Explanations and Clarifications of Ecclesiastical History and the Deontology of the Ukrainian Issue (Part 12)

 ...continued from part eleven.

* By the late Germanos Verykopoulos, a Bishop of the Old Calendarists, was ordained the late Elder Ephraim of Katounakia, a submissive of two zealots of Mount Athos, but of the stature of the venerable Joseph the Hesychast. In the 42 years of his priestly life, he always saw with his sense of sight divine Grace cover over the Holy Gifts (only once he did not see it). When, with the help of God, they returned to communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate and commemorated the Patriarch, he began to see more clearly this mystery of the perceptible presence of divine Grace. Previously, as long as he was attached to the zealots, he saw it dimly, as he himself said and catechized.

The Recent Repose of the Lay Theologian Athanasios Sakarellos

Few Orthodox Christians in the English-speaking world know who Athanasios Sakarellos was, which is one reason why I have neglected to write anything about his recent repose, which took place on Friday 26 February 2021. He was a lawyer by profession and a lay theologian out of Athens who wrote many things about the Orthodox faith. Those who do know him probably know him either for his close friendship with Fr. John Romanides or from his strong stance against anything that he perceived as a compromise against authentic Orthodoxy. It is the latter where many say he either went too far or did not go far enough.

My own thoughts of Athanasios Sakarellos have been very confused since I first learned of him, and they still are a bit. I had always thought he became an Old Calendarist at some point after the repose of Fr. Romanides, as his writings reflect he at least had strong leanings towards Old Calendarism and seemed to judge everyone he met based on how they approached the issue, but now that he died and some information about him has come to light, I have noticed that at least at the time of his death he was looked upon by other Old Calendarists as having been deluded and that he died unrepentant; of what I have no idea, though it may have something to do with him not fully becoming an Old Calendarist. Many Old Calendarists in Greece even seemed surprised when they found out that his private funeral was presided over, by request of Sakarellos himself before he died, by Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos, who follows the New Calendar. When I found this out, not only was I happy to hear it, but it also inspired me to write something in his memory.

How the Greatest and Most Prolific Hymnographer of the Orthodox Church in the 20th Century Received His Talent

Elder Gerasimos Mikragiannanitis as a young monk.

 

Elder Gerasimos Mikragiannanitis, who would become renowned as the Great Hymnographer of the Holy and Great Church of Christ under the Ecumenical Patriarchate, was a young monk of around 22 years of age, when he had been left alone in the Cell of the Honorable Forerunner, in the then forbidding Skete of Little Saint Anna on the Holy Mountain. He had been abandoned by his Elder of four years, Hieromonk Meletios Ioannidis, who, around the year 1927, out of unbridled fervor, joined the Zealots and left the Holy Mountain to fight on the side of the Old Calendarists in Athens. Elder Meletios had asked Monk Gerasimos to leave the Holy Mountain and join him in the world, but the young monk recognized that his Elder had been deluded by the Zealots to leave the place of his repentance to serve as a priest in the world for a cause that was leading towards schism, and not wishing to go back into the world, which he had already forsaken, Gerasimos remained behind alone. 

 

The Three Hierarchs and the Calendar Issue (Elder Cleopa Ilie)

Fr. Calistrat Bobu (+ 1975)

While serving as head sacristan, Brother Constantine (Elder Cleopa Ilie before his tonsure) was an eyewitness to several miracles which occurred during the Divine Liturgy at Sihastria. He recalled these in later years and would recount them to those who came to him for their spiritual edification. Among these he recalled the following:

"Look at at what happened to a very good priest, Fr. Calistrat Bobu. He was a known spiritual father and confessor, but he went to see a nun who was living as a hermitess in the forest. At that time there were about fifty known monks and nuns living alone like that in the woods. This particular nun continued to adhere to the Old Calendar, in opposition to the decision of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church. When Fr. Calistrat visited her, she said:

Elder Hieronymos of Simonopetra (1871-1957) - Part 2 of 3

...continued from part one.

Elder Hieronymos as Abbot of the Monastery (1920-1931)

In the proceedings for 2 January 1920, he was proposed as a candidate for the office of Abbot. In the same year, Metropolitan Irinaios of Kassandreia ordained him deacon on April 11 and priest on April 12, also raising him to the rank of archimandrite and spiritual father, by the laying on of hands. On 18 April, the Sunday of the Myrrhbearing Women, he was given the Abbot’s staff, by a unanimous decision of the brotherhood.

