The Consecration of the First Icon of Saint Gregory, Bishop of Derkoi

During Great Vespers at the Old Church of the Apostle Andrew in Patras, on Saturday 27 November 2021, for the feast of All Saints of Achaea (which falls on the Sunday before the feast of Saint Andrew, on November 30th), the first icon of the newly-canonized Saint Gregory, Bishop of Derkoi, was consecrated (it was anointed with holy myrrh and a special prayer was read over it).

Eyewitness Testimony of an Anglican Minister Concerning the Martyrdom of Saint Gregory V, Patriarch of Constantinople, in 1821

Robert Walsh (1772-1852) was an Anglican priest of the Church of Ireland who was resident in Constantinople as a chaplain to Lord Strangford's Embassy from 1821 to 1824 and from 1830 to 1835. In 1836 he published his two volume work, Residence at Constantinople during the Greek and Turkish Revolutions. There we read his eyewitness account of the martyrdom of Saint Gregory V, Patriarch of Constantinople, in 1821.

Easter was now at hand, and the Turks either pretended, or really did believe, that it was the period fixed on for the general insurrection of the Christians of Constantinople, and the massacre of the Mahomedans. The Greek church still adheres to the calculations of the old style, and have not adopted the reformation of the calendar made in the Latin church; its festivals, therefore, do not correspond with ours.

The Story of the Icon of the Panagia Pyrovoletheisa ("of the Gun Shot")

When Mount Athos was occupied by a Turkish guard in April of 1822, a soldier dared to shoot at the icon of the Theotokos located outside the entrance of the Sacred Great Monastery of Vatopaidi. The bullet hit the right hand of the Panagia. As soon as he shot the right hand of the Panagia, the sacrilegious soldier immediately fell down and frothed in front of the gate like a madman, as the historical manuscript states about this event. This soldier, who was the nephew of the captain of the detachment, then went and hung himself on an olive tree in the garden opposite the entrance of the monastery. The danger of retaliation and looting of the monastery would have been certain, if the scene was not witnessed by a fellow soldier who informed his uncle about it. The captain of the detachment then confessed that this was indeed a divine chastisement and ordered that his nephew, the soldier, be cast away dishonorably and unburied. The miraculous icon of the Panagia Pyrovoletheisa ("of the Gun Shot") is located at the entrance of the Sacred Great Monastery of Vatopaidi, and the location of the gunshot on the right hand can still be seen.

Saint Euplos, an Important Saint for the People of Eastern Thrace

Church of Saint Euplos in Ainos in 1908

To most of the Orthodox Christian world, Saint Euplos, who is commemorated on August 11th, is completely unknown. But to the Greek people of Ainos (Enez) in Thrace, Saint Euplos has historically been very important and well known.

His significance mainly stems from his name - Euplos - which in Greek essentially means "good voyage" or "good sea voyage". To the port city of Ainos, they celebrated and loved this Saint in his church to ensure a good voyage by sea through his intercessions.

The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece Canonizes 51 New Saints

On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the martyrdom of Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory V (+ April 10, 1821) and following the proposals of the Metropolitans of Patras, Lefkada and Chios, the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece decided to include in the list of Saints the other seven Hierarchs who were hanged with him.

All together, fifty-one new Saints were proclaimed on 15 July 2021 by the Church of Greece, after a thorough study of the files submitted by the Metropolitans through the Synodal Committee for Nomocanonical and Dogmatic Issues.

The Mystery of the Missing Relics of Saint Cyril VI, Patriarch of Constantinople (+ 1821)

 

 

 

The martyrdom of Ecumenical Patriarch Cyril VI of Constantinople on 18 April 1821 by the Turks, who was hanged in Adrianople and whose body was dumped in the river Evros, is still a topic of discussion in the remote village of Pythio in the eastern part of Didymoteicho, on the Greek-Turkish border.

A few meters from the only cafe of the village where the few residents gather to discuss their lives and the news, there is a narrow alley with the empty tomb of the Patriarch, above which stands a chapel dedicated to his memory that is cared for daily by the residents. In 1993 the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece recognized him as a Saint of the Church, but no one knows where his sacred relics are located.

