The Parish Priests of the Church of Saint Panteleimon in the Leper Colony of Spinalonga

When the decision of the Cretan government in 1903 to transfer the lepers of Crete to the island of Spinalonga became known, the then Bishop Titos of Petras renovated the Church of Saint Panteleimon that was located there and consecrated it, before the lepers even arrived. But when he wondered if he would find a priest, Father Manolis Psarakis, a parish priest in Neapolis, stood up and volunteered to serve the sick, which he did with zeal for 21 whole years. After the death of Papa-Manolis, he was successively and voluntarily succeeded by the very old Father Nestor, Father Nikandros, Father Nikodemos and Father Andronikos who served until 1935, all brothers of the Holy Monastery of Aretiou.

The Snake of Saint Marina in Voni

At the Monastery of Saint Marina in Voni of Heraklion, Crete, on the lower right side of the iconostasis depiction of Saint Marina, we can see a small snake in a transparent bottle, which is preserved in a preservative liquid.
 

Many years ago there was a sick gypsy from Megara, as her grandson has recently testified, who came to pray to Saint Marina. Her abdomen was swollen and painful. When she was crossed and blessed with the oil from the lamp of the Saint, she "gave birth" to a snake and was relieved of her pains.

Kali Limenes (Fair Havens): The First Greek Port Where the Apostle Paul Stopped on His Way to Rome

During the reign of Roman emperor Claudius (AD 41-54) the survival of the city of Rome depended on fleets bringing grain from Alexandria. In Acts 27, Paul was being transported to Rome under the charge of a centurion named Julius. They transferred to an Alexandrian grain ship that was attempting a winter run. "When we had sailed slowly many days, and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, the wind not permitting us to proceed, we sailed under the shelter of Crete off Salmone. Passing it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea" (Acts 27:7-8).

The Church of Saint Pelagia in Kato Karouzana, Crete and the Vow That Led To Its Establishment

In Kato Karouzano, Crete in the former province of Pediados, upon entering the village, we encounter the Church of Saint Pelagia, the patron saint of the settlement.

It is a building probably from the beginning of the 20th century, the result of a vow of Irene Katsounakis who really wanted to have a baby girl.

A resident of our village told us that the founder was a rich woman and only daughter who fell in love and married one of her workers and wanted as much as anything else to have a daughter with him, because only sons were born to her. In fact, in order for her wish to come true, she made a vow to build a church and dedicate it to Saint Pelagia.

Saint Haralambos and the Twelve Year Plague of Crete in the 19th Century

In Crete the plague is likened to an ugly old woman. The folklorist Nikolaos Politis describes her as follows: "She is a blind woman, running through the cities from house to house and killing those she touches, but because as a blind woman she touches the walls of the houses, she is unable to touch those in the middle of the rooms."

In 1817 an endemic took place in Crete that lasted for 12 years. It is believed the plague was brought by 22 Egyptian soldiers. Many families took refuge in the countryside (caves and elsewhere) to avoid being infected. Other times the sick resorted to the caves to prevent the transmission of the disease.

The Chapel of Saint Anthony the Great in Patsos Gorge of Crete

In the fertile green province of Amari, on the island of Crete, about 18 km from Rethymno, is the impressive Patsos Gorge, otherwise known as Saint Anthony's Gorge.

The beautiful gorge, which is 2 km long, crosses a small river. The wild vegetation of the landscape with the giant plane trees and the small waterfalls captivates the visitor.

It takes 2 hours to cross it all the way back, while inside there are landscaped rest areas and a bird observatory.

The Chapel of Saint Anthony stands out.

The Cave Church of Saint John the Forerunner of Damialis in Crete

In the west of the island of Crete, passing from Kastelli Kissamos in the direction of the famous beaches of Falassarna and Balos, you will see on the side of the road the Cave Church of Saint John the Forerunner of Damialis, as the locals call it.

The place name Damialis was given because in this area during the Turkish occupation there was the damia, that is, the stable of Ali, an Ottoman cattle breeder who was active in these places.

The place where the church was built, as you can see in the photographs, is a large cave in one part of which the church was formed, and in the second beautiful representations were erected from the Nativity, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection of the Lord, in an imposing way, while the middle part of the cavitation is the yard.

