Venerable Elder Symeon Vroulos of Psara (+ 1944)

The Venerable Elder Symeon Vroulos was born in 1853 in the village of Agios Ioannis on the island of Chios, and from an early age left for the Monastery of the Dormition of the Theotokos on the neighboring island of Psara, where he served as Abbot for a number of years.

Fr. Andreas Daphnos, in an interview with the magazine Apostoli (no. 55, 2003-4), was asked by the journalist about what made himself feel blessed. He answered: "I was found worthy to meet and receive the blessing, even while they were alive, of two holy persons who became saints. One was Saint Anthimos of Chios.... The other holy person I had the blessing to meet was another Saint of Chios, Saint Symeon the Abbot of Psara. From the age of eight he went to the Monastery and there he learned letters from the Psalter of David! He was, I remember, a very strong man and he cultivated the Monastery's estates with great love. At night they heard him go to a ravine next to the Monastery and break stones, in order to tame himself with work, as he said, and not allow the devil to fight him. In the morning he was regularly at his services. I was lucky enough to meet him when I was five years old. He took me into his arms and gave me his blessing."

Vasiliki Rallis, the First Visionary of Saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene, Has Reposed at the Age of 100

The blessed nun Irene, more famously known by her secular name Vasiliki Rallis, has reposed at the age of 100, as of this past Monday on the 5th of December 2022, at around 8:00 am. This took place at the Sacred Monastery of Panagia Eleousa in Patras. Her funeral took place on December 6th.

Vasiliki was born in Thermi on the island of Lesvos, a few months after the Asia Minor Catastrophe. Her family was from Moschonisi (Cunda Island) of Asia Minor. Her father, Nicholas Maragos, was imprisoned, while her pregnant mother went to Lesvos as a refugee, escaping as if by a miracle from the massacre, in that tragic September of 1922. They crossed to the hospitable coast of Lesvos and settled in the area of Thermi, where she was born on January 28, 1923. In Mytilene she received her general education, in the  Girls' High School and the French School of the time. Over time, she married Angelo Rallis and had two daughters and one grandchild named Panagiotis.

The Wise and Courageous Metropolitan Paisios II of Caesarea (1776-1871), the Spiritual Predecessor of Saint Arsenios of Cappadocia

Paisios was born in Farasa of Cappadocia in 1776 or 1777. In 1804 he became abbot of the Honorable Forerunner Monastery in Flaviana (Zincidere) and a teacher of the School for Priests (Seminary). He helped the Ecumenical Patriarchate in very bad times. He fought zealously to prevent proselytizing actions against the Romans, saw to the construction or repair of temples, founded schools, orphanages and girls' schools.

The head village of Cappadocia was the saint-bearing Varasos, better known as Farasa, which was the birthplace of two great Saints of the Church, Saint Arsenios of Cappadocia and his spiritual successor Saint Paisios the Athonite. And, as Mr. Lazaros M. Kelekidis writes in his book "Farasa of Cappadocia", it was Saint Paisios who made Farasa known and thanks to him the whole world learned that there in the depths of the East, there was a spring of inexhaustible Roman Orthodox spirituality, a beacon that shone with the unfading light of Orthodoxy.

Kyriaki Kioskeridou, a Revered Spiritual Daughter of Saint Sophia of Kleisoura, Has Reposed

On Tuesday 15 February 2022, Kyriaki Kioskeridou (maiden name Athanasiadou), popularly called Kitsa, reposed in the Lord at the age of 96. She was from Ptolemaida and had been a spiritual daughter of Saint Sophia of Kleisoura. Much of what we know about Saint Sophia comes from her testimony and experience.

In 1941, she was one of the founding members and the Vice President of the Christian Philanthropic Association "The Good Samaritan". She never claimed the presidency of the association but pioneered its charitable work. She gave lectures in various catechisms, cooked for the needy, while her house was a place of consolation and love for those who sought it.

The Recently Reposed Metropolitan Kosmas of Aetolia and Acarnania (+ January 3, 2022)

 

By Ioannis Hatzidigenis, Theologian

Metropolitan Kosmas of Aetolia and Acarnania did not in any case remind us of being a Bishop of our day as his spiritual endowment was observed as being in the footsteps of the Holy Hierarchs and his ecclesiastical phronema rested in the consciousness of the Orthodox faith.

