There are countless testimonies, as the humble Levite of Christ, Father Panagiotis Tsiolis, says, of people who bowed reverently to kiss the head of the great Saint Anastasios Gordios and found the healing they were seeking. Even demons are terrified at the sight of the most fragrant sacred relics of this great man.
As a priest, although I had heard from the elders about Saint Anastasios, I did not know how much boldness he had before God and how miraculous he is. I realized this as a young and inexperienced priest, shortly after celebrating the Divine Liturgy in the katholikon of the former Sacred Monastery of Saint John the Theologian in Trovato.
Specifically, shortly after the dismissal, a woman from Agrinio approached me, who had come up to meet some of her relatives.
"Father," she said to me, "can you read me a prayer, because I am suffering from severe sadness, for no real reason. I try in vain to find the cause! I am tormented in my sleep. I have nightmares and scream. I wake up my children and my husband! My situation is unbearable. My husband suggested that I come here to the mountain for a few days, maybe with the change of climate I will find some relief and be able to recover!"
I immediately ran to find the prayer book, but I realized that I had forgotten it in Saint Paraskevi.
"My dear girl, I will run to Vraggiana to get the prayer book and I will come back to read you a prayer. Wait for me at the church."
"My Father, Vraggiana is far away. Don't bother on my behalf. I will stay for a few days and maybe I will come down to find you."
"It's no trouble at all! I will cut through the paths. Don’t worry. Stay in the temple and don’t leave. I will be back soon…"
The truth is that I wanted enough time to go and come back but I didn’t care. For our Christ, I thought, others were falling into the fire. Besides, I felt sorry for the poor woman! She was in the flames, as we say here in our villages. I was also worried that I would leave her alone in the temple.
I returned after a long time! I opened the door and saw her kneeling in prayer in front of the icon of Saint John the Theologian. As soon as she saw me, she ran happily!
"Father, thank you!" she said to me.
At first I thought she was thanking me for my effort. That's why I told her that this was my sacred duty towards God. She then replied that she was thanking me for the monk I sent her and who cured her.
"I didn't send any monk," I replied, "believing that the depression that was tormenting her in combination with the long wait was driving her crazy."
She then said:
"Father, a short time after you left, a tall monk entered the church. He lit the candle that is still burning and kissed the holy icons one by one, making deep prostrations for each one. I didn't speak. After kissing all the holy icons, he looked at me and said:
'Rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ!
'Bless you, my Father,' I said to him and kissed his hand. 'I came to light a candle for Saint John the Theologian, whose feast day is today (May 8).'
We struck up a conversation!
He told me that his name was Anastasios Gordios and that he was a teacher of sacred things and a doctor in the area. As soon as I heard that he was a doctor, I found the opportunity to talk to him about the sadness that was tormenting me. He then began to ask me various things from my life. Now that I mention it to you, my Father, I understand that this monk had a great gift from God. I say this because he mentioned personal events from my childhood that I seemed to have completely forgotten. The conversation made me light-headed. I was getting better and time was passing. Ten minutes ago he left, after first reading me a prayer and giving me to drink every day this herb that he carried with him in his cassock. He also set me a rule, to light the candles of our church in the village every day and to fast for forty days. He also told me to make unleavened bread on Wednesdays and Fridays and to give my children communion every Sunday. He also advised me to thank Christ and our Panagia every day with prayers of thanks. To also address supplications for all my fellow villagers! Moreover to pray for the one who did me great harm when I was a ten-year-old girl…
Ah! I forgot, Father, to tell you that he said that we should read the Psalter with my husband Kostas every day, he told me that you would tell me. From that I concluded that you knew each other. From the moment he left, after he made the sign of the cross over me, I feel completely liberated. The burden I had is gone. I was waiting for you to tell me about the Psalter, because tomorrow I plan to return to Agrinio. I will come as soon as I find a chance with my husband and children to see this great monk and doctor again!"
I was speechless with what I heard. At first, I will not hide from you that I thought that perhaps some monk had come to pay veneration. However, I was wondering why he would use the name of Saint Anastasios Gordios. I happened to be carrying with me a paper image of Saint Anastasios, which I always carried with me as a blessing. I took it out and showed it to her.
"This is the monk, my Father. Are you relatives that you are carrying his photo?" she exclaimed spontaneously. And taking advantage of my speechlessness, she continued.
"Well done, Father, for having such great relatives. Tell me in which church does Anastasios officiate so that I can come with my family and receive communion from his blessed hands!"
"My dear woman, the monk you see is Saint Anastasios Gordios, the great orator, the great philosopher and excellent doctor and man, the teacher of our race and head of the Great School of the Vrangian Race."
