συνοδικός
September 23 / September 10
2018 (7527)
Afterfeast of the NATIVITY of the Theotokos
Sunday before the Universal Elevation of the Precious and Life-Creating Cross of the Lord
• Finding the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos of SEPTA (1825)
• Synaxis of the Icon of the Theotokos "TRIKERIOTISSAS" (1825)
Μνήμη Εὑρέσεως Σεπτῆς Εἰκόνος Θεοτόκου ὑπὸ τᾶς ρίζας ἐλαίας, ἐν τῇ ἐν τῷ Παγασητικῷ κόλπῳ Νήσῳ Μαλαιῶν Τρικκέρων
The tiny island of Old Trikeri, in Greece's Pagasitic Gulf, is as quiet an island as can be found this side of deserted. There are no cars, no police, no schools, no doctors, no bakeries. Numerous tracks shaded by trees criss-cross the island, but there are few roads. Tucked away into a curve of the Pelion peninsula, a short sea-crossing from the mainland, it's been mouse-quiet for centuries.
Approaching the island, the first signs of civilisation you might notice are three or four plastic chairs perched on the headland, put there because it's a nice, breezy place to sit after the heat of the day. Coming into the port you dock beside a rusty old tub, tipped up on its side and used as a diving platform by local children. There's a jumble of fishing boats in front of the first of the island's two tavernas and a strip of scruffy beach where vegetables are sold twice a week. The village's only shop, further along the harbour-front, is little more than a large cupboard.
In winter the island is often wet and grey, and the population dwindles to between 30 and 60 inhabitants, mostly fishermen and people staying on to tend the animals while the grey-green olive trees rattle in the wind. But once a year, as many as 2,000 souls arrive on Old Trikeri in search of miracles. For it is here that the miracle-working icon of Our Venerable Lady Virgin Mary was unearthed, on 10 September 1825.
The early inhabitants of the island first migrated to the mainland sometime in the 11th century, fearful of pirates who were plundering the area, and the island remained deserted until the 19th century when a monk named Damianos Koslis set up home in a cell down by the old port. Nothing much had changed in the intervening centuries. The olive trees were pretty much the same trees, and though paths had been lost and the church of the Virgin Mary had fallen into ruin, pirates still menaced the area. It was fear of them that made Damianos Koslis build a shack as a hiding place beside the tumbledown church. And here, one dark night, the Virgin Mary appeared to him in a dream.
The Virgin ordered Damianos to dig in the ruins where, beneath a wild olive, he would find her lost icon. She appeared to Damianos three times before anyone took the monk seriously, and when, with help from the mainland, he finally dug up her icon, it glowed and let off an endless fragrance. A great celebration was held, and over the next three years a new church dedicated to the Virgin was built beside the ruins of the old.
The Monastery of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary stands today in all its splendour, a mere 10-minute walk from the village. In normal times it has few visitors and seems almost too grand a building for so small an island. I was only staying on Old Trikeri for three days and did not hear about its icon until I was due to leave. I was curious to learn more about it, and it was suggested I talk to the local priest.
The monastery was up a steep rubble-strewn path rutted by the previous winter's rains. A long, thin building, on the day of my visit it was besieged by 10 or more local women frantically tugging up weeds from between stones; others were watering flowers and polishing candlesticks, crosses, steps, cups, and anything else that could be polished. The monastery was undergoing a spring-clean in preparation for the pilgrims due to arrive that weekend.
The priest was an anxious little man dressed in grubby robes. He was supervising the women, and although he'd agreed to spare a few minutes, it was obvious he wouldn't have time to answer more than a couple of questions. What I wanted to know most of all was what miracles had actually been performed. Either he found the question impertinent or his English was not as good as I'd been led to believe, but whatever, a cleaning crisis materialised and he disappeared.
The icon itself was inside the monastery, the frame supporting it and with which it would be carried in procession, leaning against an alabaster pillar painted to resemble marble. Both the face of the Infant Jesus and the Virgin were too dark to make out, either blackened by fingers, time, or more likely a century of smoky incense wafting about the church. Surrounding the icon, and now encased with it behind glass, were heirlooms – gold and silver rings and a late-Victorian gold watch, the offerings of earlier believers.
I still do not know what miracles were performed, not even after rooting around on the internet to find an answer. Perhaps the icon simply being dug up and found was miracle enough. Certainly if that had not happened, if the Virgin Mary had not come to Damianos Koslis in a dream, the monastery itself would never have been resurrected from the ruins.
