The Priest Who Constantly Laughed During Confession

By Fr. Ephraim Triantafyllopoulos

I met Saint Eumenios Saridakis in the summer of 1990 when I visited the Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Agia Varvara. It was in the middle of my military service for the Air Force. While I confessed a personal difficulty of mine, he laughed constantly having a childlike look that never left him whenever we were together, and then he suggested we do Vespers together. I was his chanter. Afterward I received his blessing and left. May the Saint intercede for me and for all of us, although he constantly did this and does this, but now basically more officially.

 

(From a Facebook post on May 24, 2022)

 

 

The Cell of Saint Eumenios Saridakis

 

 

The Cell of Saint Eumenios Saridakis was next to that of his spiritual father, Saint Nikephoros the Leper, at the Hospital for Infectious Diseases in North Attica, Greece.

 

Synaxarion of our Venerable and God-bearing Father Eumenios (Saridakis) the New

 

 

By Haralambos M. Bousias

On the 23rd of this month [May], we commemorate our Venerable and God-bearing Father, Eumenios the Cretan, who in these latter days shined forth in Athens.

Verses

Healer of lepers and pestilential diseases,
You were seen, Eumenios, as a guide of the faithful.

Our Venerable and God-bearing Father Eumenios had as his homeland Ethia in the province of Monofatsi in Herakleion, Crete. Wounded by divine eros as a child he followed the monastic path in the Monastery of the Great Martyr Niketas, which is located near where he was born. At his tonsure he received the name Sophronios, and at his ordination as a hieromonk by Archbishop Timothy of Crete at the Monastery of Kaliviani he received the name Eumenios. Attacked by the arrows of the hater of that which is good, Belial, he went to the famous Monastery of Koudouma, where he was liberated from that most wicked influence. Becoming sick with a pestilential disease he went to the Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Athens, it became an arena for his ascetic battles and a palace of sympathy for those sick who are suffering and in pain. At the Hospital for Infectious Diseases he fulfilled his duties in the Church of the Holy Unmercenaries and he diligently served Venerable Nikephoros, whose surname was Tzanakakis, who was blind, a leper and a paralytic. He served all those in need and the sick in great pain and became a spiritual father and guide towards salvation of countless Athenian Christians. He endured without complaint, in imitation of Job, the sicknesses of his flesh and was distinguished for his humility, meekness and sympathy towards all the sick. He reposed in Athens on the 23rd of May in the year of salvation 1999, when his grace-flowing body was displayed for veneration in the Church of the Holy Unmercenaries at the Hospital for Infectious Diseases and was given a last embrace by a countless mournful crowd. He was then buried in his homeland.

Through his holy intercessions, Christ God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Apolytikion in Plagal of the First Tone
Divine comforter to those in rough seas, aid to those in need, and guide without error, the reverence of the people with longing praises with hymns Eumenios, as one equal in zeal with Job, an expeller of evil spirits, a most gracious intercessor for us to the compassionate Lord.

Kontakion in Plagal of the Fourth Tone
To the long-suffering, quiet, sensible, simple, meek and humble and sympathetic, revered hieromonk, let us sing praises and odes flowing with honey, without error he was a mighty guide to the faithful, and with longing we cry out: Rejoice, blessed Eumenios.

Megalynarion
Rejoice, you who have lately shined as a close helper to those in pain, a new example of patience, extreme humility and virtue, sensible Father Eumenios.

 

 

Maria Loulaki Kokovaki, "Sister by Suckling" of the Newly Canonized Saint Eumenios Saridakis, Has Reposed

Maria Loulaki Kokovaki will be celebrating in heaven the first feast of her "brother by suckling", Saint Eumenios Saridakis, who was just recently canonized a saint by the Ecumenical Patriarchate and whose feast is celebrated on May 23rd. She reposed on May 20th at the age of 91, and her funeral took place today, May 21st, in Ethia, Crete.

In Greece, when infants are suckled by the same woman, they become "siblings by suckling" by virtue of sharing the same breast to feed and be nourished. They were born two days apart, and Saint Eumenios had to breastfeed from the nipple of her mother, though as a sign of his holiness, he refused to suckle as an infant on Wednesday and Friday, which are fasting days.

