Greek Customs and the Feast of Saint Andrew

Well of Saint Andrew in Patras, 1819

Saint Andrew the First-Called Apostle was martyred in the Greek city of Patras, where the largest cathedral in Greece honors his name over the place he was martyred. He is celebrated annually on November 30, which coincides with the last day of autumn. For this reason, his celebration includes beliefs, fears, hopes and perceptions, customs and habits, with a magical, superstitious character. Saint Andrew is considered the patron saint of Nafplio as well, since the liberation of the city of Nafplio from the Turks took place on November 30, 1822.

The villagers of the mountains and plains fear the month of November, which is why they give it the name of Saint Andrew. The people in the Peloponnese and Epirus called the month of November "Aindria". In Kozani, Thessaly, Thrace and Sinope in Pontus, November is called "Andrias". In traditional Greek culture, it is customary for months to be named after a saint, as for example October is also called "Aidemitriatis".

Miracles of Saints Sergius and Nikon of Radonezh

 By St. Justin Popovich

During their life on earth, the venerable fathers Sergius and Nikon were very close to each other. That mutual closeness does not leave them even in eternal life, because the love of the saints, like the love of the Divine, is not subject to the law of time. Both of them appeared together many times and performed miracles together.

A resident of Moscow, named Symeon, who was born according to the Saint's prediction, became so terribly ill that he could neither move, nor sleep, nor receive food. Simply, he was lying on his bed like a dead man. Tormented like that, he once at night began calling for help from Saint Sergius: "Help me, Venerable Sergius! Deliver me from this disease! Even during your life on earth you were so kind to my parents and you predicted my birth to them; don't forget me, who is struggling with such a serious illness!" And behold, two old men stood in front of him one after the other: one of them was Nikon. The sick man recognized him immediately, because he knew this Saint personally during his life on earth. Then it would be clear to the sick person that the second of the Saints who appeared was Venerable Sergius himself. The wonderful old man made the sign of the cross over the sick man, after which he ordered Nikon to take the icon that was near the bed. That icon was once given to Symeon by Venerable Nikon himself. Then, the sick man was made to remove all his skin from his body. After that, the Saints became invisible. And at that moment, Symeon felt that he was completely healed: he got up on his bed, and no one was holding him anymore. Then he understood that his skin had not fallen off, but that the disease had left him. His joy was great: standing up, he began to fervently thank Saint Sergius and Venerable Nikon for his unexpected and wonderful healing.

Synaxis of the Kupyatich Icon of the Mother of God

Synaxis of the Kupyatich Icon of the Mother of God (Feast Day - November 15)

The Kupyatich Icon of the Mother of God appeared in the year 1182 near the village of Kupyatich in the area of the former Pinsk district of the Minsk governance. The icon was found in the forest on a tree by the peasant girl Anna, a cattle herder.

While guarding the flock, Anna saw a light in the forest. When she got close to that light, she saw on a tree a medium cross with the image of the Theotokos. Anna took that cross and brought it home, then she returned to her flock. Again she saw the same cross on the same tree. She took it, put the image in her bosom, and once again brought it home. When she wanted to show the cross to her father, she put her hand into her bosom, but the cross was not there. She told her father everything; so she left with her father, saw the cross in the forest and carried it home. The next day the cross was not in the house again. They alarmed the whole village, and all the villagers went and saw the cross and venerated it.

Holy Hieromartyr Alexander Adrianov (+ 1918)

St. Alexander Adrianov (Feast Day - November 12)

Father Alexander Adrianov was born in 1858 in the district of Nizhneturinsky (now the city of Nizhnyaya Tura) to the family of a priest, and from childhood he wanted to become a priest. Graduating from seminary, after a while he was ordained a priest, and for the rest of his life, for 24 years, he served the Ekaterinburg Diocese in the Three Hierarchs Church of Nizhneturinsky.

He was a very zealous, self-sacrificing pastor. Father Alexander built several churches, taught the Law of God, and was a member of various church societies. He was married to the young woman Alexandra, daughter of Vasily Lyubomudrov, priest of the Mikhailo-Arkhangelsk Church in the village of Merkushino. Moreover, the wedding of Father Alexander and Alexandra took place in the village of Merkushino.

"The Holy Unmercenary Saints Gave Me Holy Communion"

A Priest named Stylianos gave the following testimony:

On 9/27/2001 I suffered a severe stroke (thrombotic) and my left arm and leg were completely immobilized. My speech was slow and unsteady. I stayed in the hospital for ten days and then I went home. At the end of December of the same year, I started to get up and walk around with a cane.