As a Liturgist of the sacred Altar he had proverbial reverence. I will never forget the testimony of the same Bishop Kosmas of Aetolia, when as a hieromonk he co-liturgized with Saint Iakovos of Evia: "At one point during the Divine Liturgy with Saint Iakovos, the wings of Angels could be heard participating in the dread Mystery! For Saint Iakovos, of course, such experiences were considered a daily phenomenon."

The Elements of Foolishness for Christ in the Sinaite Monk Fr. Ioannis Aleiferis

 By John Fourtounas,
Professor of the University of Cairo

On November 29th, 40 days have passed since the death of Fr. Ioannis Aleiferis, a monk of the Sacred Monastery of Saint Katherine of Mount Sinai.

Originally from Vatika of Laconia, Fr. Ioannis Aleiferis became a monk in the Monastery of Sinai and served the brotherhood there as an ecclesiarch for many years.

The most important gift he acquired was foolishness for Christ, which he preserved as the apple of his eye appearing to people as insane.

Fr. Ioannis Aleiferis, a Holy Monk of Mount Sinai Known as a Fool for Christ, Has Reposed

 By Ioannis Fourtounas

Fr. Ioannis Aleiferis (+ 10/19/2021), who after a brief illness departed for the heavenly dwelling place, was a Sinaite monk of the God-trodden Monastery of Saint Katherine.

Hailing from the region of Neapolis (Vatika) in Lakonia, Fr. Ioannis joined the monastic brotherhood of Mount Sinai and served as an ecclesiarch for many years.

He was found worthy of the rare gift of foolishness for Christ, which he preserved as the apple of his eye, appearing to people as a supposedly real fool in the world and not for Christ.

The Church of Greece is Considering the Canonization of Metropolitan Theologos of Larissa

The Metropolis of Larissa issued the following statement:

His Eminence the Metropolitan of Larissa and Tyrnavos Hieronymos feels the need to thank his beloved brother and co-liturgist, His Eminence the Metropolitan of Drama Pavlos for his publicly expressed intention that the Church of Greece should study the issue of the canonization of his renowned predecessor the late Theologos, a man of known virtue and peace.

Concrete steps have already been taken in this direction, despite the existing obstacles.

The desire of all of us is the success of the project, so that despite the mistakes and the malaise of that time, to recognize that in every period of time there are people of God who give evidence to the testimony of the Faith.

Monk Ghenadie of Neamt, Who Died on his Knees in Prayer at the Age of 96

 

Monk Ghenadie of Neamt Monastery in Romania was born on 19 May 1927 and reposed on 3 September 2021. He was found in his monastic cell dead on his knees while in prayer.

Iconographer Daniel Codrescu, the artist who created the mosaic works at the Cathedral of the Salvation of the Nation, had a meeting with Monk Ghenadie at the Neamt Monastery on August 21, 2021.

After making his portrait on the bench on which he usually sat, with his eyes looking at the crowds of believers, he said to him: “Pray for me that God will end my good life and remember me.”

"He went to the Lord on his knees in prayer on September 3, and the funeral service will be on Tuesday at the Neamt Monastery, at 10 o'clock. God grant him rest among the righteous!", Daniel Codrescu transmitted, and published as a tribute the sketches from that August day, which we reproduce.

 

 

 

 

 

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The Life of the Holy Protopresbyter Elder John Kalaides (+ 2009)

By Protopresbyter George Trapezanlides

Childhood and Youthful Years

Father John Kalaides was born in Kamaroto, Serres, to pious parents Chrysostomos and Theodora on May 8, 1925, the feast day of St. John the Theologian. He thus took the name of the evangelist and beloved disciple of our Lord, John - an act that reveals the fear of God but also the love that his parents had for the Church and her Saints.