Rare Video Footage of Saint Eumenios Saridakis Serving Matins and the Divine Liturgy

This is rare video footage of the newly-canonized Saint Eumenios Saridakis serving Sunday Matins and the Divine Liturgy. It took place in the Church of the Holy Unmercenaries which served those who were lepers and had other infectious diseases in the Hospital of Saint Barbara in West Attica. The video was taken with the blessing of Father Stephanos Dalianis, who is seen serving as a priest with Saint Eumenios, and who recently reposed in July 2021, and was a spiritual child of Saint Eumenios. 

 

  

 

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Saint Eumenios Saridakis Resource Page

St. Eumenios the New (Feast Day - May 23)

 Verses

Healer of lepers and pestilential diseases,
You were seen, Eumenios, as a guide of the faithful.

 

Synaxarion of our Venerable and God-bearing Father Eumenios (Saridakis) the New

Maria Loulaki Kokovaki, "Sister by Suckling" of the Newly Canonized Saint Eumenios Saridakis, Has Reposed

 

Elder Eumenios Saridakis: The Saint Who Had the Gift of Laughter

 

The Priest Who Constantly Laughed During Confession

 

Why Elder Eumenios Saridakis Pretended To Be Awkward Around Children

 

Elder Eumenios Saridakis and the Tiger at the London Zoo  

When Saint John the Baptist Appeared to Elder Eumenios Saridakis on a Boat and Covered Him

 

Greek Singer Stamatis Kokotas Testifies to a Miracle of Saint Eumenios He Witnessed

 

Elder Eumenios Saridakis on How the Third World War Was Avoided By the Intervention of the Panagia

 

Partaking of Holy Communion With Lepers and Those With Infectious Diseases 

 

When Saint Nikephoros the Leper Appeared and Saved Elder Eumenios Saridakis from Certain Death

 

When Saint Nikephoros the Leper Appeared and Banished Away the Sadness of Elder Eumenios Saridakis 

 

"Saint Nikephoros Came To Comfort Me in My Pain" (Elder Eumenios Saridakis) 

 

Miracles of Saint Nikephoros the Leper

The First Grave and Reliquary of St. Nikephoros the Leper

 

The Cell of Saint Eumenios Saridakis

 

Rare Video Footage of Saint Eumenios Saridakis Serving Matins and the Divine Liturgy

 

Encomium on Behalf of Saint Nikephoros the Leper (Elder Eumenios Saridakis) 

 

"O My Sanctified Athens" (Elder Eumenios Saridakis)

 

Saint Eumenios Saridakis, the Demon Possessed Girl and the Miraculous Icon of Saint George

 

Saint Eumenios Saridakis and the Drought of 1993

 

Saint Eumenios and the Myrrhgushing Conch of the Sanctuary Wall

Holy Synod of the Church of Crete Unanimously Agrees to the Official Canonization of Elder Eumenios Saridakis 

 

The Canonization of Elder Eumenios Saridakis by the Ecumenical Patriarchate Will Reportedly Take Place in March

 

Elder Eumenios Saridakis Has Been Officially Recognized as a Saint by the Ecumenical Patriarchate  

 

The Celebration of Saint Eumenios the New in Athens and Crete

 

Elder Eumenios Saridakis Has Been Officially Recognized as a Saint by the Ecumenical Patriarchate

The Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate has proceeded with the canonization of Elder Eumenios Saridakis.

Elder Eumenios is now listed among the Saints of the Orthodox Church, following a proposal by the Canonical Committee, and the recommendation from Metropolitan Makarios of Gortyna.

According to the Holy Synod, he is known as our Venerable and God-bearing Father Eumenios the New (Saridakis).
 

A few words about Elder Eumenios:

The Canonization of Elder Eumenios Saridakis by the Ecumenical Patriarchate Will Reportedly Take Place in March

As it was reported on the 31st of May 2021, the Holy Synod of the Church of Crete which gathered in Heraklion, unanimously agreed to the proposal of Metropolitan Makarios of Gortynos and Arcadia which he proposed on the Sunday of the Veneration of the Honorable Cross in 2020, which was to submit for official canonization the name of Archimandrite Eumenios Saridakis to the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

It is now being reported in Greek news sources that the canonization of Elder Eumenios will take place by the Ecumenical Patriarchate some time in March.

Elder Eumenios Saridakis (+ 1999) was a holy and charismatic elder and a spiritual child of Saint Nikephoros the Leper, who was canonized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 2012.

 

 

When Saint John the Baptist Appeared to Elder Eumenios Saridakis on a Boat and Covered Him

By Monk Simon

One time, Father Sophronios [later known as Father Eumenios Saridakis] fell ill there in the Monastery [the Monastery of Saint Niketas located in Achendria of Archanes Asterousia, in Crete].