On 1/9/2002, even while I was on blood thinners, I suffered a second stroke and at the same time a pulmonary embolism. Again the left arm and leg remained motionless. The doctors said there is no salvation for me. This treatment does not justify the blood clot that caused the cerebral and pulmonary embolism. I am again at AHEPA [a hospital in Thessaloniki] on a bed of pain.

The Vision of the Departed Soul of Saint Theodore the Studite by Saint Hilarion of Dalmatoi Monastery

At the time Venerable Hilarion of Dalmatoi Monastery (comm. June 6) returned from captivity, which he suffered on behalf of his veneration of the Holy Icons, Venerable Theodore the Studite went to the Lord (comm. Nov. 11), who also suffered many evils from heretics for his Orthodoxy. His holy soul, ascended to heaven by the Angels, was seen by Venerable Hilarion, as it is said in the Life of Saint Theodore. On the day when Saint Theodore the Studite presented himself, Venerable Hilarion, working in his garden and chanting psalms, heard some wondrous voices and smelled an unspeakably wonderful scent. Astonished, he began to look around where it came from, and looking up, he saw a multitude of angels in white robes, whose bright faces shone, who came down from heaven to meet someone with songs. Seeing all this, Venerable Hilarion fell to the ground in great fear, and heard someone say to him: "This is the soul of Theodore, abbot of the Studite Monastery, who suffered with his blood for the holy icons and heroically endured hardships to the end, and now with his lips rejoicing he ascends to heaven, met by the Heavenly Powers." Worthy of such a wondrous vision, Venerable Hilarion was filled with great consolation and spiritual sweetness; and for many days he rejoiced in his soul, and his face shone with joy like the face of an angel.

 

 

Saint James the Persian Resource Page

St. James the Persian (Feast Day - November 27)

Verses

Dismembered and slain the Persian announces,

"My soul will I save, for my members are gone" he said.

On the twenty-seventh the Persian was slain by dismemberment.

 

Synaxarion of the Holy Great Martyr James the Persian 

 

Holy Great Martyr James the Persian 

 

Saint James the Persian as a Model for our Lives  

 

November: Day 27: Teaching 4: Holy Martyr James the Persian

 

Saint James the Persian in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church 

 

The Monastery of Saint James the Persian in Deddeh, Lebanon

 

How Saint James the Persian Became the Patron Saint of the Deaf in Cyprus

 

 

The Nuns of Shamordino, Prisoners of the Gulags of Solovki and Vorkutlag

The sisterhood of Shamordino Convent, around 30 in number, were imprisoned in 1923 at the closure of the convent by the Soviet authorities, first in Solovki prison camp, then the sisterhood was broken up and dispersed and, with the exception of one striking account by American prisoner John H. Noble that emerged following his release some 30 years after the nuns' disappearance, it is generally unknown, apart from scant references, what became of any other members of the sisterhood thereafter.

Saint Emilian of Cogolla (+ 574)

St. Emilian of Cogolla (Feast Day - November 12)

Emilian was born about 472 in La Rioja, Spain. He was a shepherd who upon reaching maturity decided to become a hermit. After spending several years with Felix an experienced hermit, Emilian took up residence in the mountains.

Several years later, Emilian was called by Didymus, Bishop of Tarazona, to be ordained a priest and assigned to the parish of Berceo. As a priest, Emilian generously distributed the funds from the parish to the poor. The extent of his generosity was such that his fellow priests found fault and opposed him a situation that finally led to his being allowed to return to a hermitic life in the mountains.

Saint Varnava of Hvosno Resource Page

St. Varnava of Hvosno (Feast Day - November 12)

 

Holy New Confessor Varnava (Nastic), Bishop of Hvosno (+ 1964) 

 

Serbian Church to Honor Gary-born St. Varnava 

 

Saint Varnava Nastic's Homily on the Episcopal Office (Spoken at his Ordination as Bishop of Khvostansky)

On the Dangerous Vice of Pride (St. Varnava Nastic) 

 

Is God Out of Date? (A Homily by St. Varnava Nastic) 

 

A Letter About Music (St. Varnava Nastic)

 

Holy New Martyr Mark of Kleisoura (+ 1598)

Holy New Martyr Mark Markoulis was from Kleisoura in Kastoria and lived in the 16th century. Sources for his life do not exist and the only information we have about him comes from a manuscript of a priest from Kastoria named Papa-Argyris, the original of which is now lost. There we are informed that his father's name was Peter and we are told about his martyrdom.

He was arrested by the Ottomans and brought to Argos Orestiko, where he endured torture for refusing to deny his faith in Christ and become a Muslim. Finally, he was executed by hanging and his lifeless body was cast into the Haliacmon River in 1598. According to a local tradition, the execution of the Saint took place on the plane tree which is next to the Church of Saint Paraskevi in Argos Orestiko.

