Saint George Karslides and His All Night Conversation With Saint George the Trophy-Bearer

For about two years, a man called Anastasis Spyridopoulos hosted Saint George Karslides in his house, at the Saint’s request. One night, Anastasis heard the hoof beats of a horse outside in the yard.

He went to the balcony and saw a young horseman, all aglow, dismounting and going up the steps. He entered the house and was heard opening the door to the Elder’s room.

Anastasis heard them talking all night long. The next morning, after the sun was up, he asked the Elder:

‘Did you have a visitor last night, Elder?’

‘Yes’, he replied. ‘It was Saint George. Since you saw him, why didn’t you get up and light the censer, ask him for something, call upon him, and you would have received what you asked for.'

‘Unfortunately’, Anastasis now says, ‘I knew nothing of spiritual matters at that time.’

 

 

The Holy Spring of Saint George in Mammari

The village of Mammari, in the province of Nicosia in Cyprus, is inextricably linked to Saint George. In fact, in the village there are two churches dedicated to the Saint, while at a distance of about 500 meters, to the southeast of the churches, is the Holy Spring of the Saint.

According to local legend, when a great drought passed through the area, Saint George was also riding through on his horse, and having become thirsty, he found no water anywhere. Going up the mountain, the horse tapped its feet on the rocks and immediately there began to gush water. In fact, the footprints of the horse can be seen until today on the rock next to the Holy Spring.

The Icon of Saint George That Soared in the Air and Was Bathed in Light

Symela Spyridopoulou, who took great care of the Elder [Saint George Karslides (+ 1959)] from the beginning, narrated the following:

"One day when I was at the monastery I had to go home for a bit to get something.

When I returned I entered the church. There was no one.

As I turned my head, I saw the icon of Saint George the Trophy-Bearer soaring in the air and bathed in light.

Frightened by this, I started screaming.

Saint Demetrios and Saint George, the Two Brave Young Lads of Christendom (Photios Kontoglou)

By Photios Kontoglou

Saint Demetrios, together with Saint George, are the two brave young lads of Christendom. They are down here on earth, and the two archangels Michael and Gabriel are in heaven.

In ancient times they were painted without arms, but in later years they were depicted armed with swords and spears and dressed in iron shirts. On one shoulder they have their helmet, on the other their shield, and in the middle are the straps that support the sheath of the sword.

Homily on George the Holy Great Martyr of Christ (Archimandrite George Kapsanis)

By Archimandrite George Kapsanis,
Former Abbot of Gregoriou Monastery on Mount Athos

We thank Saint George, because he showed us what a great thing it is for a man to give himself completely to God and to give Him his own life. And how God accepts this sacrifice, and how the sacrifice of those thus given to God becomes a source of sanctification for the whole world. We also felt today that Great the Martyr of Christ was the officiant of our holy vigil and feast.

The Church praises him, among others, "as a liberator of the captives." And, I think, it is opportune today to ask him to heal us and help us free ourselves from two captivities, which hinder our spiritual path.

Church of the Ten Lepers in Burqin, Palestine

 

According to Christian tradition, Burqin is the place in "the region between Samaria and Galilee" where the miracle from Luke 17:11-19 took place: Jesus was passing through on his way from Galilee to Jerusalem when he heard cries for help from ten lepers who were living isolated nearby. He encountered them and told them to present themselves to the priests, although they were not yet cured. On their way their leprosy disappeared. One of them, a Samaritan, returned to Jesus to give thanks. Jesus blamed the nine who did not recognize that their healing was God's gift, faith being the real salvation. Since this miracle, the current Church of the Ten Lepers, also known as the Monastery of Saint George, became a station for many Christian pilgrims.

The Story of How Saint George Led a Turkish Woman to be Baptized an Orthodox Christian

Recently a 26 year old Turkish woman named Gamze and her 34 year old Greek friend Stylianos visited Elder Nektarios Moulatsiotis, the founder and abbot of the Monastery of Saint Augustine of Hippo and Saint Seraphim of Sarov in Phokida, Greece. Gamze and her family were from Ankara, Turkey but moved to Berlin, Germany ten years ago. She grew up with no religion, though her family does have an Alevite background. Stylianos is from Kavala, Greece and due to financial hardships moved to Berlin, Germany about seven years ago. There he works as a public servant, and daily would visit the bakery across the street where Gamze worked. Over some time, a friendship formed between the two.

Homily on the Holy Great Martyr George (Archimandrite George Kapsanis)

Homily on the Holy Great Martyr George

By Archimandrite George Kapsanis,

Abbot of Gregoriou Monastery on Mount Athos

1983

Saint George is par excellence a resurrected man of God and he sacrificed his entire well-educated life. And his martyrdom was a manifestation of the Cross and Resurrection of Christ, just as his whole life was a manifestation of the Cross and Resurrection of the Lord. This is why the Church has established, even when his memory coincides with Holy and Great Lent, to be moved to and always celebrated in the Paschal period. As some hymns say, we meet the memory of the Great Martyr with the Resurrection of the Lord. And along with the physical air, the spring of nature, the spiritual air has come, which is the Resurrection of Christ and the memory of the Great Martyr and Trophy Bearer Saint George.