Interview Regarding the 200th Anniversary of the Greek Revolution with Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos (2 of 2)

...continud from part one.

Α.B.: With what you are saying, Your Eminence, you reminded me of the Naval Battle of Gerontas - and I bring this up because you speak of the Orthodox ethos of the Greek slaves - and I remembered that on the 29th of August in 1824 the Naval Battle took place, and the Greeks with Andreas Miaoulis as the navy captain defeated the Turkish and Egyptian fleets, and when the battle was over and everyone was all smoked from the gunpowder, Miaoulis gave the crew bread and olives because it was a day when a strict fast is observed, it was the feast of Saint John, and despite the fact that they could have eaten anything different that day, they instead observed the fast of the Church.

H.E.: Yes, we see this in all the leaders of the Revolution, who had this ethos. And above all, of course, we see this in Makriyannis. When one reads Makriyannis' Memoirs, one sees the whole tradition they had. And what I want to say is that this was the tradition with which the Romans grew up, it is the Romaiik tradition, the Philokalic tradition, the Hesychast tradition.

Interview Regarding the 200th Anniversary of the Greek Revolution with Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos (1 of 2)

The following is a recorded interview with the journalist of the Radio Station of the Church of Greece, Adamantia Bourtzinou, conducted on January 21, 2021, with His Eminence Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou, regarding the 200th anniversary of the Greek War of Independence of 1821.

Adamantia Bourtzinou: We have the special pleasure and honor to have on our telephone line His Eminence Metropolitan of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou Mr. Hierotheos. Good day, Your Eminence. Your blessing.

His Eminence: Good morning. Hope you are well and a good morning to all our listeners.

Α.B.: Thank you very much for being with us today and we will have the opportunity to discuss the first event that took place in the Holy Metropolis of Nafpaktos for the 200 years since the Greek Revolution of 1821. This year the Holy Synod has organized celebrations in all the Metropolises and you have already begun.

Holy Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople Resource Page

St. Gregory V of Constantinople (Feast Day - April 10)

Verses

You died by hanging O Patriarch,
However you live eternally in divine Eden.
On the tenth the Patriarch was sacrificed on behalf of the Nation.

 

Synaxarion of the Holy New Hieromartyr Gregory V the Patriarch of Constantinople

 

Holy Hieromartyr Gregory V, Patriarch of Constantinople (+ 1821)

Hieromartyr Gregory V, Patriarch of Constantinople (+ 1821)

The Childhood Home of Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory V

 

Eyewitness Testimony of an Anglican Minister Concerning the Martyrdom of Saint Gregory V, Patriarch of Constantinople, in 1821

 

American Reports of the Death of Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory V in 1821

 

The Makeshift Coffin of the Holy Hieromartyr Patriarch Gregory V

 

The Icon Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory V Gifted To Metropolitan Germanos of Old Patras

What Did Patriarch Bartholomew Ask For at the Martyrdom Site of His Predecessor Patriarch Gregory V?

 

Greek Independence Day Resource Page

 

The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece Canonizes 51 New Saints

 

Synaxarion of the Holy New Hieromartyr Gregory V the Patriarch of Constantinople

On the 10th of this month [April], we commemorate Saint Gregory V the New Hieromartyr, Archbishop of Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriarch, who was martyred on this day by hanging, in the year 1821, on behalf of the freedom of pious Panhellenism, during the reign of the Asiatic Sultan Mahmud.

Verses

You died by hanging O Patriarch,
However you live eternally in divine Eden.
On the tenth the Patriarch was sacrificed on behalf of the Nation.

The Makeshift Coffin of the Holy Hieromartyr Patriarch Gregory V

In the Church of the Entrance of the Theotokos in Domato of Leivathos in Kefallonia is kept the makeshift coffin which was built inside the ship of the Kefallonian Nicholas Sklavos. In this coffin was placed the relic of Patriarch Gregory V, whose body was retrieved from the waters of the Bosporus on April 14, 1821. 