Why the Date for the Feast of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste Needs A Change

By John Sanidopoulos

On the 9th of March every year, since the fourth century, the Church has celebrated the Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebaste without interruption. This date was established so early after their martyrdom, that it was probably the actual day on which their martyrdom took place. Eventually when the forty-day fast was established in the Church for Great Lent, March 9th always fell within the period of Great Lent, due to the Paschalion reckoning under the Julian Calendar. However, when many Churches updated their calendar to the New Julian Calendar, March 9th would sometimes fall during Great Lent, but other times it did not.

Most would not see this change under the New Julian Calendar as a big deal, since when the Forty Martyrs were martyred, we did not have the forty-day period of Great Lent anyway. This is true. However, in time the Forty Martyrs commemoration during Great Lent became a staple in the life of the Church for many centuries, and because of this the number of martyrs became associated with the number of days in Great Lent. Their feast, since it fell during Great Lent, served as an example to the faithful to persevere to the end of the fast in order to attain the heavenly reward (participation in Pascha, the Resurrection of Jesus), just as the Forty Martyrs endured in the frozen river and were crowned by Christ.

Where Catholics and Orthodox Have Celebrated Easter Together Since 1588

On the Greek island of Corfu, known to the Greeks as Kerkyra, Orthodox and Catholics have celebrated Easter together since 1588, without interruption, as an act of brotherly love between two communities.

It all began when Kerkyra was under Venetian Rule (1386-1797), and the Greeks of the Ionian Islands were granted permission to not have to follow the Gregorian Calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in October 1582, but continue following the Julian Calendar, which they had followed for centuries. Catholics in Kerkyra also requested the same, and permission was granted to them to use the Julian Calendar.

Saint Markianos of Cyrus

St. Markianos of Cyrus (Feast Day - November 2)

Verses

Markianos made of earth succeeds in being separated from earth,

Not being separated from the dogma of the fashioner.

By Bishop Theodoret of Cyrus, Syria

1. How could we adequately express admiration of the famous Markianos?1 Clearly by classing him with Elijah and John and those like them, who "went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, ill-treated, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and the holes of the earth." This man had as his fatherland formerly Cyrus, which I mentioned above, and thereafter the desert; and leaving both the one and the other he now has heaven. The one gave birth to him, the other nurtured him and made him victorious, the third received him as one crowned.

Elder Sophrony on the Calendar Issue

Mosaic of Adam at the Monastery of Saint John the Baptist in Essex

By Elder Sophrony (Sakharov) of Essex

Many do not live eternity in Christ, but a paradoxical form of earthly life. When the vision of eternity is absent, time and days become for them the only reality. And they quarrel over calendars. When I was on Athos, the reform of the Calendar took place. The worldwide Church of Christ wanted to determine the time of their lives with the rules identified by the authorities. Before the change of the Calendar the vernal equinox was on March 9, whilst after it was March 22.

St. Savvas of Kalymnos on the Calendar Schism

By Maria Bizanis

(a close spiritual child of St. Savvas)

Regarding the Calendar he [St. Savvas] told me one day: 

"Maria, I am very much in sorrow that the people here are divided. We must listen to the Church. We should go with the New Calendar. Moreover, it is not important, as it does not involve dogmatic issues, but 13 days. Let us be obedient. Division is the worst of all. Yes, division. The abbess behind us is with the Old Calendar (he meant the Monastery of Saint Katherine). Do you want to follow me there, Maria?" 

Elder Ephraim of Arizona Exposes Old Calendarism

By Elder Ephraim of Arizona

(transcribed and translated from an audio lecture)

Years ago there was a spiritual father who was Cypriot that was a very good man. Initially he was at Stavrovouni, a monastery in Cyprus, when he was younger, but still a hieromonk. When he was at this monastery, he himself told me, a certain Athonite zealot father who followed the Old Calendar fled there. By "zealot" I mean a fanatical Old Calendarist, who condemn the Church as heretical and schismatic.

His name was Father John. I knew him. He had fled from Mount Athos, from the Skete of Saint Anna, and he went to Cyprus. There in Cyprus he tried to create an Old Calendarist branch and then went to Stavrovouni Monastery, as the hieromonk himself told me, and he began to speak on behalf of the Old Calendar to the fathers of the monastery there. He also spoke with this hieromonk, that the liturgies he was doing were not liturgies, and the mysteries he was doing were not mysteries, that they do not have grace, blessing, and so on.