Saint George the Great Martyr: Epistle and Gospel Reading

Saint George the Great Martyr

April 23rd

Matins Gospel Reading

Gospel According to Luke 21:12-19

English

The Lord said to his disciples, "Beware of men who will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake. This will be a time for you to bear testimony. Settle it therefore in your minds, not to meditate beforehand how to answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends, and some of you they will put to death; you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives."

The Veneration of Saint Phanourios in the Orthodox Church

By John Sanidopoulos

In the Orthodox Church today, Saint Phanourios is numbered among one of its most popular saints. He is especially known as the patron saint of those who need help finding lost or hidden things, much like Saint Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) among Catholics. And if you invoke the help of Saint Phanourios in finding something lost, you make a promise to bake a cake called a Phanouropita, which you will then bring to church to get blessed and distributed among the faithful as a testimony to his aid. This is usually as far as most people know about Saint Phanourios.

But who is Saint Phanourios and how did he become so popular among the Orthodox faithful? This is actually a complicated question that scholars have grappled with for years. He is presented as an early Christian martyr who was a soldier and suffered various forms of torture before being killed. However, there is not even the slightest mention of a saint with the name Phanourios until we find him depicted in icons on the island of Crete in the 15th century by iconographer Angelos Akotantos, and in a 16th century Vatican codex,[1] which simply speaks of a miracle that involves bringing a copy of an icon of Saint Phanourios from Rhodes to Crete.

The Trophy-Bearer of Love

By Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi

Our Church today celebrates the feast of a martyr. If we try to pay any tribute to the celebrated martyr, we will demean him. This particular Saint is the glory of all martyrs, the boast of the Saints and the prestige of the Heavens and the Church Triumphant. He is the most-great George. No Christian exists who has not called upon George’s sweet name, be it a baby or a man on his deathbed. There is no Christian country which does not boast of a church dedicated to his name, even if it is now in ruins. This guiding light of a Saint hides a great mystery not properly deciphered yet. Why do people love him so much? His love for people is so great that he prevents us from forgetting him. Instead we are constantly calling on his name. There’s always someone called 'George' among any given three or four families. There is no family which has not received the assistance of the love of this Saint.

An Encomium on the Miracles of Saint George the Great Martyr

These are the mighty deeds and miracles which God wrought by the hand of St. George after his martyrdom and after the coming of his body into Diospolis his native city, and after the building of his shrine, which was completed and consecrated on the seventh day of the month Athor, and after the laying of his body within it. Theodosius, Bishop of Jerusalem, recited the mighty deeds and miracles which God wrought by Saint George, and the gracious acts which took place in his holy martyrium when he pronounced the following encomium on the day of his holy commemoration, which is the seventh day of Athor, when there was gathered together a great multitude of the orthodox to celebrate the festival of Saint George in his shrine and to praise our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Martyrdom of Saint George the Great Martyr

By Pasikrates, the servant of Saint George

Now in times of old there arose a severe and terrible storm, and a great and mighty storm and persecution came upon the church. In all places the governors had gone astray, and they dragged the preachers of the truth to the altars of the idols, and compelled them all to offer sacrifices to the devilish idols. Thus also did the governor Dadianus, who had acquired dominion and had obtained the rule over the four quarters of the earth. When Dadianus had become chief, he sat upon the tribune, and wrote edicts to be proclaimed throughout the whole world; and these are the things that were written in them. "Inasmuch as a rumour has come to my ears that He to whom Mary gave birth is the God who is alone to be worshipped, and that Apollo and Poseidon and Hermes and Astarte and Zeus and Ezabel (sic) and Uranus and Scamandros and the other gods are not to be worshipped at all, but that Jesus Christ whom the Jews slew is to be worshipped, - I, therefore, write to every place, and to the governors of every land, and to all rulers under the authority of my government to come to me speedily that they may know the decision of my power." Then seventy governors from all parts of the world were gathered together there with so great and mighty a multitude, that the land could not contain them for their number. And Dadianus the governor sat upon the tribune and made them bring forth all the instruments of the torture chamber and lay them before him; and these were they. The brazen bed, the bone smashing choppers, the iron rods (?), the wheels with knives fixed to them, the wooden horses, the wooden gloves, the iron gloves, the tongue slitting knives, the tools for drawing out the teeth, the iron bone borers, the sharp saws, and other implements of cruel torture. And Dadianus swore an oath, saying, "If I find any people of doubtful mind and refusing to worship the gods, I will reverse the commands of my fathers and will torture them with bitter sufferings, I will break in the towers of their hearts, I will smash their heads, I will cut out their brains with sharp knives, I will saw off their shin bones, I will tear open their bodies, and I will cut off their limbs from their bodies." When the multitude heard these things they feared the tortures greatly, and those who wished to become martyrs [refrained] when they considered the numbers of tortures which they ran the risk of suffering; and three whole years went by without anyone daring to say, "I am a Christian."