"Father, you don't know what you're talking about, it seems to me! It'sprobably someone who would look like him. Is it possible that the Saint gave me these herbs too?"
"And if it was someone else, why did he use the name of Saint Anastasios and even say that he is a teacher and doctor?"
"I don't know, Father, I'm completely lost! What I know and feel is that I got well. However, if it was someone else, besides Saint Anastasios, I still believe that he is a Saint, because he told me many things from my life that I had forgotten... Ah! I forgot to tell you that while this holy monk was inside, the church smelled fragrant! I had the feeling that before he came to the church, he was making incense and I didn't pay attention."
Then I took the herbs that Saint Anastasios gave her in my hands and said to myself: "I didn't know that this herb is good for this job and beats depression!"
"Father, the monk told me that this herb stimulates the appetite. So he recommended that I drink it around ten in the morning as a tea. He also urged me to eat fish once a week, preferably sardines, and to eat lots of oranges and fruit... Also to keep the fasts of the Church and to confess once a week! He gave me lots and lots of advice. Since I didn't realize how quickly time passed."
"Listen, my good woman! Saint Anastasios Gordios was one of the most important doctors of Agrafa. But he was not only a doctor, he was also an orator and a priest! He was not a monk, as you said. Together with Saint Eugenios the Aetolian, they founded many schools. They created the foundations for the liberation of our race. You received a great blessing that you saw Saint Anastasios alive. Also, know that the Psalter he told you to read are the prayers of King David, which we recite daily in church. Upon hearing these prayers, the demons flee."
"My Father, I cannot believe that I saw the Saint you mention! You say I saw a vision?… What can I say? What I know is that I was healed! And these herbs are solid proof that I was not dreaming. And the candle that is burning, he lit it."
"Good… good!" I said.
Then I advised her not to testify to the miracle, because many would not believe her and would make fun of her. Only to her husband and children to say it. She nodded her head in the affirmative. As she left, she asked me when Saint Anastasios Gordios is celebrated. I answered her on June 7 and invited her to come to his feast.
"I will come with my children and my husband!" she said.
Source: Άγιος Αναστάσιος ο Γόρδιος – ο φύλακας Άγγελος και η ψυχή των Αγράφων, Δρ. Χαράλαμπος Μ. Μπούσιας, Διονύσιος Α. Μακρής, εκδ. Αγαθός Λόγος, σελ. 19-25. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
As a priest, although I had heard from the elders about Saint Anastasios, I did not know how much boldness he had before God and how miraculous he is. I realized this as a young and inexperienced priest, shortly after celebrating the Divine Liturgy in the katholikon of the former Sacred Monastery of Saint John the Theologian in Trovato.
Specifically, shortly after the dismissal, a woman from Agrinio approached me, who had come up to meet some of her relatives.
"Father," she said to me, "can you read me a prayer, because I am suffering from severe sadness, for no real reason. I try in vain to find the cause! I am tormented in my sleep. I have nightmares and scream. I wake up my children and my husband! My situation is unbearable. My husband suggested that I come here to the mountain for a few days, maybe with the change of climate I will find some relief and be able to recover!"
I immediately ran to find the prayer book, but I realized that I had forgotten it in Saint Paraskevi.
"My dear girl, I will run to Vraggiana to get the prayer book and I will come back to read you a prayer. Wait for me at the church."
"My Father, Vraggiana is far away. Don't bother on my behalf. I will stay for a few days and maybe I will come down to find you."
"It's no trouble at all! I will cut through the paths. Don’t worry. Stay in the temple and don’t leave. I will be back soon…"
The truth is that I wanted enough time to go and come back but I didn’t care. For our Christ, I thought, others were falling into the fire. Besides, I felt sorry for the poor woman! She was in the flames, as we say here in our villages. I was also worried that I would leave her alone in the temple.
I returned after a long time! I opened the door and saw her kneeling in prayer in front of the icon of Saint John the Theologian. As soon as she saw me, she ran happily!
"Father, thank you!" she said to me.
At first I thought she was thanking me for my effort. That's why I told her that this was my sacred duty towards God. She then replied that she was thanking me for the monk I sent her and who cured her.
"I didn't send any monk," I replied, "believing that the depression that was tormenting her in combination with the long wait was driving her crazy."
She then said:
"Father, a short time after you left, a tall monk entered the church. He lit the candle that is still burning and kissed the holy icons one by one, making deep prostrations for each one. I didn't speak. After kissing all the holy icons, he looked at me and said:
'Rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ!