Cave Church of Saint Spyridon in Rethymnon

On the west side of the imposing Venetian castle of Fortezza in Rethymno, Crete and above the sea is the Cave Church of Saint Spyridon. The church dates back to the late 16th century and is one of the oldest surviving churches in the city of Rethymnon. There are stairs from the main road to the church and inside there is a wood-carved iconostasis.

Saint Spyridon in Zaros: a Vision, a Chapel and a Baptism

There is an absence of churches dedicated to Saint Spyridon in southern Crete, which is why the chapel in his name in the area of Mega Livadi in the village of Zaros of the municipality Faistos we expected to have a special history and a special reason it was built in Pano Riza.

Two Videos of Icons of Saint Paisios the Athonite Streaming Myrrh

The first video was sent to EKKLISIA ONLINE by the Vasiliadis family (owners of a catering business) and specifically Eleni Vasiliadis from Ippokratio Politia near Athens, stating that the icon of Saint Paisios comes from a private chapel located on the borders of the estate they own, which the fire that broke out in the last few days just touched and then changed course and the church and the house were saved, while on August 11, from the morning, the icon streamed myrrh which is being wiped with cotton and kept.

Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Kissos of Rethymno, Crete

Perched on the southwestern foothills of Mount Kentros with its 100 springs, the Monastery of the Holy Spirit is one of those religious monuments that you cannot visit only once.

A short distance from the settlement of Kissos, in the former province of Agios Vasilios, it dominates at an imposing altitude of 640 meters and when you pass through its gate you feel that you are in heaven on earth, due to its well-kept gardens and the beautiful image it presents. However, it is not only its external image that makes its space special but also its history that was bright and luminous.

The lawyer and scholar Michalis M. Papadakis wrote: "The Monastery of the Holy Spirit was famous all the years of Turkish slavery because it was the bright refuge of Greek Christian education and learning, the national home, which kept the flame of the faith alive.

A Remote Church in Crete Dedicated to the Holy Spirit Dating Back to the Venetian Occupation (1590)

The Church of the Holy Spirit, at the entrance of the valley of Avgo, opposite the impressive gorge of Mesona, was during the Venetian occupation a katholikon of a small Orthodox monastery.

It dates back to 1590, as stated by the inscription, now covered by lime, above the door of its only entrance.

It was built at a time when there was an impressive increase in the number of monasteries in Crete due to the milder attitude of the Venetians towards the Orthodox population. Foreseeing ahead of time the attack of the Ottomans, they wanted to have the Orthodox Cretans close and so they made brave concessions towards them.

The church is one-room with a peculiar coverage, not from an arch that is common in churches, but from a gabled roof. Inside, no evidence of frescoes can be found. It is as simple as most churches we find in remote places, far from settlements.

A Cave Church Dedicated to the Holy Spirit and Its Miraculous Holy Water in Crete

By Eleni Vasilaki

Just outside the settlement of Armeni in Sitia, rooted in the cliffs, is the Cave Church of the Holy Spirit with holy water dripping from its roof.

In fact you will see two caves shaped like churches, the first is dedicated to the Holy Spirit and the second to the Holy Trinity. However, only the first one liturgizes and is ensconced while the second one was made as a vow of a believer but it was never consecrated and has not been liturgized.

The inhabitants of Armeni and the neighboring villages especially honor this chapel and have something to say about the miracles that took place with its holy water. Furthermore, on the day that the Holy Spirit celebrates, local farmers offer a large amount of milk that is boiled on the spot and given to the faithful.

How the Meryem of a Troubled Turk in Chios Became a Source of Great Veneration in Ierapetra, Crete

In 1821 Turkish troops were ordered to suppress the Revolution in Greece by any means. Among the hunted were two Greeks from Reisdere, a coastal village in Asia Minor not far from Smyrna (Izmir). They were seeking to escape Chios at the time, which had been hell on earth for the Greeks there, with a large amount of them slaughtered and the island burning with a consuming fire from one end to the other. After this, with men hard to find, despairing women wept and lamented as they too were slaughtered, abused, dragged through the streets and sold into slavery.

