August 16, 2011

The Well of Saint Gerasimos the New of Kefallonia


One day St. Gerasimos set about digging a well near his monastery in Kefallonia. Standing at the bottom of the well he scooped up the damp earth, and the nuns hauled it to the surface. As they worked, a local villager passed by and said, "Look at this immoral monk with all his nuns." The Saint, who could not have possibly heard the distant man's words, climbed out of the well, and called for the villager to come to him. He wrote a short message on a piece of paper, folded it up and told him to take it to the judge. The note said, "Arrest him because he has falsely accused me." The judge interrogated the man, who confessed his slanderous words and begged for mercy, not knowing that St. Gerasimos had also written, "...but set him free after you question him."

The well still exists, and local Christians say that on the feastday of the Saint, when the priests process with the holy relics around the monastery grounds, the water level in the well rises as the relics approach it and recedes as the procession moves away.