I did not go to Old Trikeri in search of miracles, but by the time I left I'd begun to wonder if some could be so subtle that you would hardly recognise them when they happened. Perhaps in these troubled times it is miracle enough to find such a simple and beautiful place as the Holy Monastery of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, with its cloistered courtyard that on most days is an oasis of silence, surrounded by olive trees on top of a hill that looks down through a haze of heat to a warm and glittering blue sea.
• Synaxis of the Theotokos "ORCHOMENIOTISSA" ("Panagia Skripou") (1943)
On 8 September 1943, the day of the feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos, the Italians capitulated and in the beginning refused to surrender their weapons to their German allies. In Orchomenos of Boetia the regional organization E.A.M. felt they could capitalize on this and accept the Italian arms. The Italians refused this and went with their weapons to Livadia. On the way the Germans surrounded them and disarmed them, and the Italians betrayed the people of Orchomenos by stating their intentions. When the Germans learned of the intentions of the people of Orchomenos they sent against them the next day, September 9th, armored vehicles. When the people of Orchomenos heard this they left and arrived at the crossroads of Agios Andreas, unprepared and disorganized as they were, and scattered throughout the surrounding area to the most remote Dionysus (Tsamaliou). The Germans continued the chase, to retaliate against Orchomenos, as was their usual tactic.
When the Germans entered Orchomenos they took 600 hostages, left a section in the village, and sent three tanks against the rest to Dionysus. On the night of the 9th towards the 10th of September, at around midnight, about 550 meters away from the Byzantine Church of the Panagia Skripou (established in 874 AD), the three German tanks were immobilized for no apparent reason. As the German commander known as Hoffman later recounted, the form of a woman had appeared in the night sky with her hand raised in a prohibitive stance. Commander Hoffman then requested a tractor to pull the tanks, and he beheld another miracle when the tractor was able to easily pull the heavy tanks like an empty matchbox. He then proclaimed "miracle! miracle!" and asked the residents to take him into the church. From the icon in the church the commander recognized the woman to be the Virgin Mary. He fell down on his knees and said: "This woman saved you! You must honor her and glorify her!"
Orchomenos was indeed saved by the Panagia and the 600 hostages were freed with a vow by the commander that the village would not be harmed. Following the war, Commander Hoffman returned to the Church of Panagia Skripou, donating an icon of the vision he saw along with an large oil lamp. Just about every year he returned on September 10th to commemorate the event and light a candle in the church. For this reason the Panagia Skripou celebrates a feast on September 10th every year. A procession takes place with the icon on this day to the spot where the tanks were immobilized.
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Synaxis of All Saints of ALTAI // SUNDAY AFTER SEPTEMBER 7TH //
• MACARIUS 玛喀里 Glukharev of Altai (1792-1847) // MAY 18 //
Ὁ Ὅσιος Μακάριος ὁ Ἱεραπόστολος ἐκ Ρωσίας
• MACARIUS 玛喀里 Nevsky, metropolitan of Moscow, Apostle to Altai (1835-1926) // FEB 16 //
Ὁ Ἅγιος Μακάριος ὁ Ἀπόστολος τῶν Ἀλταΐων Μητροπολίτης Μόσχας
• Hosiosmartyr CYPRIAN (Constantine Nelidov) hieromonk (1901-1934) // JUN 3 //
• Hieromartyr IAKOV Maskajev, archbishop of Barnaul (1879-1937) // JUL 16 //
• Hieromartyr IOANN Mozhyrin, archpriest (1870-1937) // JUL 16 //
• Hieromartyr PETR Gavrilov, archpriest (1879-1937) // JUL 16 //
• Hosiosmartyr THEODOR Nikitin, monk (1877-1937) // JUL 16 //