The Calendar Issue (Metr. Seraphim of Piraeus)

By Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus

The Holy Synaxis of the Primates of the Orthodox Churches, meeting in Chambesy, Switzerland from 21 to 28 January 2016 EU, considered it appropriate, with regard to the calendar issue, that "each Church be freely permitted to keep the calendar it considers profitable for the spiritual edification of its flock, without affecting the common to all Orthodox celebration of Pascha."

The Wondrous Manner in Which the Monastery of Sihastria Accepted the New Calendar

The history of the Monastery of Sihastria after 1909 is closely tied with Chancellor Ioanichie Moroi (1859-1944), who revived the Monastery for the fourth time from the ashes. He was succeeded in 1944 by the greatest elder of 20th century Romania, Elder Cleopas Ilie, who made the Monastery of Sihastria one of the greatest spiritual centers of modern Romania.

One of the biggest tests the chancellor Ioanichie Moroi had to face in Sihastria, had to do with the change of the calendar in October 1924. Barely three years as abbot, he didn't want to change the calendar and follow the new one. He was afraid he would make a big mistake. To this affect, numerous monks and spiritual fathers advised him not to change the calendar.

What Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyva Said About Old Calendarism

Venerable Porphyrios of Kavsokalyva said the following about Old Calendarism:

"If you are going to live in the world, follow the calendar of the Church, that you may not bring turmoil to the people, unless you want to live on Mount Athos."*

The Monastery of Saint Irene Chrysovalantou in Northern Evia

The Monastery of Saint Irene Chrysovalantou is a Metochion of the Monastery of Saint George in Ilia, which in 1990 split off and formed another Sisterhood under the Abbess Chrysovalanti. It is built above the Camp of the Metropolis that draws over 800 children a year, between the coastal villages of Rovia and Ilia, and it stands with the serene Gulf of Evia in front of it and Mount Valantion behind it.

Old Calendarists Uniting

In an effort to become a united voice against the "heresy" of ecumenism which they associate with the united canonical ancient patriarchal Churches, the two schismatic Old Calendarist groups known as the Holy Synod of Resistance and the Genuine Orthodox Church of Greece have announced at the completion of their dialogue yesterday that they are uniting. The long term goal is to unite all the Old Calendarist groups not in communion with the "official" Churches to enter a new phase of a common witness of "genuine" Orthodoxy, since the Old Calendarist movement has been known to splinter even among themselves into various self-contained groups. To express their common goal, they will soon issue a joint statement on ecclesiology and a condemnation of ecumenism. They will officially enter into liturgical communion this Sunday, which is the Sunday of the Veneration of the Holy Cross, in the Monastery of St. Nicholas in Paiania, presided over by Archbishop Kallinikos of Athens and All-Greece, who is the Archbishop of the schismatic Genuine Orthodox Church of Greece.

Saint Porphyrios on Zealotry and the Ecclesiastical Calendar

Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyva said the following about the Calendar issue:

"If you are going to live in the world, follow the calendar that belongs to the Church, that you may not bring upheaval to the people, unless you desire to live in Mount Athos."

Elder Andreas Agiopavlites, the Theotokos, and the Zealots of Esphigmenou

In November of the year 1976, Father Andreas, who had withdrawn from being abbot of the Monastery of Saint Paul, and old enough by now, wanted to depart in silence, on a farm of the Monastery in the location of Monoxylitis, which is situated at the northwestern part of the peninsula of Mount Athos, and its chapel is dedicated to Saint Nicholas.

The sea in front of the glebe has many rocks, while three of them, very similar to each other, are named three siblings. The building of the glebe is not visible from the sea because it is built behind the hill. Father Andreas used to go down to the beach at times with the prayer rope in hand, and while praying he collected sticks for the fire, if he could find any.

One day a terrible storm blew up, with a torrential rain and rough sea, causing damage throughout the region. When the storm cooled down, Father Andrew decided to go down to the beach to gather wood that the sea would have washed ashore, useful wood for the fireplace. He was thinking that after such a rough sea, perhaps there was a need to help someone in trouble.

On the beach, just a bit further from where the Venerable Father gathered wood, he saw something that seemed like a human body. Immediately he thought that it might be a shipwrecker, who might need help. So, when he approached, he saw that it was a woman, dressed in black like a nun, who sat on a rock, holding on her knees a book and writing something. She also had next to her two more books.

