The Chapel of Saint Ioannikios on the Island of Hydra

Every year, on November 4, our Church celebrates the memory of our Venerable Father Ioannikios the Great of Olympus.

He was born in Bithynia in the year 740 AD, excelled in the Byzantine army, was led into the error of iconoclasm, but repented and returned to the Orthodox faith, climbed Mount Olympus in Bithynia and lived as an ascetic there, as well as in other areas.

He learned and memorized thirty of the Psalms of David and together he sang a prayer of his own, which the Church still preserves, slightly modified: "God is my hope, Christ is my refuge, the Holy Spirit is my shelter."

Saint Makarios of Corinth as a Model for our Lives

St. Makarios of Corinth (Feast Day - April 17)

 By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

Saint Makarios lived in the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries (1731-1805). He was born in Trikala, Corinth, came from the famous Notaras family, and his parents were named George and Anastasia. His baptismal name was Michael. He was first educated in the Monastery of the Panagia, in his own homeland, by the teacher Eustathios who was from Kefallonia. He loved prayer and the hesychast life, and for this he went to the Holy Monastery of Mega Spelaion to become a monk, but his father had him return home. After his teacher reposed, he occupied himself with the work of a teacher successfully for some time. He was loved by the Corinthians for his learning, and especially for his ethos and the modesty of his life. For this reason, after the death of the Archbishop of Corinth, he was proposed to the Ecumenical Patriarch Samuel to be his successor. As Archbishop of Corinth he was devoted to the rational flock entrusted to him by Christ through the Church.

The Wondrous Meeting Between Two Saints Who Were Related: St. Makarios of Corinth and St. Gerasimos of Kefallonia

Loukas Notaras (1402–1453) was a Roman statesman who served as the last Grand Duke (commander-in-chief of the Roman navy) and the last Chief Minister of the Roman Empire, under emperors John VIII Palaiologos and Constantine XI Palaiologos. After the fall of Constantinople, a portion of the Notaras and Palaiologos family had settled in Trikala of Corinth. Saint Gerasimos Notaras of Kefallonia was born in 1570 in Trikala of Corinth. His father was a descendent of Loukas Notaras and his mother a descendent of Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos. Saint Makarios Notaras was born in Trikala of Corinth in 1731. Thus both Saint Gerasimos Notaras and Saint Makarios Notaras were related, but born about 160 years apart.

Synaxarion of Saint Makarios Notaras the Archbishop of Corinth

 Synaxarion*

On the 17th of this month [April], we commemorate Saint Makarios Notaras, Archbishop of Corinth.

Verses

Offspring of Corinth you are the brightest of Hierarchs,
An intercessor, joy and great aid to all the faithful.
Who is this, who was twice called and showed divine signs?
Splendid Makarios Notaras the most splendid orpyx.
In the middle of April he went to God, having breathed his last.

Saint Makarios of Corinth Resource Page

St. Makarios Notaras (Feast Day - April 17)

 

Life and Veneration 

 

Synaxarion of Saint Makarios Notaras the Archbishop of Corinth

 

Saint Makarios of Corinth as a Model for our Lives

St. Makarios of Corinth: Author of the Philokalic Revival 

 

Saint Makarios Notaras and Patmos

 

Saint Makarios Notaras, the Wonderworker of Myloi in Samos 

 

Synaxis of All Saints of the Dodecanese 

 

Synaxis of All Saints of the Island of Kefallonia 

 

Synaxis of All Saints of the Metropolis of Hydra, Spetses and Aegina 

 

Synaxis of All Saints of Patmos 

 

 

The Kollyvades Movement 

 

Kollyvades Movement Resource Page 

 

An Image of the Importance of the Kollyvades Movement from an 18th Century French Travelogue Entry 

 

The New Martyrs and Saint Makarios

 

Holy New Martyr Niketas of Nisyros (+ 1732) 

 

Holy New Martyr Polydoros of Cyprus (+ 1794) 

 

Holy New Martyr Theodore of Byzantium (+ 1795) 

 

Holy New Martyr Mark of Chios (+ 1801) 

 

Holy New Martyr Demetrios of Peloponnesos (+ 1803) 

 

A Description of the Martyrdom Preparation of Saint Demetrios of Peloponnesos 

 

 

Miracles and Shrines 

 

Four Astonishing Miracles of Saint Makarios Notaras of Corinth

 

The Wondrous Meeting Between Two Saints Who Were Related: St. Makarios of Corinth and St. Gerasimos of Kefallonia

 

The Chapel of Saint Ioannikios on the Island of Hydra

 

A Description of the Martyrdom Preparation of Saint Demetrios of Peloponnesos

Saint Demetrios of Peloponnesos suffered martyrdom in 1803 at Tripolis of the Peloponnese. He was a native of Ligouditsa in Arcadia, and became a servant of a Turkish family at Tripolis. Yielding to their continual incitement to espouse Islam, he renounced his Christian faith. But soon he began to have strong feelings of remorse for his act. So he went to a monastery, confessed to the abbot and sought his advice. The abbot sent him, with a letter of introduction, to Saint Makarios of Corinth in Chios. Here he received very valuable spiritual training and guidance first from his spiritual father Makarios of Corinth, then from his second spiritual father Saint Nikephoros of Chios. Duly prepared by them for martyrdom, Demetrios returned to Tripolis ready to profess his faith openly and to die for it. When the Turks at Tripolis saw him and heard him say that he was a Christian, they seized him, subjected him to many kinds of tortures, and finally beheaded him on the Tuesday following the Sunday of Saint Thomas, which was April 14, 1803. He is annually commemorated by the Church on the anniversary day of his martyrdom.

Saint Makarios Notaras, the Wonderworker of Myloi in Samos

Processional Icon of St. Makarios Notaras without silver covering at Myloi, Samos.

Saint Makarios Notaras, Archbishop of Corinth (1731–1805), is celebrated by the Church on April 17th. However, the village of Myloi on the island of Samos celebrates him on May 16th, since the Saint enriched it with his ascetic example and rich wonderworking grace.

This small village of Myloi was established in the 16th century with residents that had come from the island of Patmos, and for a long time it was the capital of the island. It became associated with Saint Makarios when he visited Samos after leaving Mount Athos and becoming associated with the Kollyvades Fathers. It was one of the islands, together with Patmos and Chios, that he sought for a place of quietude to pray and practice asceticism. This he found next to the village of Myloi.