The commemoration of the Holy Martyr Leonides and his seven female disciples, who were also glorified as saints because of their martyrdom, is celebrated on April 16.
In 1917 their relics were discovered in the region of Nea Epidavros (Nea Epidaurus), and they have been placed in a silver reliquary and constitute a place of pilgrimage in the Church of Saint Leonides there.
The beginning of the revelation of the Church of Saint Leonides took place on April 12, 1898, after a vision seen at dawn on that day by seventeen-year-old Ioannis Georgiou Bimpis. In the vision, the Most Holy Theotokos appeared — clothed in black yet radiant — with the Divine Infant in her arms, at the very spot where the church stands today, and she instructed him to dig in that place and he would find an invaluable treasure.
After recounting the vision to his family and praying, the young man took a hoe and, at sunrise, went to the place indicated by the Panagia.
At that time, the land was an uncultivated, bushy pasture, between two roads that still exist today, though then they were narrow and unpaved. After praying, he began to dig, and with the first blows, as the sun was rising, a gilded Byzantine triptych icon was revealed.
On its left and right panels were six Apostles each, and in the center of the triptych was depicted the Most Holy Theotokos with the Divine Infant, exactly as he had seen her in the vision.
In the year 1903, Ioannis Bimpis departed for the United States, taking the sacred icon with him. He died in 1916 in a foreign land without having a family, and the icon was lost along with his personal belongings.
Some years after the discovery of the icon, his mother, Stamatina, would periodically see in her sleep a calm, middle-aged man with an ascetic and peaceful appearance, dressed in a brown robe and holding a staff. With a gentle voice, he would ask where the icon of the Theotokos was.
In 1917 their relics were discovered in the region of Nea Epidavros (Nea Epidaurus), and they have been placed in a silver reliquary and constitute a place of pilgrimage in the Church of Saint Leonides there.
The beginning of the revelation of the Church of Saint Leonides took place on April 12, 1898, after a vision seen at dawn on that day by seventeen-year-old Ioannis Georgiou Bimpis. In the vision, the Most Holy Theotokos appeared — clothed in black yet radiant — with the Divine Infant in her arms, at the very spot where the church stands today, and she instructed him to dig in that place and he would find an invaluable treasure.
After recounting the vision to his family and praying, the young man took a hoe and, at sunrise, went to the place indicated by the Panagia.
At that time, the land was an uncultivated, bushy pasture, between two roads that still exist today, though then they were narrow and unpaved. After praying, he began to dig, and with the first blows, as the sun was rising, a gilded Byzantine triptych icon was revealed.
On its left and right panels were six Apostles each, and in the center of the triptych was depicted the Most Holy Theotokos with the Divine Infant, exactly as he had seen her in the vision.
In the year 1903, Ioannis Bimpis departed for the United States, taking the sacred icon with him. He died in 1916 in a foreign land without having a family, and the icon was lost along with his personal belongings.
Some years after the discovery of the icon, his mother, Stamatina, would periodically see in her sleep a calm, middle-aged man with an ascetic and peaceful appearance, dressed in a brown robe and holding a staff. With a gentle voice, he would ask where the icon of the Theotokos was.
In 1917, the then Metropolitan of Argolis, Athanasios Laskaris, visited Nea Epidavros. Stamatina’s son, Antonios, described to him in detail the story of the discovery of the icon and his mother’s visions. The Metropolitan, after listening with great attention, instructed him — together with the priests of the Church of the Evangelistria, Evangelos Kalantzis and Elias Oikonomou, and the church wardens — to carry out an excavation beneath the spot where the icon of the Theotokos had been found.
Indeed, on May 20, 1917, after the ringing of all the church bells, the priests, the wardens, the chanters, and a large crowd of the people of Nea Epidavros gathered at the sacred place.
The excavation work was undertaken by Antonios Bimpis, Lazaros Kaperonis, and Stylianos Klonis. At a depth of about half a meter, a tomb appeared, with a carved sarcophagus of Corinthian style, with various small shell-like fragments attached to it, which are preserved to this day. The sarcophagus was covered with unworked stone slabs measuring 30 × 40 cm. When these were removed, seven skulls and many bones, all pure white, were revealed, which were carefully placed on a clean sheet.