As he told us:

"Some skin was coming off of my body. The Abbot told me, 'Go to Athens to be examined.' They gave me the fare, and I got on the boat to go to Athens.

Encomium on Behalf of Saint Nikephoros the Leper (Elder Eumenios Saridakis)

When Saint Nikephoros the Leper reposed on January 4th 1964, Father Eumenios Saridakis, who was then known as Father Sophronios, wrote a moving encomium that is full of grace, which can be read below, and every year on the same day, he did a memorial service in his honor and served everyone tiropita.

Encomium on Behalf of Saint Nikephoros the Leper

If pain, sorrows and trials are taken away from the life of the people, sanctity would only belong to the Angelic orders. This truth, which is self-evident in our Orthodox faith, was well recognized by the departed to the Lord on the 4th of January 1964 Father Nikephoros Tzanakakis, who was known as Nicholas in the world. He was born in Hania in 1887 to pious parents, and, having been infected with the disease of leprosy, he did not consider it to be a curse, but as a special favor from heaven and a personal calling from the director of the contests Christ. For this reason at the age of 17 he departed from his particular homeland in order to go venerate the Holy Land, especially the Place of the Skull, where pain became sanctified and Golgotha became a symbol to those who have overcome sorrows and the adversities of life. From there, from the inexhaustible ocean of his bravery and endurance, he drew courage and patience to hold up high, very high, his own cross for 52 whole years.

"Saint Nikephoros Came To Comfort Me in My Pain" (Elder Eumenios Saridakis)

There was a certain woman who took care of Elder Eumenios Saridakis the last year of his life. According her testimony, on January 4th that year, which had been the day of the repose of Saint Nikephoros the Leper, the Elder was in a lot of pain. Suddenly, at one point, she heard the Elder say: "And I also love you very much." When she later asked him to tell her who he was speaking with, Father Eumenios replied: "Saint Nikephoros celebrates today, and he came to see me. He told me that he loves me very much and he came to comfort me in my pain."

 

 

When Saint Nikephoros the Leper Appeared and Banished Away the Sadness of Elder Eumenios Saridakis

After the repose of Saint Nikephoros the Leper, Elder Eumenios Saridakis was sad, which led to the following miracle, as testified by Elder Eumenios himself:

"Once, when I was very sad, I saw my door open and Father Nikephoros entered. He stood over me and said: 'Come now, blessed one, do not be sad, do not cry,' and he began to caress my head. And, the more he caressed me, the more the air increased. The air of the Holy Spirit increased, till it entirely filled me, filled me with breath, with air that came out of the caress of his hand, and my sadness vanished."

 

 

When Saint Nikephoros the Leper Appeared and Saved Elder Eumenios Saridakis from Certain Death

One night, many years after the repose of Saint Nikephoros the Leper, Elder Eumenios Saridakis shut the doors and window in his cell and emptied a large can of strong insecticide, because of the many mosquitos inside, and he fell asleep, not understanding the danger his life was in by inhaling the poison without ventilation.

Elder Eumenios would not have woken up if Saint Nikephoros had not appeared to him and woken him, grabbed him by the hand, and led him outside of his cell.

"O My Sanctified Athens" (Elder Eumenios Saridakis)

On October 12th is the Synaxis of All Saints of Athens, so I thought I would share what Elder Eumenios Saridakis spoke when he was being transferred from the Hospital for Infectious Diseases to Evangelismos Hospital for his last hospitalization, and on the way he was blessing Athens. He blessed the streets, Omonia Square, the Agora, the Metropolis, the Parliament, the whole city! He said:

"How beautiful Athens is!

Blessed Athens!

O my sanctified Athens!

O very noisy wilderness of Athens!

Holy Synod of the Church of Crete Unanimously Agrees to the Official Canonization of Elder Eumenios Saridakis

In a meeting today, 31 May 2021, of the Holy Synod of the Church of Crete which gathered in Heraklion, all the Bishops unanimously agreed to the proposal of Metropolitan Makarios of Gortynos and Arcadia which he proposed on the Sunday of the Veneration of the Honorable Cross this past year, which is to submit for official canonization the name of Archimandrite Eumenios Saridakis to the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

Elder Eumenios Saridakis and the Tiger at the London Zoo

By Monk Simon

When Father Eumenios Saridakis with a group of his spiritual children visited the London Zoological Gardens, the Elder found himself to be in front of an Indian tiger, which was acting very wildly. It was jumping up and down behind the wire netting, roaring, and everyone stood back at a distance.