A church in Kastoria dedicated to Saint Mark the Evangelist is believed to have been built in honor of this New Martyr after his martyrdom, but was named after the Evangelist in order to not incur the wrath of the Turks.

The first celebration of his memory took place locally in 2012 and it was established at that time that his annual commemoration would take place on November 12th. He was officially canonized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate on February 12, 2020.

 

 

 

 

Saint Milos and the Miracle of the Paschal Egg (Two Testimonies)

Saints reveal themselves in marvelous ways, and in the Fall of 2004, while in Patras, Greece, researching an interview on St. Andrew’s journeys, Road to Emmaus staff had coffee with Mrs. Smaragda Pavlou, a Patras native, whose surprising Pascha story was a highlight of their visit. Hesitant at first to have the story recorded, at the urging of her spiritual father, Smaragda agreed:

It was Great Thursday, 1939, and my sister Photini and I were young girls. Great Thursday was the day we dyed our Pascha eggs, and we had saved many eggs during the fast. Patras was not crowded in those days; we had land behind our house for chickens, and that year we had a new young hen among our brood. On the morning of Great Thursday, she laid her first egg and immediately died. We were very surprised and felt great pity for her, so we took the egg and included it with the others we were dying red for Pascha. On Great Saturday, the eggs were blessed in church, the parish of St. Dionysios on Astings Street, and after the Pascha liturgy, one egg was selected to be put into the icon corner as a blessing for the year. That Pascha we chose the egg from the little hen that had died, and set it in the icon case. A few months later, on the morning of November 10, for no obvious reason, the egg fell from the icon case and broke with a loud crack. Amidst the fragments of the shell, we found a tiny black wax-like oval medallion, with a figure in a phelonion and omophorion with the Holy Gospel in his hand [typical of an icon of a Bishop], and the name “Agios Milos” [Saint Milos] etched around the figure in capital letters. On the opposite side, without words, was the familiar image of St. Stylianos, holding an infant [feast day on November 26]. It seemed to us that the dried up contents of the egg had shaped themselves into an Icon-Not-Made-By-Hands. I asked everyone I knew who St. Milos was, but no one had ever heard of him, not even the priest. Everyone in our family saw this wonderful icon from the egg. We knew that St. Milos had come to us, and we all prayed to him. For a whole year afterwards, people came to our home to venerate the tiny icon; our house became like a public shrine. Then, Greece was invaded.

Venerable David of Evia Resource Page

St. David of Evia (Feast Day - November 1)

Verses 

 

David overcame Goliath with a stone,  
David overcame passions through prayer.  
On the first of November David stood before the throne of God.

 

Saint David of Evia 

 

Life of Saint David of Evia 

 

Venerable David of Evia in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church 

 

The Monastery of Venerable David of Evia 

 

Midnight Visitations of Venerable David the Elder to Saint Iakovos Tsalikes

 

6 Contemporary Miracles and Appearances of Venerable David of Evia

 

"Stella, Wake Up, Venerable David Has Come From Evia!"

 

A Vision of Venerable David in the Form of Saint Iakovos of Evia

Two Most Recent Miracles of Venerable David of Evia and Saint Iakovos Tsalikes

 

Venerable David of Evia and the Unbelieving Pilgrim

 

A Homily of Thanksgiving Delivered by the Abbot of the Monastery of the Venerable David After It Was Delivered from a Devastating Fire on August 4, 2021 

 

A Fascinating Interview from an Empirical Perspective Regarding Holy Relics with Saint Iakovos Tsalikes 

 

Synaxis of All Saints of Euboea (Evia)  

 

 

Venerable Seventeen Martyrs of India

 

Venerable 17 Martyrs of India (Feast Day - November 27)

 

These Christian monks are mentioned in The Lives of Saints Barlaam and Joasaph attributed to Saint John of Damascus, and are only commemorated in the Slavic calendar on November 27th. They suffered in the fourth century when King Abenner ruled India. He hated Christians because they were converting his people to Christ, and some of them even became monks. The King issued a decree ordering all Christians to renounce their faith at once, threatening to torture and kill them if they did not comply. He had a special hatred for the monks, and persecuted them without mercy. Some Christians, unable to endure the torments, submitted to the King's decree, but the monks rebuked him for his wickedness. Some of them fled into the deserts and mountains, while others chose martyrdom.

