By Fr. Elias Makos
With Vespers on the eve, as well as a vigil in the Church of Saint Michael, as well as a Divine Liturgy on the feast day in the chapel in his honor in the Cathedral of Saint Demetrios, the memory of the local Venerable Martyr Nikodemos was honored in Berat, Albania.
The faithful had the opportunity to venerate the skull of Saint Nikodemos and receive cotton from his sacred lips as a blessing.
When the Saint was beheaded on July 11th 1722, Christians gave money to the Turks and received his relics, which they placed in the Church of the Panagia.
In 1815, the silversmiths of Berat made a silver case for the Saint's head.
During the Greco-Italian War, when the road outside the Church of the Panagia was opened to allow cars to pass, and it was converted into a chapel, his head was placed in the Church of Saint Michael, while the rest of the relics remained in the Church of the Panagia.
His skull was housed in the Church of Saint Michael until 1967, when the persecution of the faith officially began.
To protect herself, the doctor Lili Kotsi hid it at the time as a precious treasure in the wall of her house.
On July 10, 1991, after the atheist regime had fallen, Lili Kotsi's son revealed the skull of the Saint.
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Saint Nikodemos, although he converted from a Christian to a Muslim, finally found the true path of God, managing through repentance to transcend the forms of the world.
He escaped from his passions and attained holiness, highlighting the will of God as his priority.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
