Kyriaki Kioskeridou, a Revered Spiritual Daughter of Saint Sophia of Kleisoura, Has Reposed

On Tuesday 15 February 2022, Kyriaki Kioskeridou (maiden name Athanasiadou), popularly called Kitsa, reposed in the Lord at the age of 96. She was from Ptolemaida and had been a spiritual daughter of Saint Sophia of Kleisoura. Much of what we know about Saint Sophia comes from her testimony and experience.

In 1941, she was one of the founding members and the Vice President of the Christian Philanthropic Association "The Good Samaritan". She never claimed the presidency of the association but pioneered its charitable work. She gave lectures in various catechisms, cooked for the needy, while her house was a place of consolation and love for those who sought it.

"The Waves Were Filled With Angels and the Panagia Appeared" (St. Sophia of Kleisoura)

The following story is told about the journey of the refugees [from Pontus], in 1919, to their new homeland Greece.

The ship of their group was in a great storm and was in danger of sinking many times. They were finally saved.

The captain, making his cross, said:

"You had a righteous person with you and they saved you."

All eyes then fell on Sophia who, isolated in a corner of the ship, did not stop praying throughout the difficult voyage.

Stories About Saint Sophia the Ascetic of Kleisoura

 

 By Fr. Elias Makos

"Patience ... A lot of patience ... Patience a lot."

"Pride is an ugly thing ... Dirt to dirt ... Pride casts the soul into hell."

Many who met Sophia the ascetic of Kleisoura in Kastoria (1886-1974) - whose memory is celebrated on May 6th, who from her great humility was found worthy of doing miracles and was canonized in 2012, though she was despised by the world - report that she often said these words, which very accurately characterized her inner world.

Her whole life, since she was born in Pontus, was full of trials, having lost her two year old child, and a little later her husband, and being uprooted from her land.

The Tragedies That Led Saint Sophia of Kleisoura To Pursue a Life of Solitude and Asceticism

When Saint Sophia of Kleisoura (1883-1974) was a young woman in Pontus, she did not want to get married, and managed to remain unmarried until she was twenty-four years old, which was a long time back then. Pressured by her relatives, however, she married Jordan Hortokoridou in 1907. Three years later, in 1910, Jordan and Sophia gave birth to their first and only child, a son.

Things went well for another two years, until a great tragedy came upon Jordan and Sophia. One day the couple went out to work in the field, and they brought their young son with them along with their pigs. They placed the child in a make-shift swinging crib while they plowed the field. Meanwhile the hungry pigs, as the parents were working and not paying attention, caught eye of the baby boy and devoured him.

Saint Sophia of Kleisoura Sings a Song to the Panagia

The primary teaching of St. Sophia of Kleisoura was this: What is the meaning of the Panagia?

She would tell people how every day the Panagia would come to her and they conversed with one another.

Was St. Sophia of Kleisoura an Old Calendarist Nun who went by the name Myrtidiotissa?

By John Sanidopoulos

In 2011 the Ecumenical Patriarchate recognized Sophia of Kleisoura Monastery in Kastoria as a Saint of the Church. But is this the name she went by?

This Saint is a rare example of one who is recognized for her sanctity by both New Calendarists and Old Calendarists, and specifically to the region, by both the official Church of Greece (New Calendarists) and the Genuine Orthodox Christians (Old Calendarists), and both of these are in a schism from one another. The official Church of Greece says her name was Sophia and that she lived as an ascetic and was not a tonsured nun, while the Genuine Orthodox Christians believe she was herself an Old Calendarist who rejected the New Calendar, and that she was tonsured a nun by Metropolitan Cyprian of Oropos and Fili, the first hierarch of the Old Calendarist Synod of Resistance, who was then an Archimandrite, and given the name Myrtidiotissa.

Based on a study of the official texts and of books that have been written about her, the matter is a complicated one. Some say she should go by the name Venerable Sophia of Kleisoura, others say Venerable Eldress Myrtidiotissa, another says Venerable Sophia the Nun, and another is Venerable Sophia Hortokoridou. It should be noted, she is commonly depicted in photographs and icons as a simple ascetic without monastic dress.

Saint Sophia of Kleisoura Resource Page

St. Sophia of Kleisoura (Feast Day - May 6)

Verses

Given the gift of wisdom, divine Sophia,
You were a wise ascetic of our time, in Kleisoura.

 

Eldress Sophia of Kleisoura, the Ascetic of the Panagia

 

Venerable Sophia of Kleisoura in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church 

 

Stories About Saint Sophia the Ascetic of Kleisoura 

 

The Tragedies That Led Saint Sophia of Kleisoura To Pursue a Life of Solitude and Asceticism 

 

"The Waves Were Filled With Angels and the Panagia Appeared" (St. Sophia of Kleisoura)

 

Some Miracles of Saint Sophia of Kleisoura 

 

Beneficial Advice from Saint Sophia of Kleisoura

 

The Love of St. Sophia of Kleisoura for Animals 

 

The Heavenly Surgery of Saint Sophia of Kleisoura 

 

Where Saint Sophia of Kleisoura Lived in Asceticism (video) 

 

Was St. Sophia of Kleisoura an Old Calendarist Nun who went by the name Myrtidiotissa? 

 

Saint Sophia of Kleisoura Sings a Song to the Panagia 

 

Eldress Sophia, the Ascetic of Kleisoura, Canonized A Saint 

 

The Canonization of St. Sophia of Kleisoura (photos) 

 

A Bright First Feast for Saint Sophia of Kleisoura

 

Kyriaki Kioskeridou, a Revered Spiritual Daughter of Saint Sophia of Kleisoura, Has Reposed

 

The Heavenly Surgery of Saint Sophia of Kleisoura

One day Sophia became heavily ill. She was bent over from her pain. Initially there was a swelling, which gradually increased. Then there came a foul-smelling liquid for several days. Some spoke of peritonitis. Others argued that the hard rubber of the flimsy skirt she wore tore at her. As seen from the descriptions of those who watched the matter, it was probably a "periappendiceal abscess", according to medical terminology.

The Love of St. Sophia of Kleisoura for Animals

The love of Sophia did not stop only with animals. She spread her love and embraced the whole creation, rational and irrational, tame and wild. In the wild mountains around the monastery there were many bears, wolves and other wild beasts. Sophia had befriended all of them.

Of the many examples, we will record two or three which show a particular grace.

A retired military man, who used to visit Sophia until her last, from the time he served in the region during the war and later in 1949, narrated something incredible by today's standards.

Some Miracles of Saint Sophia of Kleisoura

In a letter Mr. Eleutherios M. writes:

"I was a child, and of course I liked playing games in the large courtyard of Panagia's Monastery. However in the evening I would temporarily forget about the games because I liked the stories of Grandmother Sophia, seeing her speak about the Panagia, and the appendicitis surgery she had done for her. At the spot where the operation was done there was a simple fine line, seamless, very thin. Grandmother Sophia would often show this mark.