Holy Martyr Mercurius of Smolensk (+ 1239)

 

St. Mercurius of Smolensk (Feast Day - November 24)

The Holy Martyr Mercurius of Smolensk was a Slav by birth, probably from Moravia, the descendant of a princely line. Brought up in Orthodoxy, Saint Mercurius in zeal for the true faith left his own native land for Russia, where he served in the army of the Prince of Smolensk. The saintly soldier secretly led an ascetic life. He was strict in fasting, he was chaste, spending his nights at prayer, and spiritually preparing himself to suffer for Christ. In the year 1239 a horde of Tatars [Mongols] under Khan Batu, already having laid waste to many Russian cities, appeared in the vicinity of Smolensk and set up camp 25 versts away at Dolgomost, threatening to destroy the city and its holy churches and places.

Saint Simon of Soiga (+ 1562)

 

St. Simon of Soiga (Feast Day - November 24)

Venerable Simon of Soiga belonged to the Komel disciples of Saint Sergius of Radonezh. He was born in Solvychegodsk in the family of Nikita Tentyukov. From a young age, the grace of God rested on him. He shied away from the bustle of the world. In his younger years, he left his parents' house and was tonsured at the Komel Monastery under Saint Cornelius (May 19). He passed through his obediences with such ascetics and disciples of Cornelius of Komel as Gennadius of Liubimsk (Jan. 23), Cyril of New Lake (Feb. 4), Herodion of Iloezersk (Sep. 28), Adrian of Poshekhonsk (Mar. 5), Laurence of Komel (May 16).

The Soviet Exhumation and Autopsy of the Relics of Saint Philaret of Moscow in 1939

 

 

 

Why the Relics of the Saint Were Disturbed

In 1939, Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow was exhumed on the territory of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra

Red Corner on the Grave

On the territory of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra in Soviet times, several autopsies were carried out on the burials of famous historical figures. One of the most dramatic is the opening of the grave of Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow.

The Saint, who died on November 19, 1867, was buried on the tenth day after his death in a chapel specially built near the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles on the feast of Saint Philaret the Merciful. The construction of the side-altar, begun during the life of the Metropolitan, in the place designated by the Metropolitan himself, was completed after his death - on June 30, 1868.

Holy New Hieromartyr Dimitri (Benevolensky) of Tver (+ 1937)

 

St. Dimitri Benevolensky (Feast Day - November 14)

 

Dimitri Mikhailovich Benevolensky was born on October 10, 1883 in Vishny Volochyok, Tver province to a family of a clergyman. He studied first at Tver, and then at the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary, from which he graduated in 1909, after which he took the position of a teacher at the Nikolo-Stolpensky Monastery in the Tver province.

In 1911, a priest died in the village of Ostrovno and the parish was left without a pastor. Dimitri Mikhailovich was asked to be ordained a priest. In the same year, he married the daughter of Ivan Alekseevich Tikhomandritsky, Anna, who was sixteen years old. Her father was a railway engineer and was involved in the construction of the Volga railway. The family was pious, one of the sons, Michael, became a priest, and the other two daughters did not marry and devoted their lives to raising adopted children and children of relatives.

Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Nasaud in Romania: Athanasius Todoran, Basil Dumitru, Gregory Manu and Basil Oichi (+ 1763)

 

Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Nasaud (Feast Day - November 12)

Holy Martyr Athanasius Todoran was born in Bichigiu village of the Sălăuţa valley in the Năsăud region of Transylvania, to a family of devout Orthodox Christians. Few things are known about his childhood; it is only known that he was an outstanding person in his community, an educated person, who had been administrator and tax collector in Bichigiu and Sălăuţa valley.

 

As a virtuous and courageous man, he was a member of a military regiment of the empire from Vienna ever since his youth. Hence, as his retirement was postponed, he left the army of his masters, who were Catholics, and went back home. Followed by the people of the empire, he took refuge in the Ţibleş Mountains, in the land of Maramureş and Chioaru. While in this exile, he always prayed to God for himself and for his fellow people who were suffering all kinds of humiliations.

 

The Miracles of the Great Martyr Menas

 

 

By Timothy, Archbishop of Alexandria

After the death of the impious Roman pagan emperors Diocletian and Maximian, who hated Christ, the pious Emperor Constantine came to the throne, and the faith which is in our Lord Jesus Christ spread throughout every land. At that time, certain men, citizens of Alexandria and lovers of Christ, found the place where the holy relics of the holy and glorious martyr of Christ, Menas were laid and built a church dedicated to him.

1. It happened that a merchant from the land of Isauria came to Alexandria to purchase wares. Hearing of the numerous miracles and healings which took place at the church of Saint Menas, he said to himself, "I will go to church, that through the prayers of His holy sufferer, God may have mercy on me." So the man took a bag full of gold and left for the church. Reaching Lake Mareotis, which lies near the sea, he crossed on a ferryboat to Loxonetus where he looked about for a place to sleep that night.  He entered one of the houses there and said to the master, "Friend, be so kind as to accept me as a guest in your house tonight, for the sun has already set. I am afraid to continue alone."