Saint Spiridion
The Patron Saint of the Corfiots
(11 August)
Saint Spiridion was born in Tremithous in Cyprus in 270 AD. Son of a
poor family, he had no education and earned his living as a shepherd. After
the death of his beloved wife, he dedicated himself to the church and eventually
rose to the Bishop of Tremithous. Maximinian persecutions he was arrested
and exiled. He lived and died in Cyprus, working miracles all his life.
When the Saracens took the island, the Cypriots opened his grave in order
to remove his sacred bones to Costantinople.
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They found that his body had remained intact, while from the grave emanated
a scent of basil, rtrue signs of the sainthood he had shown during his
life. When Costantinople fell in 1453, a Corfiot elder, Georgios Kalohairetis,
brought him to Corfu, where his three children acquired the Saint as an
heirloom. The sacred remains then passed as the dowry of his doughter Asimia
into the possession of the Voulgaris family, who placed them in their private
church (which was located on the site of the Pallas Cinema).
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The Saint was transferred to his present church when, during the fortification
of the town, the original church was demolished.
The Holy Relics of the Saint go out on parade to commemorate the occasions
when he saved the island from various disasters – deliverances interpreted
as miraculous interventions by the Saint. As a result, he is considered
to be the island’s Protector, and his miracles are celebrated with four
annual processions. |
| The first, on Palm Sunday,
commemorates the deliverance in 1630 of the island from a deadly plague,
and takes place with the participation of all the island’s philharmonic
orchestras. The procession sets out from the Saint’s own church at 11 in
the morning and follows the line of the old town walls, from where the
Saint drove out the disease. |
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The second and oldest procession was estabilished in 1550 and
takes place every Holy Sunday, in thanks for the relief of the island from
famine. This procession traditionally takes place on Easter Saturday starting
at 9 in the morning. |
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The third commemorates the Saint’s intervention in saving the
island from plague a second time, and is held on the first Sunday in November. |
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On August 11, the fourth procession take place, in memory of
the deliverance of the island from the Turks after the month-long siege
of Faith in Saint Spiridion involves many special features with no equivalent
in classic Christianity. A retrospective look at the historical and social
reality of the time will help us understand the reasons for this great
idolatry. |
| While Saints Jason and Sosipatros, disciples of Saint Paul, first taught
Christianity on the island as early as the 1st century, it was not until
four or five centuries later that people in outlying areas were converted.
But even then, difficult living conditions did not leave much room for
them to assimilate Christian dogmas. |
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When they learned of the appearance of Saint Spiridion on the island,
and of the miracles he had worked, they started to visit town to worship
him and leave small dedications. Out of the protection of the town walls,
they suffered raids and conquests, and their hardships made them feel helpless.
Only one force stood above all others, a force which represented their
own restricted powers, a force which could know and understand them and
thus could defend and protect them. Their Saint.
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Local faith in Saint Spiridion incorporates the belief that he is a
holy man, who really lives in a church in Corfu Town near the people, and
he can see them, can feel their pain, and come to their aid. He could drive
away the Turks, save them from cholera, and bring them grain to eat, so
today the people offer him decorated slippers, that he will walk with them,
invisible but all-powerful, their protector. |
| If in the 15th century he was a Cypriot, today he is a Corfiot, the
Saint of the Corfiots. The peasants’ constant prayers to him when the Venetian
overlords snatched their bread, when the Turks and the pirates took the
their lives, created an intimate relationship like that of a child and
father. They say: “We have Spiro to mind us, and we fear nothing”. Thus
a Corfiot is permitted to blaspheme in the name of the Saint, while a stranger
can only pay homage to him. |
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For any information
or reservation write to:Vincent
Soueref
0030.26610.35909(uffic)
0030.26610.93209(FAX)
 0030.6977.292182(cell)
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