brothers, had bases along the Barbary Coast of northern Africa. They built several strong fortresses to defend the Barbary ports of Algiers, Tripoli and Tunis, and paid the sultan of Tunisia one fifth of their booty to use Tunis as pirate headquarters.

Christian corsairs were based on the island of Malta. Muslim and Christian corsairs alike swooped down on their targets in swift oar-powered boats called galleys to carry off sailors and passengers. Unless these unfortunates were rich enough to pay a ransom, they were sold as slaves or put to work as oarsmen on the corsair galleys. Christian corsairs carried razor-sharp rapiers into battle and often wore metal helmets and breastplates.

By the 16th century the corsairs had established a pirate empire, the Barbary States, in the countries of North Africa. The pirate governments were supported by selling Christians into slavery and by taking heavy tribute as protection money from other countries. By 1510, Aruj was one of the richest men in the Mediterranean and he with his brother Khizr were the masters of eight well-built galleots owning vast property and slaves. See: Baker, Thomas. Piracy and Diplomacy in Seventeenth-century North Africa. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1989; Bamford, Paul W. The Barbary Pirates: Victims and the Scourge of Christendom. Associates of the James Ford Bell Library. University of Minnesota, 1972.

Interestingly, on the island of Paros there is an annual Barbarossa Pirate festival on August 23rd. This re-enactment of a famous pirate raid on the island is vigorously performed by locals. For a day, fishing boats pretend to be pirate ships and young Parians act out the roles of pirates, defenders, and, of course, dancing damsels in distress.

21 According to the locals, this has happened a few times.

22 This is an unfortunately common experience. The church presently rests off a major highway, and cars have run over the snakes.

23 At one time a sailor took a snake on board his boat. The snake died and soon after the boat sank. Remorseful, this man brought a golden image of the snake to the church.

24 The love story that is the theme of the book takes place during the events of the Second World War, and is based on historical facts; a highly recommended reading.

25 Tinos is the center of Greece’s most festive and notable yearly pilgrimage that takes place every August 15th. The Cathedral of the Annunciation houses a miraculous icon called Megalohari (Gr: She of Great Joy) or Panagia Evangelistria, which depicts the Archangel Gabriel proclaiming the good news of Christ’s conception to the Virgin Mary. In 1822 a nun named Pelagia from the nearby Monastery of Kechrovouniou had a series of visions of the Holy Virgin in which she was asked to recover an icon that had long been lost. Though initially very cautious of the divine origin of the vision, after a series of visions and reprimands she was finally persuaded to inform the bishop and initiate a search. The icon was finally discovered at the exact location revealed in January 1823, close to the ruins of a Roman church which had been apparently buried in an underground vault for nearly 850 years. This church was destroyed by Muslim pirates in the tenth century. While searching for the icon, the work crews decided to build a small chapel over the Roman ruins of the tenth-century church, which in turn had its foundation over a fourth-century edifice dedicated to the Mother of God and St. John the Baptist. The original church had been built in the first years of the Christian Roman Empire over the ruins of a pagan Greek temple dedicated to Dionysios. On this site a Cathedral was eventually built. Today the Cathedral of the Annunciation is probably the single most visited pilgrimage site in Greece, with over one million visitors a year.

26 Greece officially entered the war on October 28, 1940. This is celebrated annually as Ohi Day (No Day) commemorating dictator Ioannis Metaxas’ (1936-1941) refusal of the Italian ultimatum. The ultimatum demanded of Greece to allow Axis forces to enter Greek territory and occupy certain unspecified "strategic locations" or otherwise face war. Most scholars today say the actual reply was not “οχη” or “no”, but the French "Alors, c'est la guerre" ("Then it is war").