 

The Patriarch had just been hanged by the Turks at the entrance to the Patriarchate in Constantinople on April 10, 1821. After his body had been left hanging for three days, three impious Jewish men gave the Turks money and took the body, dragging it throughout the city screaming "This is the King of the Christians", and cast it into the Bosporus. 

 

The Childhood Home of Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory V

 

The Holy Ethno-Hieromartyr Patriarch Gregory V, who is commemorated on April 10th in the Orthodox Church, was born in the mountain village of Dimitsana in Arcadia of the Peloponnese in 1746 to a poor family. He was baptized with the name George Angelopoulos. His father was a shepherd named John and his mother's name was Asemina. It was here that young George worked and received a basic education, until he left for Athens in 1765 at the age of 19 to pursue further education.

Today the childhood home of Patriarch Gregory V operates as the Ecclesiastical Museum of Dimitsana. The sign at the entrance reads: "In this house was born Patriarch Gregory V, hanged on April 10, 1821 in Constantinople." The house was restored by the benefactor Panagiotis Angelopoulos (1909-2001) and the museum was created based on the idea and at the urging of Metropolitan Theophilos of Gortynos and Megalopolis in 1992. The building is two-storied, of traditional architecture and is located near the central square of Dimitsana. The floors are connected by an internal stone staircase.

How the Greeks Outsmarted the British Missionaries During the Greek Revolution

 

London Greek Committee

Without the Philhellenes of the West, it would have been much more difficult for the Greeks to have gained their independence, some would say even impossible. And though the Greeks were very grateful for their contribution in helping them gain their freedom, they also knew from experience to not trust them completely. They looked upon the French and even more so the English as either being mad or very very devious.

The London Greek Committee (1823–1826) was a Philhellenic group established to support the Greek War of Independence from Ottoman rule by raising funds by subscription for military supplies to Greece and by raising a major loan to stabilize the fledgling Greek government. Its first meeting was held on 28 February 1823 in the Crown and Anchor Tavern on the Strand. The committee was established by John Bowring and Edward Blaquiere. Its early members included the reformer Jeremy Bentham and Lord Byron. Colonel Leicester Stanhope, a soldier with experience in India and an enthusiast for liberty of the press, established printing presses throughout Greece.

The London  Greek  Committee  had  a  distinctly  Christian  bias.  Greece  was  not  only  to  be  regenerated  in  terms  of  English  utilitarianism  but  converted  to  English  Christianity  as  well.  As  Stanhope  himself  declared  when  the  first  consignment  of  Bibles  arrived:  "They  will  save  the  priests  the  trouble  of  enlightening the darkness of their flocks. Flocks indeed! With the press and the Bibles, the whole mind of Greece may be put in labour." An alliance was formed   between   the   London   Greek   Committee   and   various   Christian   groups,  principally  the  missionary  societies,  to  propagate  in  Greece  the  eternal truths of Christianity as understood in contemporary England.

The Church of Saint Athanasios in Thessaloniki and the Greek Revolution of 1821

The Church of Saint Athanasios is located in the center of the city of Thessaloniki, southeast of the Church of Acheiropoietos, at the junction of Egnatia Street with Sokratous Street.

According to an inscription above the southern entrance, the church was built in 1818. It is a three-aisled wooden-roofed basilica with a nave, an architectural type that was widespread in Macedonia during the Turkish occupation and especially in the 19th century.

However, one of the tragic events of the Greek Revolution in Thessaloniki, which is associated with the church, and remains unknown in the collective memory of the city, is what happened in the then newly built Church of Saint Athanasios.

Athanasios Diakos, Papaflessas and the Taking Up Of Arms

By Archimandrite Vasilios Bakoyiannis

These two (among others) Clergymen took up arms and went to battle on behalf of the faith and homeland. From an ecclesiastical perspective, did they do the right thing?