Elder Eumenios Saridakis: The Saint Who Had the Gift of Laughter

 

By Monk Simon

Our Father always laughed, he laughed a lot. He would laugh with us people and conveyed this joy to us. He laughed with the Saints, with our Lady the Theotokos, with the Angels, which is why whenever we went to him, whether we were in distress or mentally or physically tired, we would all leave as if were flying.

Father Eumenios also laughed during the services, while reading the Holy Gospel or while censing the Lady Theotokos during the "More Honorable".

Partaking of Holy Communion With Lepers and Those With Infectious Diseases

Elder Eumenios Saridakis

By Spyridon Theodore Koutsochristos

"Drink of this, all of you..."

The exhortation of our Lord Jesus Christ is clear to those who believe in Him.

Holy Communion is a provision of a Christian for the other life, this is what Communion is even for a confessed person on death row.

Orthodox clerics of our homeland communed lepers and tuberculosis patients, and then would consume the remaining Holy Communion, and when they were full of days they would depart from this life.

Examples of this were Saint Anthimos of Chios and Father Eumenios Saridakis, the first at the Leper Colony in Chios, the second at the Hospital of Saint Barbara for Infectious Diseases in Attica.

The First Grave and Reliquary of St. Nikephoros the Leper

Saint Nikephoros the Leper lived the last years of his life and died at the Western Attica General Hospital Agia Barbara in Aigaleo west of Athens, which had a leprosy center. There he had his monastic cell, attended services and chanted at the Church of the Holy Unmercenaries, and there he was buried in the cemetery set aside for lepers. At that time Elder Eumenios Saridakis, who had been a patient at the hospital after coming down with leprosy but was eventually healed there and decided to stay and serve the lepers, also had a cell next to that of Saint Nikephoros, and he was the celebrant priest at the Church of the Holy Unmercenaries. When the body of Saint Nikephoros decomposed, Elder Eumenios gathered his relics and placed them in the yellow metal box pictured above, which served as his first reliquary. The cemetery for lepers where the Saint was buried no longer exists, but on the spot where the Saint was buried today it is a public court for sports as pictured below.

The Prayer of Elder Eumenios That Pleased the Lord

Fr. Eumenios was born in 1931 in Ethia of Monophatsion in the province of Heraklion of Crete, the eighth child of a poor family of faithful Christians. He became a monk at the age of 17; he struggled to cultivate his soul with love and prayer and was tested very harshly by leprosy; but later also, while a priest, by a demonic influence which tormented him in body and soul, but was freed of it after many prayers, vigils and exorcisms in monasteries of Crete, such as the monasteries of Koudoumas and Panagia Kalyviani.

The holy Elder’s personal ascetic struggles are not widely known. However, the following prayer of his is of particular importance; a prayer that is included along with much more information on his life and the witness of many people who had met him (as well as many testimonies about his holy spiritual gifts, in the excellent book by Monk Simon, Fr. Eumenios – The Hidden Saint of our Time, Athens 2010, ed. 2, pp. 133-134 (in Greek).

Metropolitan Neophytos of Morphou, Cyprus, narrates the following story:

A very important event from Elder Eumenios’ life that I recall, is a prayer that he had coined:

"Lord Jesus Christ, I want You to save all people.

And God was pleased.

And then I said: Lord Jesus Christ, I want You to save all the Catholics. And all the Protestants, my Christ, I want You to save them.

And God was pleased.

I also want You to save the Muslims and all those who belong to all the religions; I want You to save even the atheists.

And God was very pleased.

And I told him: My Christ, I want you to save all those who have fallen asleep, from the time of Adam until now.

And God was very pleased.

And I told him: My God, I want you to save Judas also. And finally I added: I want you to save the devil also.

And God was saddened."

I asked him: "Why was God sad?"

"Because God wants to, but they don’t (want to be saved)," he replied; "there is not a trace of good will for salvation in the devil."

"Hold on," I told him, "how did you know when God was pleased and when He was sad?"

And he said to me: "If your heart becomes one with Christ’s heart, you feel what He feels."

So, can you perceive the breadth of this man’s heart? This was one of the most powerful things I have ever heard; and I have never heard something like it by anyone else. And he perceived those things from the intensity of Grace. Depending on the degree of Grace, he was able to perceive His sadness or His pleasure, to whatever he said or did.

Source