Surprised, since entry to Mount Athos is prohibited to women, he asked her with the distinctive dialect of the inhabitants of the island of Kefallonia, where he was from, the following:

"Who are you, my lady? And what do you want here? Do you want any help?"

"No, Elder," she responded, "I do not want help. I am here and I am doing this work."

"And what are these three books that you have with you?"

And the lady replied: "In the first one I write the names of those who come to this Land, in the second I write the names of those who depart, and in the third one, which is the book of life, I write the names of those who remain here until the end."

Not wanting to bother her any more, since there was no need, and without understanding what he saw or heard, Father Andreas made his way back to the house. When it was time for the evening service he went to church to pray. So when he started saying Salutations from the Akathist in front of the icon of the Panagia, and started to chant "When the bodiless learned of the secret command..." (Τό προσταχθέν μυστικώς λαβών εν γνώσει...), the eyes of his soul opened and he realized that all that had preceded were not normal, and that the lady whom he had met was the same as the icon of the Virgin Mary, and then only he understood whom he had really met.

The good Elder went back to the shore as hastily as he could, although his age was advanced and the path was not at all easy, in order to meet the Mother whom he loved tenderly as a child, and to whom he always directed his prayers for his salvation, and also to whom he laid every hope. So he shouted with all his love: “My Panagia, my Panagia”. But an unearthly and sweet scent, which had permeated the region, was left behind when the Panagia Theotokos went away, since she seemingly was no longer there.

Father Andreas confessed the incident to his spiritual father Dionysios, from the Small Saint Anna Skete, as indeed all the monks have to do in order to avoid the deceptions of the invisible enemy, who transforms even into an angel of light, as the Apostle Paul quotes. The spiritual father knew the virtue of the Elder, and he reassured him, saying that it was the Panagia. Then Elder Andreas told him: “Alright, my spiritual father. Only, please do not say this to anyone, I don't want them to think I am some kind of a saint." Indeed the spiritual father respected the desire of the Elder. Since then, at times when the Elder said the Salutations of our Panagia, her vigil-lamp moved, so as to remind him of that meeting.

This incident was not just a coincidence. The Elder was what we call in the monastic life, a fighter. This means that he dealt with spiritual matters assiduously, while he had the gift of sleeping for a little while, getting up early and praying continuously. Therefore, it wasn't at all strange that our Panagia honored him with her presence. And not only the Panagia...

During his stay in the glebe the Elder had visits from monks of the Monastery of Esphigmenou, who urged him to join the brotherhood of the Monastery which had already been cut off from the rest of Mount Athos. By posing the arguments for ecumenical compromises of certain church leaders, they urged him to agree to "zealotism" for the accuracy of the faith. The naïve Elder began to have doubts in his thoughts and therefore he considered it necessary to intensify his prayers and the supplications to God for such a decision. The dilemma was great. How could he leave his place of Repentance and his brothers and be cut away from them? On the other side the monks showed that the Faith was at risk and could easily be betrayed and so, according to them, he should disown all the previous in order to keep the Faith.

In this struggle with his thoughts, a priest paid him a visit. He had a serene presence and a mirthful face, a true "image of goodness".

"Elder," he said to him, "may God's peace be with you. Which road should I follow for Karyes?"

The naive Elder offered to guide him. "What is your name, father?" he asked him.

"Father Nicholas," replied the passer-by.

"Where are you from?"

"I came from Cyprus."

He waved goodbye after he had shown the path, and made his return of the glebe. But immediately he thought: "I didn't ask the man if he was hungry, if he was in need of something. He has a long way to go." He turned around and called out to him "Father Nicholas, Father Nicholas, Father, Father." The priest had disappeared while normally he wouldn't have walked not even ten meters.

Along with the passer-by who disappeared into thin air, the troubling thoughts of the Elder also disappeared, bringing peace to his mind because, despite the sensitivity that he had on matters of faith, the urging of those monks who advised him would have taken him out of the Church. So Father Nicholas, who obviously was Saint Nicholas, showed him the path to go for the rest of his life, meaning not to draw away from the Church.

Let us note that according to a tradition, Saint Nicholas "launched" his episcopal career from the Monastery of Priests which is located near Paphos in Cyprus.