27 Corelli’s Mandolin. Vintage Books. New York, 1994, ch. 62.

28 600 people died and the injured and homeless were in their thousands. As it was the middle of the day and people were cooking, fires also broke out and raged through the town. 70% of all constructions were demolished; towns and villages were rebuilt to new plans, with strict anti-seismic specifications, so that there is now little risk of a ceiling tumbling. The tragedy brought wide international response and support, especially from the United States, Britain, France, Sweden and Norway, who sent aid for the victims with generosity and speed. At that time also, many desperate Kefallonians left their island to seek a better life abroad.

Tomb of Saint Gerasimos

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30th Anniversary of the Falling Asleep of Fr. George Florovsky (+ August 11, 1979)

Protopresbyter Georges Vasilievich Florovsky (August 23, 1893 – August 11, 1979) was born in Odessa as the fourth child of a priest. Inspired by the erudite environment in which he grew up, he learned English, German, French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew while still a schoolboy. At eighteen, he started to study philosophy and history. After his first graduation, he taught for three years at high schools in Odessa and then made his full graduation including the licensia docendi at all universities in the Russian empire. In 1919, he began to teach at the University of Odessa, but his family was forced to leave Russia in 1920. The young Florovsky realized at that time that there would be no return for him, because Marxism did not accept the history and philosophy he taught. Florovsky thus became part of the great emigration of the Russian intelligentsia, which also included Nikolai Berdyaev, Sergei Bulgakov, Nicholas Lossky, Alexander Schmemann, and John Meyendorff, the latter two of whom later followed Florovsky as Dean of Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary.

In the 1920s, he had a close personal and vocational friendship with Berdyaev. The two became somewhat more distanced in later years, largely through Berdyaev not understanding Florovsky's entering Holy Orders, and also through Florovsky's critical attitude towards Berdyaev's philosophy of religion in Ways of Russian Theology.

In 1925, Florovsky was appointed professor for patristics at the St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris. In this subject, he found his real vocation. Patristics became for him the benchmark for Orthodox theology and exegesis, as well as a source for many of his contributions and critiques of the ecumenical movement. Despite not having earned an academic degree in theology (apart from several honorary degrees he was awarded later), Florovsky would spend the rest of his life teaching at theological institutions.

In 1932, Florovsky was ordained to the priesthood. During the 1930s, he undertook extensive researches in European libraries and wrote his most important works in the area of patristics as well as his magnum opus, Ways of Russian Theology. In this massive work, he questioned the Western influences of scholasticism, pietism, and idealism on Russian theology and called for a re-evaluation of Russian theology in the light of patristic writings. The work was received with either enthusiam or condemnation—there was no neutral attitude to it among Russian emigrés. Among the critics were Bulgakov, the head of the St. Sergius Institute and prominent exponent of the Russian theological tradition of the 19th century, as well as Berdyaev, exponent of the religious renaissance of the 20th century.

In 1949, Florovsky moved to New York City to take a position as Dean of St. Vladimir's Seminary. Florovsky's oversight of the development of the theological curriculum led to the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York granting the Seminary an Absolute Charter in 1953. He was fired as Dean in 1955 1 and thereafter taught at Harvard Divinity School (1956-1964), teaching patristics and Russian religious thought, and later at Princeton (1964-1972), teaching Slavic languages and literatures. He died on August 11, 1979.

Online info about Fr. George Florovsky:
http://orthodoxwiki.org/Georges_Florovsky

Fr. Florovsky at a Faith and Order meeting in 1937

March, 1946: Attending the Geneva Conferece (Photo: LIFE Magazine)

August, 1948: Amsterdam, Netherlands (Photo: LIFE Magazine)

August, 1948: Academy of Orthodox Theology in Prague (Photo: LIFE Magazine)

December, 1950: With Dr. Samuel Cavert (Photo: LIFE Magazine)

August, 1954: World Council of Churches in Evanston, Illinoise (Photo: LIFE Magazine)

November, 1957: In one of the Harvard libraries in Cambridge, Massachusetts (Photo: LIFE Magazine)

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A Protestant is Baptized Orthodox on Mount Athos

The sign advertizing the Athonite radio communication with Monk Apollo

On Saturday August 8th, 2009 at the Sacred Monastery of Docheiariou on the Holy Mountain, in a touching atmosphere, a German by the name of Dominik Weiel, a 40 year old Geologist, abandoned Protestantism and was baptized Orthodox taking on the name Michael.

