Words of Faith from Saint Kallinikos of Edessa

By Fr. Elias Makos

On the occasion of the transfer of the relics of Saint Kallinikos, Metropolitan of Edessa, Pella and Almopia, we offer below a few characteristic excerpts from the dozens of his encyclicals during the 17 years of his pastorate were collected, which show that he knew well that the present is at our disposal, while the future belongs to God. That is why he was constantly prayerful, attentive and vigilant.

The encyclicals (1967-1984) of Saint Kallinikos (published in 2004 in a single volume by the Metropolis of Edessa), reveal not only his way of thinking, but also his way of life, which aimed at nothing other than how his soul would be spiritually advanced, in order to hear, as he did, the voice of its Lord: "Enter into the joy of your Lord."

His purpose was not small and ordinary, but great, supreme and most holy. It was to progress, with the power and grace of God, in virtue and illumination.

He often repeated that while we have time, we should not forget the elementary truth, that we are not eternally in this world, but temporarily, very temporarily.

Commemorating the 40 Year Anniversary Since the Repose of Saint Kallinikos, Metropolitan of Edessa (1984-2024)

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The two days of August 7-8 that we are passing through will mark forty years (1984-2024) since the final repose of a venerable Metropolitan, Saint Kallinikos the Metropolitan of Edessa, Pella and Almopia. He reposed late on the night of August 7th to August 8th and his canonization was done by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 2020.

Before his canonization, he was revered as a saint by many people. In fact, three Metropolitans of the Church of Greece bear his name. They are the Metropolitans Kallinikos of Arta, Kallinikos of Paronaxia, Kallinikos of Kastoria, and many others who knew him called him a saint and witnessed his miracles.

Today and tomorrow they will celebrate his memory in many parts of Greece and outside it, because they have personal memories, in many temples there are frescoes and portable icons and they have portions of his sacred relics, and many tell of his miraculous interventions with the energy of God, because "God is wondrous in His saints."

Saint Gervasios of Patras According to Saint Kallinikos of Edessa

Saint Gervasios of Patras According to Saint Kallinikos of Edessa

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The first feast of Saint Gervasios of Patras brought me memories of the stories of my Elder, Saint Kallinikos Metropolitan of Edessa, Pelle and Almopia about him. He often told me about his life and conduct. He met him as Chancellor of the Sacred Archdiocese of Athens, when he was a student, and then from his ministry in Patras from two sides.

First, from his close friend Spyridon Tsantilis, later Father Hierotheos, Chancellor of the Sacred Metropolis of Patras and later Metropolitan of Hydra. They were friends as laypeople and together they discussed their induction into the Priesthood. Father Hierotheos had a spiritual father, Father Gervasios, and this was the reason why he also got to know him.

Secondly, his sister lived in Patras with her family who were connected to Saint Gervasios and heard a lot about his missionary activity.

Thus, he attended his funeral service as Chancellor of the Sacred Metropolis of Aetolia and Acarnania and spoke eloquently about him interpreting the saying "the tall oak has fallen".

A Church Founded by Saint Kallinikos of Edessa in 1973 is Consecrated in His Name

On Sunday, November 12, 2023, in Perikleia of Almopia, the first parish church of the Sacred Metropolis of Edessa, Pelli and Almopia dedicated to Saint Kallinikos of Edessa, who was a former Metropolitan of the region and reposed in 1984, was consecrated.

The consecration ceremony was conducted by two spiritual children of Saint Kallinikos, Metropolitan Joel of Edessa and Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos. The Divine Liturgy was presided over by Metropolitan Hierotheos, with Metropolitan Joel as his co-liturgist.

In his sermon, the Metropolitan of Nafpaktos expressed his gratitude to God for his participation in the consecration of this temple and thanked the Metropolitan of Edessa for the invitation.

My Elder Saint Kallinikos, Metropolitan of Edessa (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos) - 5 of 5

...continued from part three.
 
5. Facing His Illness in a Venerable and Martyric Way

The last point I would like to emphasize is how he dealt with his illness.

Fifteen years with him, I knew him like no one else. Therefore, even if there are some who say different things, possibly some of his shortcomings (after all, no saint is perfect), for all this you must ask me, since I knew him better than anyone else in all his fullness.

There is a proverb, a quote that says: "No one is great before their chamberlain," that is, for the one who often takes care of him, no one is great, because they knows all his faults. The opposite happened with Kallinikos. The farther you were, the more you didn't understand him, while the closer you got to him, the more you saw the greatness of his personality.