When the Elder grew heavy due to his age, he returned to the Monastery of Saint Paul in order to spend there his last years. At this Monastery was a worker, who worked there for many years, and was very honest and devout, but he came down with a heavy disease and he was confined to bed. Shortly before he died, the Abbot proposed to make him a monk, since because of the monastic schema, which is a second baptism, all sins of life are forgiven. The worker wept when he heard the proposal of the Abbot and accepted with joy.

Thus he died as a monk, and specifically on the 2nd of February, when the Monastery of Saint Paul has the great celebration of the Presentation of Christ. It was that worker whom Father Andreas brought up over and over again as an example, saying: "Just how much did our Panagia love this man? Such an honor, to take him along on Her feast!"

It was the dawn of the 2nd of February 1987. The Monastery of Saint Paul was celebrating the feast of the Presentation of our Lord. Suddenly some news spread by word of mouth, and it left mixed feelings. Normally it had to be sorrowful news, but by hearing it the fathers were full of resurrectional euphoria. Father Andreas made peace with God in the course of the vigil. A sacred end. The next day during the Funeral service, his spiritual father revealed to the public all those events which sealed the great virtue of that man. Father Andreas was buried at the cemetery of the Monastery of Saint Paul, and was added among his fathers. May we have his prayers.

Source: Edited by John Sanidopoulos.

The Date of Orthodox Easter in Finland and Estonia

By John Sanidopoulos

Many Orthodox Christians are scandalized over the fact that some fellow Orthodox Christians in Finland and Estonia celebrate Easter according to the reckoning of the Gregorian Calendar rather than the Julian Calendar. The fact remains however that the reason these special cases exist are more complicated historically and canonically than is generally assumed.

The early 20th century Calendar issue in the Orthodox Church is a very complicated issue. The issue essentially rested on the case of whether or not the Church should have a separate official calendar from the State in which its people resided and worked. In some nations the issue was much more complicated than others. For example, with the separation of Church and State in Russia under the Bolsheviks, it was determined by the State to force the Russian Church into accepting the Gregorian Calendar which the Bosheviks accepted civilly in January of 1919. Patriarch Tikhon at that time in 1919 was against this because he considered the issue an ecclesiastical one and did not want to be forced by the State to accept a Calendar reform, and wrote a Letter (No. 464/21 January 1919) to the Mother Church under Ecumenical Patriarch Germanos V (1913-1918) to help settle the controversy. Patriarch Tikhon considered the change of calendar by any autocephalous Church should be on a Pan-ecclesiastical level. Ecumenical Patriarch Germanos determined that the Russian Church was not to change the calendar until a Synod determined whether or not this should be done and how it was to be done. Plus, it was viewed by all the Orthodox Churches at the time that the Gregorian Calendar was not as accurate as it should be, therefore a new determination by their own experts were to be consulted to form a new calendar. When the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and a Pan-Orthodox Congress did determine a more precise formulation in 1924, the Reformed Julian Calendar, Patriarch Tikhon, who had a disposition to change, did not move forward due to many factors. Among the factors as to why the Russian Church was unable to change calendars at the time were: the locking up of the churches and confiscation of Church property (Decree of January 23, 1918); the desecration of the Christian graves and the destruction of the relics of the saints (Encyclical Order of March 1, 1919); the famine of 1921; localization of Patriarch Tikhon (May 10, 1922), and the appearance of the "Living Church" and the schismatic movement (beginning of 1923).

Due to the pressures of the State and threats of schism, Patriarch Tikhon in his 1919 Letter to the Ecumenical Patriarch did desire a quick solution to the calendar issue. Among the issues he addressed in his letter was to end the affliction of Orthodox who were living in places where they were a minority and where the civil Law didn't take into consideration the Orthodox ecclesiastical order.

Patriarch Tikhon to this aspect of the calendar problem very correctly gives great importance. According to notes made in his Let­ter, they were in a difficult position because of the parallel daily use of the two calendars; the one for daily life and vital relations, and the other for the liturgical practices of the Church. For example, Patriarch Tikhon refers to the case of the Orthodox in Finland, where the ma­jority were Lutherans, who had accepted the new calendar. A custom for celebrating the Divine Liturgy in the Orthodox Churches for the days of Christmas, Annunciation and other Christian feasts on the same day as the Lutherans was established to blunt the sharp difficulties the Orthodox had reached. Orthodox were going to Finnish churches to celebrate the feasts for these days.