Approximately in the middle of the sarcophagus there was a second layer of similar slabs. When these were removed, beneath them appeared the complete skeleton of a man, with all the members of his body fully joined together, white as snow, with the lower jaw twisted toward the left side and the hands crossed. As all the surviving witnesses recall, abundant myrrh began to flow from the sarcophagus, the fragrance of which filled the area for many weeks.
The son of Lazaros Kaperonis, Nestor, while continuing to dig carefully around the sarcophagus, uncovered an old clay vessel, broken in half and covered at the top. This finding was evidence of the consecration of an ancient church, within which the sarcophagus had been placed. But with the passage of more than seventeen centuries since its construction, the old church had been destroyed — either by earthquake, or by barbarian invasions, or by some other cause — and only a few ruins remained of that former chapel.
The next day after the discovery of the sarcophagus, the two aforementioned priests, together with the wardens of the Church of the Evangelistria, went to Nafplio and met the Metropolitan of Argolis, Athanasios Laskaris, to whom they recounted in detail everything that had occurred. The Metropolitan visited the site the following day, accompanied by priests, chanters, those who had contributed to the uncovering of the relics, and a large crowd. He chanted a Trisagion service, and after detailed examination and study, confirmed that these were indeed the skeletons of Saints. Having also studied various written sources, traditions, and lives of the Saints, he demonstrated that this was the tomb of Saint Leonides and the seven holy women whose names are Vasilissa, Harissa, Theodora, Galini, Kallis, Nike, and Nounechia.
Further detailed research was also carried out by the later Metropolitan of Argolis, Chrysostomos II of Argolis, in the year 1958, who, through study of the great synaxaria (the biographies of Saints), confirmed the life of Saint Leonides and the seven holy women.
Indeed, on May 20, 1917, after the ringing of all the church bells, the priests, the wardens, the chanters, and a large crowd of the people of Nea Epidavros gathered at the sacred place.
The excavation work was undertaken by Antonios Bimpis, Lazaros Kaperonis, and Stylianos Klonis. At a depth of about half a meter, a tomb appeared, with a carved sarcophagus of Corinthian style, with various small shell-like fragments attached to it, which are preserved to this day. The sarcophagus was covered with unworked stone slabs measuring 30 × 40 cm. When these were removed, seven skulls and many bones, all pure white, were revealed, which were carefully placed on a clean sheet.
Approximately in the middle of the sarcophagus there was a second layer of similar slabs. When these were removed, beneath them appeared the complete skeleton of a man, with all the members of his body fully joined together, white as snow, with the lower jaw twisted toward the left side and the hands crossed. As all the surviving witnesses recall, abundant myrrh began to flow from the sarcophagus, the fragrance of which filled the area for many weeks.
The son of Lazaros Kaperonis, Nestor, while continuing to dig carefully around the sarcophagus, uncovered an old clay vessel, broken in half and covered at the top. This finding was evidence of the consecration of an ancient church, within which the sarcophagus had been placed. But with the passage of more than seventeen centuries since its construction, the old church had been destroyed — either by earthquake, or by barbarian invasions, or by some other cause — and only a few ruins remained of that former chapel.
The next day after the discovery of the sarcophagus, the two aforementioned priests, together with the wardens of the Church of the Evangelistria, went to Nafplio and met the Metropolitan of Argolis, Athanasios Laskaris, to whom they recounted in detail everything that had occurred. The Metropolitan visited the site the following day, accompanied by priests, chanters, those who had contributed to the uncovering of the relics, and a large crowd. He chanted a Trisagion service, and after detailed examination and study, confirmed that these were indeed the skeletons of Saints. Having also studied various written sources, traditions, and lives of the Saints, he demonstrated that this was the tomb of Saint Leonides and the seven holy women whose names are Vasilissa, Harissa, Theodora, Galini, Kallis, Nike, and Nounechia.