In such an atmosphere, the two Greeks from Reisdere took every precaution to not be noticed by a Turk and find a means by which they could cross the sea and get back home. Suddenly, a certain Turk approached them, guided somehow by the Mother of God, holding in his hands an icon of the Virgin Mary. With trembling hands he extended the icon to them and begged them to take it, saying:

"Take this Meryem." (Meryem is the Turkish pronunciation of Mariam or Mary.)

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.

 

 

The Amazing Miracle of Marmaketo: An Annual Paschal Miracle in Crete on the Feast of Saint John the Theologian

Every year, on May 8th, the feast day of Saint John the Theologian, crowds of believers from all over Crete arrive at the small village of Marmaketo, at the Lasithi Plateau, to participate in the annual miracle of Marmaketo.

At the Church of Saint John the Theologian, on Great Friday of Holy Week, the process for this miracle which will culminate on May 8th begins. On Great Friday morning, the women of Marmaketo gather some wild orchids, called Paschal Flowers, from the fields. They then meet at the church and decorate the Epitaphion with the wild orchids, along with various other flowers from their gardens.

An Old Local Liturgical Custom Came to Light Last Week in Crete

Greek media reported a great tragedy last week, when on Wednesday afternoon a little boy who was two and a half years old was found in a barrel with limewater, under unknown circumstances, in the village of Ligortynos in the municipality of Archanes Asterousia of Heraklion, and while his death was initially confirmed, after 2 hours and 40 minutes he developed a pulse.

The little boy was hospitalized in critical condition and intubated in the Intensive Care Unit of the University General Hospital of Heraklion, from Wednesday night.

The little boy, moreover, had not been baptized before the accident. While the child was in intensive care, an air-baptism was given to him Thursday around midnight, where instead of water the child is baptized in the air in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The name he was given was Zacharias after his two grandfathers who also bear the name, but he was also given the middle name Nikitas, which in Greek means "victorious", in the hopes he would emerge victorious in his struggle for life.

A Scenic Icon Inspired by the Prayer of St. Sophronios of Jerusalem for the Great Sanctification of the Waters

 

The Service of the Great Sanctification probably first appeared in the Holy Land, where the Jordan River is located. It is not known who is the first composer of the original nucleus of the sanctification service. One tradition says the Service of the Great Sanctification was written by Saint Basil the Great when he passed through Jerusalem.

An important part of the Service of the Great Sanctification is the prayer in which is uttered "Great are You O Lord" (Μέγας ει Κύριε) written by the Holy Patriarch Sophronios of Jerusalem. This is an excellent example of theological thought and literary discourse. In this prayer with poetic phrases the Great Feast of Theophany is praised, and it begins with the word "Today", which is repeated twenty times with rich verses in images that follow one after the other. In the middle of the prayer, the Priest says in a loud voice: "Great are You O Lord and marvelous our Your works and no word is sufficient to praise Your marvels." This is the peak moment of the sacramental ritual.

Monk Joachim the Hesychast and Former Bandit (+ 1889)

Cave of Monk Joachim

By Hieromonk Anthimos Agiannanitis

A famous Kleft and Armatolos during the years of Turkish rule in Crete, a great protector of Christians, and a cause of fear to the Turks.

The following events are characteristic of this man, which show his patriotism, his pure faith, and his guileless character.

Crete was ruled by a terrible pasha who constantly persecuted the Christians and subjected them to horrible tortures. Then John, as was the name of the Kleft and Armatolos, swore to avenge the sufferings of his fellow believers.

Official Announcement of the Church of Crete on the Manner of Reception of the Divine Eucharist

The Sacred Eparchial Synod of the Church of Crete, on the occasion of the discussion that has arisen, but also due to the online public debate and the various positions and views, in reference to the Mystery of Mysteries, the Divine Eucharist and Divine Communion of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, with a deep sense of pastoral responsibility, unanimously announces, and in every way, that the All-Holy Mystery of the Divine Eucharist is nonnegotiable, as the ecclesiastical experience testifies that the established method of transmission today, and for a series of centuries, of the All-Holy Body and Honorable Blood of our Christ to the faithful, is not the cause of illness, therefore it is not a matter of discussion or dialogue.