During his illness, all this inner depth that he himself tried to hide came out. He was not hiding himself and his inner life appeared, it manifested also when he spoke and when he liturgized and when he preached and when he was going to a house to see the people and when he went to the hospital to visit the sick, but those who did not have spiritual eyes to see were not able to see it. But this depth of his inner life shone much more during his illness.

My Elder Saint Kallinikos, Metropolitan of Edessa (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos) - 4 of 5

...continued from part three.

 
4. His Pastoral Activity as Bishop

I will now tell you about his pastoral activity as Bishop and Metropolitan of the Sacred Metropolis of Edessa, Pelle and Almopia, which I got to know very well, since I was the closest person to him.

He was a tireless shepherd and was always interested in his flock.

The basis of his entire pastoral ministry was the mystery of the Divine Eucharist, that is, he wanted to constantly perform, if possible, the Divine Liturgy every day. He used to say that "the divine liturgy is our party." He planned to go to the villages two or three times a week, even when there was no saint being celebrated, because he wanted to minister and see his flock. He left early in the morning to be at 7 o'clock in the most remote village, even when it was snowing. I remember a case where a lot of snow fell and he said: "We will go to liturgize in the village." There was half a meter of snow and he left Edessa in a military car to go liturgize and not leave people unliturgized.

My Elder Saint Kallinikos, Metropolitan of Edessa (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos) - 3 of 5

...continued from part two.

3. An Ascetic Presbyter

Continuing from the previous point we will see that he was indeed an ascetic Presbyter. He was ordained Deacon and Presbyter in 1957, and I met him two years later, in 1959, when I was a student in Agrinio. When he became a Presbyter he lived an ascetic life, he was also an ascetic Presbyter and continued to live an ascetic life as a Bishop. That is, he prayed constantly to God, he lived with asceticism, with fasting, with prayer, with temperance, but at the same time a great joy came out of his being, like that which the saints have, like that which Saint Seraphim of Sarov had, who, when he met someone, would say "Christ is risen, my joy!" One felt the same when meeting Saint Kallinikos.

He lived ascetically to the point where, when he finished his military service, in 1948, he went to Messolonghi and for twenty years until he became a Bishop, he lived in a small room, as his relatives remember, his older nephews, one of whom today is a retired lieutenant general. In fact he had the cot that he had taken from the army and for twenty years he slept in it. And he had the desire, when he became Metropolitan in Edessa, to take this cot with him to sleep in it. But his brother, before the enthronement, replaced it with a simple iron bed. Otherwise, he did not change his ascetic life at all, as his brothers said: "What changed with Kallinikos when from a Presbyter he became a Bishop? Simply that he went from the cot to a simple iron bed."

My Elder Saint Kallinikos, Metropolitan of Edessa (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos) - 2 of 5

...continued from part one.

2. An Hagiorite at Heart

To get away from the personal, I must say that Saint Kallinikos was an Hagiorite at heart. He had not been to the Holy Mountain since he was young, he had not become a monk in the Holy Mountain, he became a monk in a Sacred Monastery of the Sacred Metropolis of Aetolia and Acarnania. Since he was a small child, he grew up near Thermos, near the places where Saint Kosmas Aitolos was born and grew up, that is why he loved Saint Kosmas Aitolos and spoke very often about him.

In his village at that time there were no Catechetical Schools, he himself did not participate in Catechetical Schools, in the so-called Christian Groups, he did not join this perspective, but he grew up in the church of his Parish, he was a child of his Parish. This is because his grandfather Papa-Thanasis, a pious Priest, was the Vicar of the sacred church in Sitaralona in Aetoloakarnania, near Thermos. Near him he lived this inner life of the Church, in the Sacred Bema, at the Analogion, in the Sacred Services.

My Elder Saint Kallinikos, Metropolitan of Edessa (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos) - 1 of 5

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

With the opportunity of today's feast of our Holy Father Kallinikos, Metropolitan of Edessa, the Wonderworker, I am publishing a transcribed speech that I did in the context of "Demetria 2020" at the parish of Saint Demetrios in Brahami of the Sacred Archdiocese of Athens.

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The topic of the speech will be, as I was given, "My Elder Saint Kallinikos, Metropolitan of Edessa."

I knew him for about 20 years from my teenage years and then after graduating from theological school, I went to him in Edessa and stayed with him until the last moment of his life, when I closed his eyes.

I have written hundreds of pages about him, but in this speech I will emphasize a few vivid points.