Further detailed research was also carried out by the later Metropolitan of Argolis, Chrysostomos II of Argolis, in the year 1958, who, through study of the great synaxaria (the biographies of Saints), confirmed the life of Saint Leonides and the seven holy women.
The Reconstruction of the Holy Church
After the discovery of the sarcophagus, and with the consent and blessing of the Metropolitan, a fundraising committee was appointed, consisting of Antonios G. Bimpis, Konstantinos Christodoulou (a physician), Spyridon Papargyris, and Spyridon Tetradis. This committee undertook the construction of a church dedicated to Saint Leonides.
Saint Leonides lived in the 3rd century AD, and his missionary activity extended throughout the region of Troezen as far as the plain (modern Nea Epidavros), within the boundaries of the ancient episcopal district of “Damala, Fanari, and Pediada.” At that time, Nea Epidavros was called Pediada.
When he was arrested, on Great Saturday of the year 250 AD, he was the leader of a choir of women who were chanting during the services before Pascha.
After their arrest, they were led to the Roman governor of Corinth, the proconsul Venustus, during the time of persecutions against Christians. Knowing of their activity, he attempted to persuade them to deny Christ and to sacrifice to the twelve gods of Olympus. The Saints refused and, with one voice, boldly declared that they were Christians.
Then the governor ordered Leonides to be hung upon a wooden frame and his body to be torn apart with iron claws until death, hoping that, seeing this dreadful torture, the young women who were his companions would lose courage and worship his gods. But the opposite happened. Instead of being afraid, the young women showed courage, were strengthened even more, and, led by Harissa, declared that they too would remain faithful to Christ unto death.
Seeing that they were not persuaded and remained steadfast in their faith, the governor ordered the executioners to tie each of them to a stone and cast them into the sea. Thus, after they were placed on a ship and taken away from the shore, they were thrown into the sea together with the dead Leonides. The order was carried out, and the Holy Martyrs delivered their souls to God and received the unfading crown of martyrdom.
After the discovery of the sarcophagus, and with the consent and blessing of the Metropolitan, a fundraising committee was appointed, consisting of Antonios G. Bimpis, Konstantinos Christodoulou (a physician), Spyridon Papargyris, and Spyridon Tetradis. This committee undertook the construction of a church dedicated to Saint Leonides.
Saint Leonides lived in the 3rd century AD, and his missionary activity extended throughout the region of Troezen as far as the plain (modern Nea Epidavros), within the boundaries of the ancient episcopal district of “Damala, Fanari, and Pediada.” At that time, Nea Epidavros was called Pediada.
When he was arrested, on Great Saturday of the year 250 AD, he was the leader of a choir of women who were chanting during the services before Pascha.
After their arrest, they were led to the Roman governor of Corinth, the proconsul Venustus, during the time of persecutions against Christians. Knowing of their activity, he attempted to persuade them to deny Christ and to sacrifice to the twelve gods of Olympus. The Saints refused and, with one voice, boldly declared that they were Christians.
Then the governor ordered Leonides to be hung upon a wooden frame and his body to be torn apart with iron claws until death, hoping that, seeing this dreadful torture, the young women who were his companions would lose courage and worship his gods. But the opposite happened. Instead of being afraid, the young women showed courage, were strengthened even more, and, led by Harissa, declared that they too would remain faithful to Christ unto death.
Seeing that they were not persuaded and remained steadfast in their faith, the governor ordered the executioners to tie each of them to a stone and cast them into the sea. Thus, after they were placed on a ship and taken away from the shore, they were thrown into the sea together with the dead Leonides. The order was carried out, and the Holy Martyrs delivered their souls to God and received the unfading crown of martyrdom.
Apolytikion of Saint Leonides
Having you as a great champion, O Leonides, Epidaurus is not afraid of the snares of Belial. For you overthrew the reverence of idols and boldly confessed Christ. Together with the wise women, O all-blessed one, fervently entreat Him to grant us His great mercy.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