• Hieromartyr MIRON Rzhepik, archpriest (1885-1937) // AUG 31 //
• Hieromartyr NIKITA (Nicholas Pribytkov) bishop of Belevsk (1859-1938) // DEC 21 //
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SYNAXIS OF SAINTS OF LIPETSK
• Sainted BASIL I Bishop of Ryazan (1295) // JUL 3 //
• Sainted ALEXIS Metropolitaim of Kiev (1378) // FEB 12 // MAY 20 //
• Sainted IONA of Moskow (1461) // MAR 31 // MAY 27 //
• Sainted THEODORITE Archbishop of Ryazan (1617) // SEP 10 //
• Hieromartyr MISAIL Archbishop of Ryazan (1655) // APR 9 //
• Sainted PITIRIM Bishop of Tambov (1698) // JUL 28 //
• Sainted METROPHANE of Voroezh (1703) // AUG 7 // SEP 4 //
• Sainted TYCHON of Zadonsk (1783) // AUG 13 //
• Venerable IOANN of Sezenovo (1839) // DEC 14 //
• Sainted ANTHONY Smirnitskij (1846) // DEC 20 //
• Venerable ILARION Trojekurovskij (1853) // NOV 5 //
• Sainted INOCENTI of Kherson (1857) // MAY 25 //
• Sainted FILARET Amfiteatrov (1857) // DEC 21 //
• Venerabless DARIA of Sezenovo (1858)
• Sainted GAVRIIL Gorodkov (1862) // APR 7 //
• Venerabless SERAPHIMA of Sezenovo (1877) // SEP 14 //
• Venerable AMVROSSI of Optina (1891) // OCT 10 //
• Sainted THEOPHAN the Recluse (1894) // JAN 10 //
• Sainted MELETI Jakinov (1900) // JAN 14 //
• Hieromartyr IVAN Kochurov (1917) // OCT 31 //
• New Hieromartyr MACARIOS Gnevushev (1918) // AUG 22 //
• Hieromartyr TYCHON Nikanorov (1920) // DEC 27 //
• Venerable NECTARIOS of Optina (1928) // APR 29 //
• Hosiosconfessor AGAFANGEL Preobrazhenskij (1928) // OCT 3 //
• Hieromartyr PETR Zverev (1929) // JAN 25 // JUN 4 //
• Hieromartyr ALEXANDER Vislyanskij (1930) // FEB 21 //
• Hieromartyr ALEXANDER Arkhangel’skij (1930) // JUL 20 //
• Venerable GEORGE Lavrov (1932) // JUN 21 //
• Hieromartyr SERGI Lavrov (1934) // JAN 5 //
• Hosiosmartyr THEODOR Nikitin (1937) // JUL 16 //
• Hieromartyr ZAKHARIA Lobov (1937) // SEP 9 //
• Hosiosmartyr BASIL Tsvetkov (1937) // OCT 4 //
• Hieromartyr TYCHON Arkhangel’skij (1937) // OCT 4 //
• Hosiosmartyr AMVROSSI Astakhoff (1937) // OCT 8 //
• Hieromartyr DIMITRI Dobroserdov (1937) // OCT 8 //
• Hieromartyr IUVENALI Maslovskij (1937) // OCT 11 //
• Hieromartyr ALEXANDER Orlov (1937) // OCT 20 //
• Hieromartyr MIKHAIL Isajev (1937) // OCT 20 //
• Hieromartyr CYRILL Smirnov (1937) // NOV 7 //
• Hieromartyr SERGI Zverev (1937) // NOV 7 //
• Hosiosmartyr PANTELEIMON Arzhanykh (1937) // NOV 16 //
• Hieromartyr MICHAEL Bogoroditskij (1937) // NOV 24 //
• Hieromartyr SERAPHIM Ostroumov (1937) // NOV 25 //
• Hieromartyr MICHAEL Kobzev (1937) // DEC 10 //
• Hieromartyr IVAN Aleshkovskij (1938) // FEB 4 //
• Hosiosmartyress NATALIA Ul’janova (1938) // MAR 9 //
• Martyr GEORGE Bogojavlenskij (1938) // MAY 19 //
• Hieromartyr NICHOLAS Sadkovskij (1938) // MAY 19 //
• Hieromartyr UAR (Petr Shmarin) bishop of Lipetsk (1880-1938) // SEP 10 //
• Venerable SILOUAN of Mt Athon (1938) // SEP 11 //
• Hieromartyr MIKHAIL Bogoslovskij (1883-1940) // MAR 15 //
• Hieromartyr ISMAIL Basilevskij (1881-1941) // NOV 4 //
• Hieromartyr VASILIJ Krymkin (1901-1942) // OCT 4 //
• Martyress ANNA Borovskaja (1907-1942) // DEC 29 //
• Martyress EUFROSINIJA Denisova (1906-1942) // DEC 29 //
• Martyress ALEKSANDRA Smolyakova (1880-1942)
• Martyress NATALIJA Karikh (1885-1942)
• Martyress NATALIJA Kopytina (1885-1942)
• KHIONIJA Arhangelskaja, confessoress (1883-1945) // OCT 4 //
• Hieroconfessor SERGIJ Pravdolyubov (1890-1950) // SEP 21 // DEC 5 //
• Hieroconfessor NIKOLAJ (Theodosij Mogilevskij) (1877-1955) // OCT 12 //
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• Synaxis of the Holy Apostles APELLES 阿佩勒 (67), LUCIUS 路基 (71), and CLEMENT 克利密斯 (101) of the Seventy
Οἱ Ἅγιοι Ἀπελλῆς, Λουκᾶς καὶ Κλήμης οἱ Ἀπόστολοι
Apostles Apollos, Lucius, and Clement were numbered among the Seventy. Apollos (Acts 18:24-25) was bishop in Smyrna before St Polycarp. St Lucius (Romans 16:21) was bishop in Laodicea. St Clement was bishop in Sardis.