For a place not known for its technological advancement, it is interesting how Michael's conversion came about through a monk from the Holy Mountain. In the words of a monk named Apollo at the Monastery of Docheiariou:

"In spring 1986 our monastery had remained without telephone for over five months, a phenomenon that is not unusual on Mount Athos. It then happened that one of the brothers who was working in the garden struck a big stone with his hoe, and a small piece of the hoe stuck into his eye. After two days, we reached the AHEPA Hospital in Thessalonica. When Mr Georgiadis, ophthalmology professor and chairman of then Radio Amateur Union of Northern Greece, heard the story, he recommended that somebody in the monastery become an amateur radio operator, in order to guarantee communication in case of emergency: for the safety of the monks, as well as of the treasures preserved in the monastery. It was in this way that I first learnt about amateur radio. In 1988 I obtained my licence. I am the first and only ham radio on Athos.

"In spite of all the difficulties and of not being fond of DXing (which does not really fit in my monastic way of life), I have been sacrificing my very little spare time to make the voice of the Holy Mountain heard on the air and to give joy to a multitude of friends impatiently waiting for a contact. I have been doing so since 1990, trying to spread, through my presence on the radio waves, a message of hope and optimism – from the ascetic world of Mount Athos to the troubled world outside...

"Moreover, since I started to operate on the HF, I have been living a lot of very moving experiences – it is these that keep me on the bands, even though this means taking precious time from my heavy and difficult monastic program. Friends I met on the air have come to see me from all over the world. Some of them visit every year as pilgrims, travelling all the way from the United States...

"As an Athonite monk, I am constantly reminded that I carry a heavy over-thousand-year-old heritage on my shoulders. It is a heritage which I deeply respect and I feel the duty to spread throughout the world."

More can be read about Monk Apollo, otherwise known as callsign SV2ASP/A, here.

Michael first heard about Mount Athos and Orthodoxy through Monk Apollo via the radio communication between the both of them while he was a student in Germany. His callsign is DL5EBE and his profile is here and here.

Monk Apollo apparently had a weak signal and Michael offered him his help over the air. He came to the Holy Mountain to organize the station for Monk Apollo. While there he came to know Elder Gregory, abbot of the Monastery, together with the entire brotherhood. He enjoyed his visit so much that he started making frequent pilgrimages living the daily regiment of the monks during his visits.

Upon completing his University studies he began working for a large petroleum company. For many years he lived in Moscow which hindered making his frequent visits to Mount Athos, yet all the while he never lost communication with Monk Apollo. During this long period of time he struggled with the change that was occurring within him and finally decided to go to the Holy Mountain.

When he arrived the Monastery was occuppied with a lot of work, and Michael was glad to lend a helping hand. Days passed and he was struggling with the decision on whether or not to be baptized. One Friday the Elder asked him: "Would you like to be baptized?"

"It would be my great joy", responded Michael and his face brightened with joy. The Elder then invited an officer from the Air Force named Stavros Pomaki, a spiritual child of the Elder who was visiting the Monastery and himself an amateur radio operator (callsign SV2BIC), to be his godfather.

The next day on Saturday, following the Divine Liturgy, the baptism took place at the harbor of the Monastery in front of the entire brotherhood and visitors. Soon after Michael returned to his duties in the world.

The Elder gave Dominik (a.k.a. DL5EBE) the name Michael because the Archangel Michael is the protector of the Monastery of Docheiariou.

Monk Apollo

Michael Weiel in front of his radio

The radio antenna at the Monastery of Docheiariou

Monk Apollo, Michael Weiel and Stavros Pomaki

Sources:

-http://anaplastiki.blogspot.com/2009/08/blog-post_12.html

-http://www.romfea.gr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2915&Itemid

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