Synaxis of All the Venerable Russian Saints of the Holy Mountain

 

On May 7/20, the Russian Saint Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos prayerfully commemorates the Synaxis of All the Venerable Russian Saints of the Holy Mountain.

This day for honoring the memory of all the Russian Athonite saints who shone forth on the Holy Mountain was established in 2016 by the Council of Elders of the Panteleimon Monastery, with the blessing of the monastery’s abbot, Schema-Archimandrite Jeremiah (Alekhin), because ancient Russian liturgical tradition assigns to this day the repose of Anthony of Kiev, the “founder of Russian monasticism.”

In addition, on this same day the memory is celebrated of other Russian Athonite saints: Nil Sorsky and Pachomius the Russian. The feast of Nilus the Myrrhgusher is also kept on this day.

Altogether, the Synaxis of All the Venerable Russian Saints of the Holy Mountain includes more than sixty Athonite ascetics glorified at various times by one or another Local Church (the list, which began with over forty saints, is evolving). Some of them were Serbs, Greeks, and Georgians, yet their lives were connected in one way or another with Holy Rus’ or with Russian monasticism on Mount Athos.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate Canonized Two More Romanian Venerable Fathers Who Lived at Prodromou Skete

The Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate canonized on Saturday, October 18, 2025, Hieromonk Niphon Ionescu of Prodromos Holy Skete and Monk Nektarios Cretu.

According to the official announcement, “The Holy Body unanimously decided, following the request of His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania, to include in the Church’s calendar of saints the Hieromonk Niphon and the Monk Nektarios, who lived an ascetic and saintly life on Mount Athos.”

Two other Romanian monks were recently added to the ranks of the saints by the Ecumenical Patriarchate following the proposal of Patriarch Daniel: the Venerable Dionysios (Ignat) of Kolitsou and Petronios (Tănase) of Prodromou.

Two Athonite Elders, Dionysios of Kolitsou and Petronios of Prodromou, Are Canonized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate

The Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate announced the following canonizations of two renowned Athonite Elders of Romanian descent on August 31st 2025:

"The Holy and Sacred Synod continued its work on the 30th and 31st of August 2025, under the presidency of His All-Holiness, having thoroughly examined the considerations of the matters listed in the daily agenda, upon which the appropriate decisions were made...

It also unanimously decided, upon the recommendation of the Canonical Commission, to include in the Church’s Hagiologion those who as ascetics lived a venerable life on Mount Athos: Dionysios of Vatopaidi, who resided at the Sacred Cell of Saint George of Kolitsou, and Hieromonk Petronios, Dikaios of the Sacred Skete of the Honorable Forerunner, under the Sacred Monastery of Great Lavra. The commemoration of the former will be celebrated on May 11th and the latter on February 24th of each year.

Venerable Euthymios and the Twelve Venerable Martyrs of Vatopaidi Monastery (+ 1280)

 

By Monk Moses the Athonite

Venerable Euthymios served as abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery in the second half of the 13th century, at a critical period for the course of the Orthodox Church and Mount Athos. After the Council of Lyons in 1274, where the union of the Churches was supported, the Latin-minded envoys of Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos (1259-1282) and Patriarch John XI Bekkos (1275-1282) wanted to convince the Athonite monks of the heretical dogmas. This happened around 1279/1280. Unfortunately, some researchers dispute the facts and confuse them with later events, attributing them to the Catalans.

Venerable Euthymios “holding fast to the Orthodox traditions, rebuked the Latin-minded.” Therefore, according to Venerable Nikodemos the Hagiorite, “he was bound with chains and drowned by them in the sea of Kalamitsi.” According to Manuel Gedeon, “they tied Euthymios the abbot with chains across the sea at the seaside, called Kalamitsi, and, having placed him on a rocky reef, the remowned one drowned.”

The Feast of the Synaxis of the Venerable Fathers of the Holy Mountain

Mount Athos surpasses all mountains.
On this European land which is called Holy;
Flowers blossomed, on flower-nurtering Athos,
Indeed visibly, among the divine Fathers.
The God-fearing chorus, of Athonite Fathers,
Is praised by the chorus, of Athonite Monastics.
A throng of Athonites, stands round the throne of God.

By Monk Moses the Athonite

 

Mount Athos presents a multifaceted, admirable and respectable history. One of its most beautiful aspects, undoubtedly, is its hagiographical wealth. Athonite hagiology rightly constitutes its primary boast and the greatest praise of an over thousand-year-old presence of monasticism.

The saints of Mount Athos are the loving fathers of the Hagiorites. Our love for them comes from debt and gratitude for their gifts. It is the love of children for guardians, students for teachers. They turned the wildness of the Mountain into a place of calmness, they made the uninhabited place habitable, they turned the desert into a civilization. They became founders of monasteries and gathered close to them multitudes of monks. As long as they lived they were advisers and after their last they became intercessors for all. Monks from different places gathered in one place and took a name. They are followers of the first hesychast Peter, to whom the Mother of God gave him the joyous promise of constant protection of the Mountain. And indeed the Mother of God became a permanent shelter, guardian and physician not only of the saints, but also of all the monks.

Patriarchate of Romania Proposes Four New Saints for Canonization by the Ecumenical Patriarchate

 

 

The Synod of the Metropolis of Muntenia and Dobruja met on May 20th 2024 at the Patriarchal Residence in Bucharest, on which occasion Patriarch Daniel announced that the founders of the Romanian Skete of the Honorable Forerunner (Prodromou) on Mount Athos are proposed to be canonized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate: Nektarios the Protopsaltis and Nephon of Prodromou.