Saint Luke of Simferopol needed as a doctor, to dedicate some time (around 1930) to do surgeries for pyogenic infections, temporarily leaving aside the Priesthood. However, during this time he made a great discovery in medical science. His name was discussed (under Stalin!) throughout the Soviet Union. On the radio, in newspapers and in magazines the Priest Luke was praised! The Christians boasted!

The Church Where General Theodoros Kolokotronis Wept in his Darkest Hour

In the early days of the revolution, Theodoros Kolokotronis had marched triumphantly through cheering crowds, but in the following weeks few things went right for him. After the events of Kalamata, he headed north to Karytaina with Nikitas Stamatelopoulos, Elias Mavromichalis, the Plapoutas brothers, Kanellos Deligiannis, Papaflessas and Anagnostaras. Karytaina was an isolated village on a rocky outcrop in the central Peloponnese, with an old Byzantine castle over it. Turks were besieged in the castle by some thousand and a half armed Greeks. When 2000 enemy soldiers with 700 cavalry reached Karytaina from Tripolitsa all the Greeks fled, as Kolokotronis observed from afar with his telescope. For over 400 years of slavery the Greeks were used to obeying orders like good subjects and with the exception of the law-breaking klephts and law-enforcing armatoloi the villagers had no idea how to use a rifle. They needed the first victory, to acquire self-confidence. Kolokotronis had to then hide in a tree to allow the Turks to pass without noticing him. He was left alone and when he was asked by his soldiers to leave to fight another battle, he said: "I am not coming. I sit in these mountains where the birds know me better than my neighbors." Papaflessas ordered a young soldier to stay with Kolokotronis: "Stay with him, so that the wolves don't devour him." Kolokotronis stayed alone. And as he says in his memoirs:

Romanism and Costes Palamas

 

PREFACE

The lecture herein published is being offered in English translation as a means of allowing the descendants of the West Romans to take a preliminary glance at people in South East Europe and the Middle East who still call themselves Romans and sing songs and write poetry about themselves as Romans.

Much in this lecture is a summary of sections of a larger study which among other things examines why the Franks decided that the East Romans should not be called Romans.

This decision had a peculiar impact on a town in Cappadocia which gave two emperors to the empire. In some histories the first one is a Roman emperor because he ruled before Heraclius (610-641) and the second is supposedly a Byzantine emperor because he ruled after.

The Primary Difference Between the Greek Revolution and Both the American and French Revolutions

While the philhellenes of the West looked to Greece as the ancient homeland of Homer, Sophocles, Aristophanes, Thucidydes, Alexander the Great, Plato and Aristotle, those whom they viewed as descendants of the Hellenes themselves went beyond this pagan association and viewed themselves as descendants of the Romans of the Roman Empire, whose capital was the Constantinople founded by Emperor Constantine, which was indelibly attached to Orthodox Christianity; therefore their war of independence was primarily about the freedom to worship freely as Orthodox Christians without being enslaved as lower-class citizens subject to the harsh regulations of the followers of Islam in their own homeland. Contrary to this, America fought for freedom from a king's tyranny, and France for freedom from papal supremacy and a Catholic monarchy.

Greek Independence Day Resource Page

"When we got our weapons, 

first we said for the Faith 

and then for the Nation." 

(General Theodoros Kolokotronis)

 

Two "Hails" Are the Essence of Romiosini and Modern Hellenism

 

May 29, 1453 - Fall of Constantinople Resource Page

 

New Martyrs Under the Turks Resource Page

 

Patriarchs of Constantinople Killed Under the Turks  

Saint Cyril Loukaris, Patriarch of Constantinople (+ 1638)

Holy New Hieromartyr Parthenios III, Patriarch of Constantinople (+ 1657)

 

Kollyvades Movement Resource Page

 

Saint Kosmas the Aitolos Resource Page

 

The Political Vision of Athanasios of Paros and His Disputes With Koraes  

 

The Plane Tree of the Greek Revolution at the Monastery of Megistis Lavra in Kalavryta

 