• NEMESIAN (Nemesianus) Bishop of Tubunum; FELIX Bishop of Bagaia; LUCIUS Bishop of Thebeste; FELIX Bishop of Bramaccora; LITTEUS (Licteus) Bishop of Gemella; POLYANUS (Pollianus) Bishop of Mileve; VICTOR Bishop of Octava; JADER Bishop of Midila; and DATIVUS Bishop of Badia; together with numerous clergy and laypeople at Numidia in North Africa (257)
• VMM Sisters MENODORA 弥诺多拉, METRODORA and NYMPHODORA 宁佛多拉 at Nicomedia, Nuns, Healers (305-311)
Οἱ Ἁγίες Μηνοδώρα, Μητροδώρα καὶ Νυμφοδώρα οἱ Μάρτυρες
• Sainted Bishops PETER 彼得 (826) and PAUL 保罗 the Confessor, of Nicaea (9th c.)
Ὁ Ὅσιος Πέτρος Ἐπίσκοπος Νικαίας
• 3 Holy Women of Constantinople
A noblewoman from Constantinople, with her two servants, despised the vanity of the world and withdrew to solitude where, after eleven years of asceticism, they rested in the Lord.
• Wonderworker CASSIAN 卡西安 abbot of Spaso-Kamenny and CYRIL 基里尔 of White Lake Monasteries (1469)
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NEW MARTYRS AND CONFESSORS in the 20th century
• Hieromartyr presbiter ANDREJ Kovalev (1871-1921)
• Hieromartyr presbiter GRIGORIJ Konokotin (1869-1921)
• Hieromartyr presbiter JOHN Jakovlev (1866-1921)
• Hieromartyr ISMAIL Kudryavtsev, presbiter, priest of Tver (1876-1937)
• Hieromartyr EUGINE Popov, presbiter, priest of Yaroslavl-Rostov (1879-1937)
• Hieromartyr JOHN Popov, presbiter, priest (1863-1937)
• Hieromartyr CONSTANTINE Kolpetsky, presbiter, priest (1885-1937)
• Hieromartyr PETER Grigor’jev, presbiter, priest of Yaroslavl-Rostov (1895-1937)
• Hieromartyr BASIL Maksimov, presbiter, archpriest (1887-1937)
• Hieromartyr GLEB Apukhtin, presbiter, priest of Yaroslavl-Rostov (1885-1937)
• Hieromartyr BASIL Malinin, presbiter, priest of Tver (1898-1937)
• Hieromartyr JOHN Sofronov, presbiter, priest of Tver (1875-1937)
• Hieromartyr PETER Jurkov, presbiter, priest (1880-1937)
• Hieromartyr NICOLOS Pavlinov, presbiter, priest (1881-1937)
• Hieromartyr PALLADIUS Popov, presbiter, priest (1879-1937)
• Hosiosmartyr MELETIUS (Mikhail Fedyunev) Hieromonk, of Kuzhba, Komi (1871-1937)
• Hosiosmartyr GABRIEL (Grigorij Jatsik) archmandrite, of Donskoy Monastery, Moscow (1880-1937)
• Martyr SYMEON Turkin (1937)
• Martyress TATIANA Grimblit (1937)
• Hieromartyr UAR (Petr Shmarin) bishop of Lipetsk (1880-1938)
• Repose of Elder TIKHON Golenkov (1968) of Kapsala, Mt Athos, the spiritual father of St Paisios the Athonite
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• AGAPIUS (Agapitus) (447) Bishop of Novara in Piedmont in Italy from 417 to 447 and the successor of St Gaudentius, in whose footsteps he followed
• Translation (1862) of the Relics of Venerable AEGIDIUS (Gilles) of Provence (640-720) hermit, founder of the monastery of St-Gilles
• AUTBERT (709) Bishop of Avranches in France, he founded the Monastery of Mont-St-Michel on what is now the Normandy coast
Bishop of Avranches, France. Founded the monastery of Mont-St-Michel of the coast of Normandy, France after receiving a vision of Michael the Archangel.