An important role in triggering his good spiritual path was the person of his mother, who was a woman with faith and love for God and His Church. Theodora wanted her children to have God in them and so she guided them in prayer and regular church attendance. This God-fearing woman was originally from Asia Minor, from Mount Olympus in Bithynia. On this mountain in the Byzantine years was born and flourished an entire monastic state similar to the spiritual height of Thebes in Egypt and the monastic state of Mount Athos, which gave the Church many saints, ascetics and martyrs. In the heyday of Iconoclasm, monasteries there were a beacon and stronghold of orthodoxy and orthopraxy. This spirituality influenced the people of the area and reached the time of his mother Theodora. Thus, when during the catastrophe in Asia Minor and they experienced the uprooting from their homeland and lost their material wealth, they managed to keep within themselves the spiritual property they knew.

Fr. Stephanos Dalianis, Parish Priest to Hundreds of Lepers, Has Reposed

Fr. Stephanos Dalianis received particular attention during the pandemic when he gave video testimony of his nearly half a century of service at the Hospital for Infectious Diseases in West Attica, which is famous among Orthodox Christians for treating the leprosy of Saint Nikephoros the Leper and Elder Eumenios Saridakis, who served as parish priest there for the lepers during his life and with whom Fr. Stephanos served behind the altar and who was his spiritual father.

Eldress Galaktia, in the world known as Galatia Kanakakis (+ 2021)

 

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

On 20 May 2021, a blessed nun reposed, Eldress Galaktia, who lived in the village of Pompia Moires, Heraklion, Crete. Her repose moved me deeply, because I knew her, through Father Antonios Fraggakis, Preacher of the Holy Metropolis of Gortyna, for over a decade and I had constant contact with her.

I consider it a special gift of God that I met her and, mainly, because she considered me as her child and of course I considered her as my mother. Until now I have never spoken publicly about her and the communication I had with her, except to a few people I know, but now I will do it after her repose.

The first time we met was in Heraklion, Crete, when she came to meet me in April of 2013, and the second time I visited her at her house, which was like a monastic cell, and we walked to the Holy Monastery of Koudouma and discussed theological and spiritual matters.

Elenaba the Clairvoyant (+ 1920)

In the village of Kefalochori, located in the region of Nicaea in Asia Minor, before the population exchange, lived a revered and graceful young woman, Eleni. She was called Elenaba, which combines Eleni with Abba, due to the fact that she had the wisdom, discernment and spoke like an Abba of the Desert.

She was orphaned of her parents and worked as a servant for a compassionate Turk. At night Elenaba would pray for many hours. The Turk would hear her say in her prayer: "Let me take the sins of such and such." In other words, she was praying for others. The Turk would see many people come to her for advice and understood that she had a special gift. He held her in great honor and felt that God helped him because of Elenaba. He himself recorded the events and prophecies related to her, because he was convinced that Elenaba had the gift of clairvoyance.

Protopresbyter Spyridon Statiris (+ May 2, 2021)

Protopresbyter Spyridon Statiris was born on 28 March 1934 in Messonghi on the Greek island of Kerkyra, to the poor and pious parents John (a fisherman by trade) and Demetroula. At the age of 14 young Spyro was orphaned of his father and became the protector and provider for his mother who was almost blind and unable to work as well as his elderly aunt Irene. Before he died, his father told him: "My child, leave the sea and follow the Church." As he did not own any property, not even their own house, Spyro, in order to make a living, sold fish to the nearby villages, which he carried on his head in a basket. This was probably the cause of the strong migraines which afflicted him until the age of 60.

Due to poverty, deprivation and hardship, at the age of 17 he fell ill with tuberculosis and was hospitalized twice at the Sotiria Hospital of Athens.

Orphanhood, sickness and poverty built in him humility and very strong trust in God the Father and love for our Christ, our Panagia and the Saints of our Church. Indeed, in his life God sent many Good Samaritans, who supported him in many ways, in every moment of his life.

Father Stylianos from Heraklion, Crete (+ May 2, 2021)

 

Father Stylianos was an exemplary priest from Heraklion, Crete. Though he was born with one kidney, the Lord granted him around 95 years of life. Despite his very old age and retirement, he continued to catechize, confess, read endless supplicatory canons, complines, and talked for endless hours on the phone every day and in private with people who really needed him. They learned a lot from his inexhaustible knowledge, always with a smile to help despite his physical aches and pains. On the Day of Resurrection the Lord chose his faithful servant to continue his unceasing prayer in heaven and intercede to the Lord to have mercy on mankind. The photo above is very recent, wearing the priestly stole of Saint Porphyrios while reading a Supplicatory Canon to the Theotokos.