The most important item on the agenda of the meeting was the approval of the liturgical texts that will accompany the canonization proposal of Venerable Nektarios the Protopsaltis to the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

"This Nektarios the Protopsaltis, or Nektarios the Vlach, was one of the greatest Romanian hesychasts who lived on Holy Mount Athos," explained Patriarch Daniel.

"He is generally known and appreciated not only by Romanians from Athos, but also by other residents of other ethnicities, and we also saw receptivity from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, because they also said that he was a great chanter, and he was called The Nightingale of Holy Mount Athos."

Saint Ignatios, Metropolitan of Mariupol (+ 1786)

By Monk Moses the Athonite

He was born at the beginning of the 18th century on the island of Thermi. This is probably Kythnos, in the Cyclades, which was also known as Thermia, because of the healing hot springs there. He was the scion of the well-known and devout Yezedinos family.

As a young man he went to the Holy Mountain, where a relative was a monk at the Monastery of Vatopaidi. Because he loved the monastic state with his whole heart, he abandoned every worldly vanity and was tonsured a monk with the name of Ignatios. Later he was ordained priest.

Because of his virtue, he was invited to be the shepherd of a far away flock, which was under the harsh yoke of the Tartars. In 1769, he was consecrated Bishop of Gothia and Caffa [Готфейский и Кефайский] in the Crimea. He was known as a kind-hearted and indefatigable bishop, who won the love and respect of his downtrodden flock. As a reward for his great service, the Patriarch of Constantinople gave him the title of Archbishop and made him a member of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

The Canonization of Saint Antipas of Calapodesti

Saint Antipas of Calapodesti (also known as Saint Antipas the Athonite or Saint Antipas the Hesychast or Saint Antipas of Valaam), reposed at Valaam Monastery on January 10, 1882. Having previously been a monk of Mount Athos, those who first honored him as a saint were the Russian monks of the Monastery of Saint Panteleimon, who of their own accord listed his name "Cuviosul ieroschimonah Antipa Atonitul" (Venerable Hieroschemamonk Antipas the Athonite) in the Russian Menaion for the month of January (p. 46) under January 10th. This unofficial canonization took place in 1906, a mere 24 years after his repose. This was done because he had a reputation for holiness among the Athonite Russians, especially because of his miracles which took place among the Athonite monks during his lifetime. Many were still alive who knew of his virtues and holiness and miracles, including his disciples. Furthermore, a disciple of Saint Antipas, Hieromonk Pimen (later archimandrite and abbot of the Pafnutiev Borovsky Monastery), wrote a biography of Saint Antipas in Russian right after his repose and which was first printed in 1883, in Saint Petersburg (and republished ten years later, in the same place). No doubt this publication, which was circulated in Russia and Finland, as well as on Mount Athos, added to Saint Antipas' reputation for holiness spreading.

Saint Gerasimos Mikragiannanitis Resource Page

St. Gerasimos the Hymnographer (Feast Day - December 7)

Verses

Rejoicing with the Saints, hymnographer of the Saints,
Gerasimos, adorner of the Holy Mountain.

 

Life and Veneration

 

Synaxarion of our Venerable Father Gerasimos Mikragiannanitis

 

Saint Gerasimos Mikragiannanitis as a Model for our Lives

 

How the Greatest and Most Prolific Hymnographer of the Orthodox Church in the 20th Century Received His Talent 

 

A Stunning Revelation About Saint John the Baptist to Saint Gerasimos Mikragiannanitis

 

“The Honorable Forerunner is Gentle, Lovely, Exceedingly Beautiful” 

Saint Gerasimos Mikragiannanitis Explains His Process In Composing Orthodox Hymns

 

Elder Gerasimos Mikragiannanitis and Ecumenical Patriarch Jeremiah I Have Been Canonized By the Ecumenical Patriarchate

 

The First Parish Church of Saint Gerasimos the Hymnographer Established in Congo

 

The First Festal Celebration of Saint Gerasimos Mikragiannanitis in his Chapels in Beroea and Naousa

 

The First Chapel Dedicated to Saint Gerasimos Mikragiannanitis is Consecrated

Writings and Compositions

 

The Swan Song of Saint Gerasimos Mikragiannanitis 

 

Synaxarion of Saint Nicholas Cabasilas

 

Synaxarion of our Venerable Father Parthenios of Chios 

 

Synaxarion of Saint Lydia of Philippi  

Synaxarion of the Holy Venerable Martyrs Olympia and Euphrosyne of Karyes

 

Synaxarion of the Translation of the Relics of Saint Nektarios the Wonderworker

 

Synaxarion of the Finding of the Relics of the Venerable Neophytos the Recluse of Cyprus  

Synaxis of Panagia Glykophilousa at Philotheou Monastery

 

The Sacred Icon of the Panagia in Plikati of Konitsa  

 

The Service of Small Vespers to Saint Isaac the Syrian  

Hymns to Saint Methodia of Kimolos

 

 

Saint Hieronymos of Simonopetra and the Miraculous Left Hand of Saint Mary Magdalene

 

There are many letters in the archive of the Monastery of Simonopetra of Mount Athos, where metropolises and communities of Macedonia and Asia Minor beg the fathers to come with the sacred relic of the incorrupt left hand of Saint Magdalene.

There are also many letters of thanks that mention miracles of the Saint.

After conducting a sanctification of the waters and doing a procession with the sacred relic, the locusts disappeared from the fields.

In these missions, the sacred relic was often accompanied by our Holy Father Hieronymos Simonopetritis.

Elder Gerasimos Mikragiannanitis and Ecumenical Patriarch Jeremiah I Have Been Canonized By the Ecumenical Patriarchate

Today, the 10th of January 2023, the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate made the decision to register Elder Gerasimos Mikragiannanitis and Ecumenical Patriarch Jeremiah I in the list of saints of the Orthodox Church.