• Martyr BARYPSABAS 瓦里普萨瓦斯 in Dalmatia (2nd c.) hermit; Keeper of the Blood of Christ
Ὁ Ἅγιος Βαρυψάβας ὁ Μάρτυρας
Saint Barypsabas (or Varypsavas) from Dalmatia received the honorable blood of our Lord Jesus Christ which ran from His side from a certain hermit, and through it worked many healings. For this reason one night he was beaten to death with clubs by unbelievers, who supposed the healings by the blood could be sold for a price. Barypsabas, however, kept the blood well concealed for them to not lay their hands on it. From then on the honorable treasure of the Master's blood was kept by the disciple of the Saint. Saint Nikodemos the Hagiorite explains that this blood in the possession of Barypsabas was not the blood that came directly from the side of Christ when He was crucified, since, according to the opinion of Gregory the Theologian, this blood rose together with Christ. Rather, it was most likely the blood that poured out from the icon of the Master Christ that was in Beirut when certain Jews stabbed the side of Christ depicted. This blood, which was brought to Constantinople, was considered by Christians to have been the blood of Christ, and worked many miracles.
• CALLINICUS
• Blessed CANDIDA the Lesser (or the Younger) of Naples, Matr. (586)
A married woman in Naples who hallowed herself as a wife and as a mother.
• Translation of the Relics of EGWIN Bishop of Worcester
• Translation of the Relics of ETHELWOLD Bishop of Winchester, England
• EUDOCIA the Younger (466-477) granddaughter of Theodosius II and Eudocia the Elder
Ἡ Ἁγία Εὐδοκία «ἡ παῖς»
• EUPHROSYNOS the New, protector of the monastery of the gardeners on the island of Kephalonia (1811)
• Venerable ISAIAH founder of the Kykkos Monastery in Cyprus (12th c.)
• Venerable FINIAN 斐尼安 (Findbarr, Winnin) of Ulster in Ireland, abbot of Magh Bile (Moville), County Down (493-579)
Descendant of Fiatach the Fair. Studied under Saint Colman of Dromore, Saint Mochae of Noendrum, and the school of Saint Ninian. Pilgrim to Rome. Bishop of Moville, Ireland. Founded the monastery of Druim Fionn, and the school of Moville c.540. Composed a rule and penitential code for his monks. Spiritual teacher of Saint Columba.
Heavenly Father,
your Son Jesus Christ prayed and taught the people
in the hills above the Sea of Galilee;
and you led Finnian to establish
on the hill above Strangford Lough
a place of prayer and learning:
Help us to draw closer to you in prayer
and by study of your word,
and thereby equip us for the service of the world;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
• FRITHESTAN (933) disciple of St Grimbald, Bishop of Winchester in England
Spiritual student of Saint Grimbald. Bishop of Winchester, England, consecrated by Saint Plegmund. He served for 23 years, and noted for his care for the poor and a ministry of prayer for the recently dead.
• M IA (Eudocia, Eudoxia, Eudokia, Violets or Eä) of Persia (363)
Ἡ Ἁγία Ἴα ἡ Μάρτυς
• Blessed Prince Andrew, in monasticism JOASAPH 约阿撒弗 of Kubensk, Vologda (1453)
• OTGER of Northumbria (8th c.) Monk and Missionary
• PETER Martinez (Peter of Mozonzo) (1000) Abbot and Archbishop of St Martin in Compostella
Benedictine monk at the monastery of Saint Mary of Mozonzo c.950. Abbot of Saint Martin of Antealares in Compostela, Spain. Archbishop of Saintiago de Compostela c.986. A leader in the Spanish Reconquista when the Moors were driven from Spain. May have been one of the composers of the Salve Regina.
• Venerable PAUL 保罗 the Obedient 听命者 of the Kiev Cave Monastery of Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, in the Fart Caves of St Theodosius (1284)
• PULCHERIA 普尔赫里亚 (Belkharia) the Nobleborn Empress of Constantinople (453)
Ἡ Ἁγία Πουλχερία ἡ βασίλισσα
• Sainted SALVIUS 撒尔维 bishop of Albi in France (584) died while tending the sick during an epidemic
• SENACH son of Buidi (5th c.)
• Hieromartyr THEODAARD 德奥达尔德 of Maastricht, bishop (670)
Spiritual student of Saint Remaclus at Malmédy-Stavelot, Belgium. Abbot of Malmédy-Stavelot in 653. Bishop of Maastricht, Netherlands in 663. Murdered by robbers in the forest of Bienwald near Speyer, Germany while on a journey undertaken in defence of his church.
• THEODORITUS Archbishop of Ryazan and Murom (1617)
• VERANUS Son of St Eucherius of Lyons (480) Bishop of Vence in the south of France
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
愿上帝怜恤我罪人
O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
for the sake of the prayers
of Thy most pure Mother,
our holy and God-bearing fathers and all the saints, have mercy on us.
Amen.
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Blessed be God.