Commemoration of the Consecration of the Church of Saint George in Kyparission

Sketch of the church from 1877.

On November 11th the Orthodox Church commemorates the Church of Saint George in Kyparission. According to the Patmian Codex 266, the consecration of this church took place on April 24th. It is not known in what year this took place.

The Church of Saint George in Kyparission was located in the Psamatheia quarter of Constantinople, otherwise known as Ypsomatheion, and which today is called Samatya, located along the Marmara Sea, in the southwestern side of Constantinople. In 383, the first monastic institution was established in Constantinople, at Psamatheia, at that time still outside the walled city.

Holy Eight Martyrs Eusebius, Neonos, Leontios, Longinus, Danabos, Demetrios, Nestabos and Christopher

Holy Eight Martyrs of Nicomedia (Feast Day - April 24)

Verses

The eight Martyrs are equal in number,
The equal multiplied by equal multiplied by equal were beheaded.

After the martyrdom of Saint George, the impious Diocletian ordered for all Christians found throughout the world, and indeed all those who had been imprisoned after witnessing the martyrdom and miracles of Saint George and having converted thereby, were to offer sacrifices to the false gods, and if they did so they would be set free and allowed to live. If they did not do so, they would be tortured without mercy, and lastly put to death.

Holy Martyr Athanasios Who Was a Sorcerer, Converted by Saint George

St. Athanasios the Martyr (Feast Day - April 23)

Verses

Athanasios the sorcerer was beheaded,
The ailing soul found a strange medicine.

During the trials of the Holy Great Martyr George, Dadianus the governor wrote a letter in which he thus said, "I write to the whole world, greetings. Let any sorcerer or magician who can put an end to the magic of this Christian come here to me, and I will give him much wealth and any territory that he shall ask for, and he shall be second in the kingdom."Saint George had miraculously emerged unharmed from his tortures by divine grace, and because of his miracles the stubborn pagans believed he was a magician, and only another magician could defeat him.

Holy Martyrs Anatolios and Protoleon the Soldiers, Converted by Saint George

Sts. Anatolios and Protoleon the Martyrs (Feast Day - April 23)

Verses

To Anatolios.

At sunset the head of Anatolios was cut off,
At sunrise he saw the noetic light of the Lord.

To Protoleon.

Protoleon the Martyr of Christ was beheaded,
Having confidence in Christ like a lion has in its tail.

To turn Saint George from his faith in Christ and sacrifice to the idols, they subjected him to various tortures. Among the cruel punishments he was subject to was the Great Wheel. Therefore they tied him to a wheel below which were fixed many sharp knives, so that when the wheel spun George would be cut to pieces. Everyone believed that indeed they would find George dead and cut to pieces. But when the Emperor Diocletian and his entourage were on their way to the temple to sacrifice to the gods, thinking with satisfaction that they had finally finished him off, they suddenly saw George standing right in front of them. He had been delivered from this cruel torture by an Angel of the Lord. All who saw him were astounded, and believed he was a ghost.

Holy Martyrs Victor, Zotikos, Zeno, Akindynos, Caesarios, Severian, Christopher, Theonas and Antoninos

St. Victor and his Companions (Feast Day - April 20)

Verses

To Akindynos and the four with him.

The four with Akindynos were slain by the sword,
Thus escaping the danger of delusion.

To Christopher and the three with him.

Covered in soot from the furnace,
Those with Christopher approached Christ.

Saints Zabulon and Susanna, Parents of Saint Nina of Georgia

Sts. Zabulon and Susanna (Feast Day - May 20)

According to Holy Tradition, Saint Nina and Saint George the Great Martyr were blood relatives on her father's side, who was from Cappadocia. At the same time as Saint George’s martyrdom, the nobleman Zabulon, the future father of Saint Nina, arrived in Rome from Cappadocia. Zabulon began to serve in the emperor’s army, and before long he was widely recognized as a courageous cavalryman and a fine soldier.

During a battle with the Franks the Lord granted victory to Zabulon — he captured the Frankish king and his suite and delivered them to the Roman emperor. The emperor sentenced the captives to death, but before they were executed they confessed their desire to be baptized into the Christian Faith. Zabulon relayed this to the emperor, and Zabulon himself became their godfather. Then he pleaded with the emperor to have mercy on his godchildren, and the emperor set them free.

Saint Xenophon, Founder of the Athonite Monastery of Xenophontos

St. Xenophon, founder of Xenophontos Monastery (Feast Day - April 24)

Saint Xenophon (or Xenophontos) lived at the end of the tenth century as an ascetic on Mount Athos. He was from a known and wealthy family and received an excellent education. While living at the same time as Saint Athanasios the Athonite, who founded Great Lavra Monastery on Mount Athos, he and his brother Theodore visited him, and Theodore was healed by Saint Athanasios from an incurable case of cancer.