'Bless you, my Father,' I said to him and kissed his hand. 'I came to light a candle for Saint John the Theologian, whose feast day is today (May 8).'
We struck up a conversation!
He told me that his name was Anastasios Gordios and that he was a teacher of sacred things and a doctor in the area. As soon as I heard that he was a doctor, I found the opportunity to talk to him about the sadness that was tormenting me. He then began to ask me various things from my life. Now that I mention it to you, my Father, I understand that this monk had a great gift from God. I say this because he mentioned personal events from my childhood that I seemed to have completely forgotten. The conversation made me light-headed. I was getting better and time was passing. Ten minutes ago he left, after first reading me a prayer and giving me to drink every day this herb that he carried with him in his cassock. He also set me a rule, to light the candles of our church in the village every day and to fast for forty days. He also told me to make unleavened bread on Wednesdays and Fridays and to give my children communion every Sunday. He also advised me to thank Christ and our Panagia every day with prayers of thanks. To also address supplications for all my fellow villagers! Moreover to pray for the one who did me great harm when I was a ten-year-old girl…
Ah! I forgot, Father, to tell you that he said that we should read the Psalter with my husband Kostas every day, he told me that you would tell me. From that I concluded that you knew each other. From the moment he left, after he made the sign of the cross over me, I feel completely liberated. The burden I had is gone. I was waiting for you to tell me about the Psalter, because tomorrow I plan to return to Agrinio. I will come as soon as I find a chance with my husband and children to see this great monk and doctor again!"
I was speechless with what I heard. At first, I will not hide from you that I thought that perhaps some monk had come to pay veneration. However, I was wondering why he would use the name of Saint Anastasios Gordios. I happened to be carrying with me a paper image of Saint Anastasios, which I always carried with me as a blessing. I took it out and showed it to her.
"This is the monk, my Father. Are you relatives that you are carrying his photo?" she exclaimed spontaneously. And taking advantage of my speechlessness, she continued.
"Well done, Father, for having such great relatives. Tell me in which church does Anastasios officiate so that I can come with my family and receive communion from his blessed hands!"
"My dear woman, the monk you see is Saint Anastasios Gordios, the great orator, the great philosopher and excellent doctor and man, the teacher of our race and head of the Great School of the Vrangian Race."
"Father, you don't know what you're talking about, it seems to me! It'sprobably someone who would look like him. Is it possible that the Saint gave me these herbs too?"
"And if it was someone else, why did he use the name of Saint Anastasios and even say that he is a teacher and doctor?"
"I don't know, Father, I'm completely lost! What I know and feel is that I got well. However, if it was someone else, besides Saint Anastasios, I still believe that he is a Saint, because he told me many things from my life that I had forgotten... Ah! I forgot to tell you that while this holy monk was inside, the church smelled fragrant! I had the feeling that before he came to the church, he was making incense and I didn't pay attention."
Then I took the herbs that Saint Anastasios gave her in my hands and said to myself: "I didn't know that this herb is good for this job and beats depression!"
"Father, the monk told me that this herb stimulates the appetite. So he recommended that I drink it around ten in the morning as a tea. He also urged me to eat fish once a week, preferably sardines, and to eat lots of oranges and fruit... Also to keep the fasts of the Church and to confess once a week! He gave me lots and lots of advice. Since I didn't realize how quickly time passed."
"Listen, my good woman! Saint Anastasios Gordios was one of the most important doctors of Agrafa. But he was not only a doctor, he was also an orator and a priest! He was not a monk, as you said. Together with Saint Eugenios the Aetolian, they founded many schools. They created the foundations for the liberation of our race. You received a great blessing that you saw Saint Anastasios alive. Also, know that the Psalter he told you to read are the prayers of King David, which we recite daily in church. Upon hearing these prayers, the demons flee."
"My Father, I cannot believe that I saw the Saint you mention! You say I saw a vision?… What can I say? What I know is that I was healed! And these herbs are solid proof that I was not dreaming. And the candle that is burning, he lit it."
"Good… good!" I said.
Then I advised her not to testify to the miracle, because many would not believe her and would make fun of her. Only to her husband and children to say it. She nodded her head in the affirmative. As she left, she asked me when Saint Anastasios Gordios is celebrated. I answered her on June 7 and invited her to come to his feast.
"I will come with my children and my husband!" she said.
Source: Άγιος Αναστάσιος ο Γόρδιος – ο φύλακας Άγγελος και η ψυχή των Αγράφων, Δρ. Χαράλαμπος Μ. Μπούσιας, Διονύσιος Α. Μακρής, εκδ. Αγαθός Λόγος, σελ. 19-25. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
