Earthquakes in the Synaxarion of the Orthodox Church

By His Eminence Metropolitan Hierotheos

of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

In early September [1999] we experienced the consequences of the terrible earthquake in Athens, which was felt in other parts of Greece. Previously we were affected by the terrible effects of the earthquake in Turkey. The land shook for entire days while at the same time shaking the hearts of the people.

During these earthquakes we have been able to see human suffering from the loss of loved ones, and we empathized with them, seeing others lose all their property, the acquisition for which they labored tirelessly over a lifetime. Yet we were given the opportunity to also see the heroism of the men of EMAK who selflessly entered into the wreckage to retrieve lives, as well as the interest we saw in other people running out of sympathy to offer various aid. We are not indifferent also to the assistance of various rescue groups from other nations who came to help us and showed their solidarity. However, one cannot ignore the irresponsibility of the many who were responsible for the construction of the buildings that collapsed.

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The Icon of the Theotokos Before Which St. Mary of Egypt Repented

According to St. Sophronios of Jerusalem, who wrote the biography of St. Mary of Egypt, when she was about to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on the feast of the Exaltation of the Honorable Cross, she was prevented from doing so by an invisible power due to her sinful intentions. After trying again and again to gain entry but failing, and seeing with what ease those around her entered, she looked up and saw an icon of the Theotokos and realized that it was her sins that prevented her from entering. Immediately she prayed to the Mother of God to allow her in and lead her by the hand on the path of repentance, promising that she would renounce the world and dedicate herself completely to Christ. Having fulfilled her promise, she became a model of repentance for centuries to pious Orthodox Christians.

Commemoration of the Terrible Earthquake of 790 A.D.

Only one major natural disaster struck Constantinople in the period ca. 750-850 A.D. This was the earthquake of February 9, 790 which forced people to sleep outdoors in tents and prompted the imperial family to vacate the imperial palace for a time, but which apparently spared the city the high levels of death and physical destruction caused by earthquakes in earlier decades.

Saint Demetrios and the Earthquake of 1978

Saint Demetrios has proven himself to be a protector of the city of Thessaloniki, working countless miracles and appearing to many people who were in need of his aid.

For example, in 1912, when Thessaloniki was liberated from the Turks, many people claimed to have seen St. Demetrios.

As recently as 1978, during the earthquake that caused considerable destruction, many Thessalonians reported seeing St. Demetrios in the sky on a red horse. As the earthquake subsided, a group of bystanders saw a young man in a long white robe standing atop St. Demetrios' Church. Thinking it was one of the priests or an acolyte and fearful that the roof would collapse, they called to him to come down, but he disappeared from their sight. They ran inside the church and up to the roof to investigate, but none of the clergy or church workers had been up there. A general belief spread throughout the city that it had been the Saint.