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| St. Philotheos the Builder (Feast Day - January 24) |
Venerable Philotheos was a disciple of Saint Athanasios the Athonite, and went on to establish what became known as Philotheou Monastery in 992. According to historical sources, the original name of the monastery was the Little Monastery of Fteris which was located in the region of Kravvatos, where today stands the Chapel of the Prophet Elias. The monastery was moved to its current location in the 11th century without any differences in the buildings and the architecture from the initial building. The katholikon of the monastery is dedicated to the Annunciation of the Theotokos and there are many murals from 1752. It is located on the east side of the Athonite peninsula, very close to the Monastery of Karakalou, and is the 12th monastery in the hierarchy of Athos’ monasteries.
Though Saint Philotheos is not in any general synaxaria of the Church, he is commemorated within Philotheou Monastery on January 24th together with all the Saints of Philotheou Monastery throughout the ages, which include: Dionysios the Builder (+ 1388, June 25), Theodosios of Trebizond (+ 1391, January 10), Dionysios of Olympus (+ 1541, January 23), Venerable Martyr Damianos the New (+ 1568, February 14), Symeon the Single-Tunicked and Barefooted (+ 1594, April 19), Dometios the Sign-bearer (+ 16th cent., August 7), and Hieromartyr Kosmas the Aitolos (+ 1779, August 24).