The reason for which this measure was decided was to occupy the Orthodox population during this involuntary holiday with something which would produce a spiritual profit, but also to be protected from the "bait" of visiting a Lutheran mass. After the political alteration in 1917 when Finland was proclaimed an independent state (in July of 1919 it became a Republic), the Pan-Russian Synod, as Patriarch Tik­hon states in his Letter, was obliged to allow to the Finish Orthodox parishes to celebrate according to the new calendar. Christians in oth­er places could be found in the same or similar position, where new separate states were formed, for example Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and generally where the Orthodox constituted a minority.

The Orthodox Church of Finland

In November 1918 an edict by the Finnish government granted the Orthodox Church of Finland the status of the second national church of the country, after the Lutheran, with all attendant rights and privileges. However, due to the Russian Revolution in 1917, Finland sought to distance itself more and more from Russia, which forced Patriarch Tikhon to officially grant the Finnish Orthodox autonomy in 1921. Under the complex political circumstances, in order not to seem 'pro-Russian', the Finnish Church urged towards reforms allowed previously by Patriarch Tikhon, and in October of 1921 it adopted the Gregorian Calendar and began to celebrate Western Easter. The autonomy of the Finnish Orthodox proved to be difficult for them and they felt cut off from both Russia and Constantinople, therefore they chose their only option at the time, which was to become an autonomous archbishopric of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1923. For the sake of unity in Finland after the Soviets invaded part of the country and divided the faithful of Finland, it was urged in 1925 by Bishop German (Aav) for all Orthodox in Finland to adopt the Gregorian Calendar. Many refused, such as the fathers of Valaam Monastery, and therefore fled to countries where they could preserve the Julian Calendar, such as the Soviet Union or Serbia.

The Orthodox Church of Estonia

The issue of Calendar reform in Estonia has many similarities with that of Finland. It also was under the Russians with a majority German Lutheran population, and following the Russian Revolution of 1917 Estonia sought more and more to distance itself from the Bolsheviks. The General (clergy-laity) Assembly in 1919 sent the corresponding appeal for independence to the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. On June 15, 1920, the Synod decided to grant the Church of Estonia autonomy in economic, administrative and educational matters and the right to use the Gregorian Calendar. Because of the complicated situation in Russia, and like Finland they felt the need to be connected with either Russia or Constantinople, the Estonian Church appealed to the Ecumenical Patriarchate. So, in 1923, a delegation of Estonian and Finnish Churches went to Constantinople to ask for a correct canonical status for the Church in a newly independent country. On June 7th, 1923, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate issued the tomos of autonomy for the Estonian Orthodox Church.

Conclusion

The Finnish and Estonian Churches were always considered a special case regarding their adoption of the Gregorian Calendar for very sensitive reasons. There was intense pressure by the Finnish government to have the Finnish Orthodox adopt the Gregorian Calendar and distance itself as much as possible from the Russians. At just under 2% of the population, because of their adoption they were able to have equal privileges with the local Lutheran Church in Finland and it allowed for the flourishing of the Church in a time of persecution. It further allows the Church to be supported by the State from tax revenues. Today in Finland and Estonia the Orthodox Church has a very favorable position in society and its reforms are seen to be a positive thing. It was meant to be temporary until the issue could be brought up in a Pan-Orthodox Synod, but that has not happened yet. This is why the Finnish and Estonian issue was never controversial except by those who refuse to understand the situation and use it as a way to justify bad attitudes against the Calendar reform.

Read also:

Lutherans and Orthodox in Finland: Ecumenical Dialogue and Cooperation between two Established Churches

The Gift of a Common Calendar - Vital To Mission and Witness in Secular Society

Debunking Myths About the Date of Easter

Synaxis of Panagia the Giatrissa in Thirasia

Thirasia is a small Greek island situated to the west of Santorini in the Cyclades. Its population is about 250 people and its inhabitants are mostly occupied with agriculture. The only track of the island will lead you to the church of Agia Irini (Saint Irene) which is said to have given Santorini its current name (Santa Irini - Santorini).

The Church of Panagia the Giatrissa (the Physician) is found in Potamo in Thirasia and is dedicated to the Nativity of the Theotokos (September 8).

The celebration of the feast of Panagia the Giatrissa takes place on September 21st because the church was built in the 1950's by a family who were Old Calendarists, and when the church changed from the Old to the New Calendar (there is a 13 day difference between both calendars) the then Bishop did not change the feast day because the celebration of the church on that date was deeply embedded among the inhabitants.