Till November 1st I will be working exclusively on my website daimonologia.org, where I will be writing various posts related to the Halloween season and fixing up the site altogether. 

 

 

Miracles of Saint Anastasia the Roman at Gregoriou Monastery of Mount Athos

 

 

1. Extinguishing of a Fire in 1890

In 1890 a fire broke out in the forest of our Holy Monastery between the areas of Alonaki and Agios Theologos. The fathers, when they saw the fire, took pickaxes, saws, axes and other related items for extinguishing. They took with them also a mule, on which they hung a sack with the relics of Saint Anastasia the Roman, and hurried quickly to the burning forest.

When they got close enough to the fire, an opposite wind blew the flames in the opposite direction to the side where the fathers were. The brothers are scared lest they be surrounded by flames, so they began to move away, leaving the mule alone. The mule had already been besieged by the flames, while the fathers mourned the loss of the relics.

The Austrian Who Saved a Greek City from the Nazi's and Became an Orthodox Christian Iconographer

 

 

Josef H. Blechinger was a German soldier who turned out to be one of the greatest heroes of the Greek resistance, who literally saved a town from destruction.

Blechinger came to Greece as a conqueror with the German army. A few years later, after the war, he became Greek, changed his name to Elias Kokkinos, started a family and died in Greece.

Elias Kokkinos was born as Josef H. Blechinger in Dresden. His mother was Czechoslovakian and his father Austrian, but officially he was a German citizen. When World War II broke out, he had to enlist in the German army. First he served in occupied Poland. Then he was transferred to Greece.

The First Greek Priest Killed in the War of 1940

 

 

By Fr. Elias Makos

Within the worries and various cares of everyday life, national holidays, such as that of October 28, are stations of contemplation and example.

The epic of 1940, stimulates our historical memory, as well as our patriotic conscience, but also reminds us of the role and sacrifice of the ministers of the Orthodox Church in the national struggles.

In a grassy tomb, in the courtyard of the Church of the Panagia in Delvinaki, there is a simple inscription: "ARCHIMANDRITE CHRYSOSTOMOS TSOKONAS - FELL ON BEHALF OF HOMELAND - 11/25/1940."

The Vision of the Holy Protection of the Mother of God at Blachernae to Saint Andrew the Fool for Christ

 

The following account is a translation from the the Life of Saint Andrew the Fool which describes his vision of the Mother of God at the Church of Blachernae in Constantinople, for which the feast of the Protection of the Mother of God (October 1 or 28) is based on.

 

When a night-long doxology was held in the Holy Soros at Blachernae blessed Andrew was in attendance, behaving in his usual way. Epiphanios was also present,  and with him one of his servants. Blessed Andrew was wont to stand there as long as his zeal gave him strength, sometimes until midnight, sometimes until morning. When it was already the fourth hour of the night he saw the Most Holy Theotokos appear in full sight, very tall, from the Royal Doors, escorted by an awe-inspiring retinue in which there were, among others, the Honorable Forerunner and the Son of Thunder, holding her by the hand on both sides, and many other holy men in white robes accompanied her, some going before her, others following her, singing hymns and spiritual songs.