The “Excommunication” of Alexander Ypsilantis

Germanos of Old Patras and the Greek War of Liberation 

Germanos of Old Patras: The Hierarch of Freedom

 

The Icon Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory V Gifted To Metropolitan Germanos of Old Patras

 

Holy Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople Resource Page

Saint Cyril VI, Patriarch of Constantinople (+ April 18, 1821)

 

Saint Dorotheos Proios, Metropolitan of Adrianople (+ 1821)

 

Saint Gregory, Bishop of Derkoi (+ 1821) 

 

Holy Hieromartyr Joseph III (Antonopoulos), Archbishop of Thessaloniki (+ 1821)

 

Holy Ethnomartyr Gregory the Kalamaras, Metropolitan of Argos (+ 1821) 

Holy Ethnomartyr Gregory, Bishop of Methoni († 1825)

 

The Unenslaved Spirit of Romiosini (Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos) 

 

The Term "Romiosini" According to Fr. John Romanides

 

Orthodox and Romios: Two Identical Words

 

A Greek or a Roman Revolution?

 

The Roman Revolt of 1821 

 

The Romiosini of 1821 and the Great Powers (Fr. John Romanides)

 

Romanism and Costes Palamas

 

The Primary Difference Between the Greek Revolution and Both the American and French Revolutions

The Spiritual Meaning of the Greek Revolution

 

The Sanctified Revolution (Photios Kontoglou)  

 

Φ. Κόντογλου: "Στολή Αφθαρσίας" & "Η Aγιασμένη Eπανάσταση"

 

Blood-Stained Cassocks and 1821

 

Archbishop Kyprianos of Cyprus and the Greek Revolution of 1821

 

Athanasios Diakos, Papaflessas and the Taking Up Of Arms

 

Kalo Voli! The Famous Wish of the Greek Revolutionaries

 

The Church of Saint Athanasios in Thessaloniki and the Greek Revolution of 1821

 

Movie: "Papaflessas" (a film about the Greek Revolution)

Laskarina Bouboulina, a Great Greek Heroine

 

The Church Where General Theodoros Kolokotronis Wept in his Darkest Hour

The Chapel of Saints Theodoroi in Nafplio, Built by Theodoros Kolokotronis

 

Book Review: "The Life of General Makriyannis: Memoir and History"

The Neptic Spirituality of General Yannis Makriyannis 

 

The Courageous Reply of the Monks of Mega Spelaion In 1827 

 

The Church of Panagia of Finikia and Lord Byron

 

A Reflection On the Last Day of My 36th Year of Life

 

The Easter Sunday When Greeks Asked "How is Lord Byron?" Before Saying "Christ is Risen!" 

Mary Shelley as a Philhellene

Edgar Allan Poe As A Philhellene 

 

Birth of a Nation: The Establishment of Modern Greece

Documentary: "March 25 - Greek Independence Day"

The First Celebration and Location of Greek Independence Day

 
A Special Celebration of March 25th for the Greek People

 

On the Revilers of Orthodox Faith and Greek History

Monk Moses: On the Rewriting of Our History  

 

Movie Review: "Cliffs of Freedom" (2019) 

 

Archimandrite Angelos Lyssaris, A Descendent of Kolokotronis, Reposes

 

Book Review: "The 'Model Kingdom' and the Great Idea: Aspects of the National Problem in Greece (1830-1880)"

 

Interview Regarding the 200th Anniversary of the Greek Revolution with Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos (1 of 2)

 

Interview Regarding the 200th Anniversary of the Greek Revolution with Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos (2 of 2)

 

The Romiosini of 1821 and the Great Powers (Fr. John Romanides)

The Romiosini of 1821 and the Great Powers 

 

Orthodoxos Typos

25 March 1978

 

 By Protopresbyter Fr. John Romanides

 

(Translated by John Sanidopoulos)

 

PART ONE

 

PART TWO

 

PART THREE

 

PART FOUR

 

PART FIVE

 

PART SIX

 

PART SEVEN

 

PART EIGHT

 

PART NINE

 

PART TEN

 

PART ELEVEN