St. Phanourius, August 27th
The life of St. Phanourius is told through the one icon that was found of him on Aug 27th, around 1500 A.D. "Phanourius" comes from the Greek word, "fanerono" (I reveal), so it is that from this one unblemished icon that the Archbishop Milos of Rhodes officially proclaimed him a saint...
"He concluded that the unblemished icon was itself a testimony enough to prove that Phanourius was a man of divine grace, and he petitioned the Patriarch to convene a synod which would officially proclaim Phanourius a saint, after which there was erected in the saint's memory a cathedral which enshrined the holy icon. Phanourius, lost for centuries in the ruins of a church, became the patron saint of things lost. To this day his name is invoked when prayers are asked for the recovery of things lost items."*
Original icon of St. Phanourius of Rhodes
"The original icon is quite large. In the center is a portrait of the saint holding a candle in his right hand and around this are 12 smaller images showing the each stage of his martyrdom.
The portrayal of each illustration is as follows:
i. The saint is standing in front of a Roman magistrate and defending his Christian faith.
ii. Soldiers beat the saint on the head and mouth with rocks to force him to deny his faith.
iii. The saint remains patient which angers the soldiers. They are shown in this illustration, throwing him to the ground and beating him with sticks and clubs in a further attempt to force him to deny his faith.
iv. The saint is now in prison. He is illustrated completely naked with the soldiers ripping his flesh apart with some sort of iron implement.
v. The saint is still in prison. In this station, he is shown praying to God, perhaps to give him strength to endure his tortures.
vi. Next, the saint is standing in front of the Roman magistrate again defending his position. The expression on the face of the saint is calm.
vii. In this image, it is obvious that the Roman magistrate has sentenced the saint to the executioners for remaining unmoved in Station 6. The saint is again shown naked with executioners torching (burning) his body.
viii. At this station, the executioners are now using mechanical means to torture the saint. He appears tied to an apparatus that rotates to crush his bones. Though his body is truly suffering intensely for God, the look on his face is peaceful and patient."**
Interior of church St. Phanourius, Rhodes
St. Phanourios has become famous for assisting the faithful in revealing lost or hidden spiritual matters of the heart, objects, directing or revealing actions that should be taken, restoring health and similar situations. He is then honoured by the faithful through a symbolic cake, called the "Phanouropita" which can be brought to the church, at any time, put in particularly on his feast day for a blessing.
You might of received a piece at the end of service in the past. This year, why not try your hand at baking one of these cakes? If wanting to give it a go, here is the the recipe.
(*Excerpts taken from www.saintfanourios.org, ** excerpts and images taken from orthodoxwiki.org)
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There is not much information about the life of St Gerasimos, who we celebrate on the 20th October and which our church is dedicated to. He is also patron saint of the island of Cephalonia and the Cephalonians throughout the world. We do know that he was born in Trikala in the Peloponnesus and in his adult life traveled throughout various lands (to Zakynthos, Mt Athos - where he learnt ascetic life, to Mt Sinai, Antioch, Alexander, Egypt, to Jerusalem and there he was ordained a priest by Patriarch Germanos. Eventually he settled on the island of Cephalonia and there he restored an old church, building a convent around it where it still stands to this day at Omala Valley.