 

 

Elder Savvas Lappas and the Celestial Light of the Theotokos

Hermitage of the Honorable Cross in Kalymnos

 

Monk Nikephoros Lappas (1903-1992), who was later named Savvas, had been a disciple of Saint Savvas of Kalymnos and then Saint Amphilochios Makris, and for the last 32 years of his life lived alone in asceticism in the Hermitage of the Honorable Cross towards the western part of the island of Kalymnos, to the left of the coast of Kantouni.

Father Pavlos Nikitaras (1912-1999) reported that on one moonless night he had gone out with Father Nikephoros for fishing in the bay of Kouvari.

When at 11 o'clock in the evening they pulled out the nets and had to gather the fish, Fr. Pavlos asked Elder Nikephoros a question:

Elder Savvas Lappas, a Spiritual Child of St. Savvas of Kalymnos and St. Amphilochios Makris

Elder Savvas Lappas, born in 1903 and baptized with the name Nikephoros, was a spiritual child of Saint Savvas of Kalymnos (1862-1948) on the island of Kalymnos and then a spiritual child of Saint Amphilochios Makris (1888-1970) on the island of Patmos. After living in asceticism on the island of Patmos for about twenty years, in 1960, at the age of 57 he returned to Kalymnos, took the name of his first spiritual father, Savvas, and lived in asceticism in the Hut of the Elevation of the Honorable Cross in Kantouni of Kalymnos until his death in 1992, on the 7th of April, which is the feast of his Elder, Saint Savvas of Kalymnos.

"Madness With Meaning" - A True Miracle Story of Crazy-John

 

 

The following story was told by Metropolitan Neophytos of Morphou based on the testimony of a certain lady he knows who was a spiritual child of Elder Eumenios, who had given her before his venerable repose the cane of Saint Nikephoros the Leper as well as a portion of his sacred relics. This blessed soul, said the Metropolitan, was close with the late famous Crazy-John (Trelo-Yiannis), whose name in the world was Constantine, about whom, as is well-known, books have been written, albeit in a "fictional" style.

In a certain church in Athens, on the formal and festive day of the Sunday of Orthodoxy, the faithful entered, holding icons they had brought from their homes, in commemoration of the restoration of the icons on this bright day. During this Service the lady who is well known to us was present, who at one point saw Crazy-John enter the church, holding above his head a flowerpot with withered flowers! During the procession of the sacred icons, which takes place on this day in some churches, certain Christians were making fun of Crazy-John, for his strange "lifting" of the flowerpot. This good lady of ours, who was processing with Crazy-John, tried to knock some sense into him, saying: "My Constantine, put down the flowerpot now! You're not being serious on such a day and time!" He responded to her: "What you see, is madness with meaning! You see a flowerpot. In the end you will see everyone fall down in veneration!"

When Archimandrite Pavel Gruzdev Was Taught a Lesson in Humility

The famous elder and confessor, Archimandrite Pavel Gruzdev (+ 1996), told the following story about himself.

Once he, already old and half-blind, went to a big city with a Metropolitan in order to serve with him.

The Metropolitan gave Father Pavel money for the return journey, and they parted. There was time before the arrival of the train, so Father Pavel decided to have lunch.

He entered a cafe, and the girl behind the counter said to him:

"Old man, you better leave, you are poorly dressed."

Nun Sophia Tsatsarounou (+ March 9, 2021) and Two of Her Own Wondrous and Personal Testimonies of the Holy Light of Jerusalem

Nun Sophia Tsatsarounou worked as a pediatrician in various missions around the world and devoted her whole life to the love of fellow human beings and ministry. Despite being bedridden because of a rare musculoskeletal disease, she did not cease to glorify God and teach love without words. She viewed the suffering of her life as her own Via Dolorosa, carrying her own personal cross. Those who knew her called her Sophoula and felt the imprint she left on their hearts. Even while bedridden, she prayed for the whole world. Her love knew no boundaries, that's why everyone loved her deeply. Like a martyr herself, she departed on the Feast of the Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebaste in 2021.