The Miracles of Saint Spyridon

A pious Christian who loved Spyridon, as well as truth, very much, reported the following: he had gone to the tomb of the Saint on December 12, his feast day, in order to meet him, as he did when he was alive, and to venerate him. “When I came closer and started to concentrate, I felt such divine consolation overcoming me and penetrating my heart that I fell into an ecstasy, entirely turned toward the beauties of Heaven. Forgetting all earthly things, even my own body, I remained mute and dumbfounded. I did not speak to anyone, and although I had an empty stomach, I did not feel either hungry or thirsty the whole day, but only partook of the Holy Body and Blood of the Lord.”

The same man went again to Trimythous on the day of Saint Spyridon. As he was prostrating and embracing the relic case with the relic⁴ of the Saint, his heart was so filled with light and his soul flooded with joy, that it gave him as it were a foretaste of heavenly goods that are in store for the saints. Then he went to the market to buy some furniture as well as clothes for the poor and the needy, because it was winter and the weather was cold. Then, after he had arranged all this, he got ready to return to his own country where an urgent need was calling him, when, suddenly, some clouds banked up, announcing that torrential rain was going to fall. This brave man was at a loss to know whether he should start his journey of return in such bad weather and expose his load to the rain? He took refuge in hope: loading the furniture and the clothes on the beasts of burden, he ran to the church of the Saint. There, prostrating before the relic case, he embraced the Saint, as if he were alive, and entreated him to be his companion in his journey and a sure guide for him and for his escort, to facilitate their journey and to hold back the rain as well as the violent wind. After his prayer was finished, he left Trimythous. Saint Spyridon was with him throughout the whole journey invisibly, as a companion in his travel, just as he had supplicated for it, but in a visible form as well! The wind was blowing and the clouds were banking up, but the rain was as if it was hanging over them: one could say the power of the Saint held it back and prevented it from pouring out.

When the man reached home, the Saint disappeared immediately. The heart of the traveler was illuminated once more with an unspeakable light and filled with joy – as if the Saint had touched his heart and had given him his own јoy and elation. As soon as Saint Spyridon became invisible once more and the traveler got into his house, a pelting rain started to fall, which persisted for three days. This time, the Saint had removed the difficulties of his journey, but another time he delivered him from a heavy sorrow.

It was the feast day of Saint Spyridon, but this brave Christian could not go to the tomb of the Saint in order to venerate him, as he used to every year, and this seemed to him a real misfortune. He supplicated the Saint, then, not to deprive him of the consolation nor of the grace that he usually granted him on this day. Moreover, what happened? No sooner had he finished his prayer, than it seemed to him that he was in Saint Spyridon’s church. At the same time, he sensed the presence of the Saint, light and sweetness, embrace him as usual. It seemed to him that Saint Spyridon had entered the church with him and remained present during the whole service. Then he blessed the people and disappeared.

I have not really mentioned all the miracles of the Saint, but the ones that have been mentioned are enough for the friends of virtue. Nobody can say how Saint Spyridon helps those who ask for it in prayer every day, except those who benefit from his miracles and his grace every day. We should not, however, frustrate the pious Christians, after all! If somebody wonders where this shower of miracles due to Saint Spyridon comes from and for which virtues Christ has granted him such graces, let him know that all virtues, as if of one accord, have been concentrated in the person of Saint Spyridon and that he has become a model of life which is perfect in Christ. However, he distinguished himself among the others by this: his extreme humility and modesty. He, who surpassed almost all those who were judged worthy to accomplish miracles, considered himself a vile and sinful man.

His miracles were commensurate to his virtues. May God grant us, too, to acquire some of his virtues! I do not say all, because it is almost impossible. With his help, let us imitate him in order to enjoy, we as well, the goods that have been prepared for him, by the Grace and Love of Our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom belongs glory, honour and worship, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always and in the ages of ages.

AMEN

God, who preserves intact the bones of the Just in testimony and strengthening of the Orthodox faith and as an eternal sign of their virtue, preserved intact the relic of Saint Spyridon, in spite of the unchanging laws of nature. For “when God so wishes, the order of nature is overcome”.

Sanctified by God, his relic received, mainly under the earth and afterwards on the earth, the honour and veneration of all the Orthodox. It was honoured above all by the Christians of the imperial city, who venerated every day this precious relic with piety. When the relic of the Saint was exposed for veneration, the emperors themselves were present in the service – according to the doxasticon of the Vespers.

After the painful capture of Constantinople, a pious resident of Corfu, named Kalochairetis, transported the relic of the Saint to Corfu and he deposed it in a magnificent church. After he became a priest, he celebrated the Eucharist there every day. After the relic of Saint Spyridon was deposed in this church, multiple healing and miracles took place by power of the Holy Spirit. Filled with wonder by these events, the people of Corfu rushed up with piety every day to the church of the Saint to give thanks for having received such treasure and having been judged worthy by the Divine Providence to possess such a patron for their town. When the town of Corfu was renovated and reconstructed somewhere else, the priests constructed another church dedicated to Saint Spyridon. Thanks to the rich donations coming from the people and to the precious offerings, this church became splendid. The relic case containing the relic of the Saint, placed in a prominent position, is glorified by multiple miracles, and Spyridon the Wonderworker astounds all the people by the miracles he has accomplished since his death.

When the island of Corfu was deprived of the means of subsistence and suffered famine, Saint Spyridon supplied it with wheat by boats: indeed, on Holy Saturday he appeared to the masters of the crew and informed them about the necessity in which the island was. In this way, thanks to the intervention of the Saint, the afflicted island celebrated Easter with joy and splendour.

A certain Theodore, a merchant who had come from the Orient, had become totally blind. With an ardent faith, he hastened to the church of the Saint and recovered his sight.

A deadly epidemic struck Corfu and all the inhabitants were taking refuge in the church of Saint Spyridon. Among them, there were many people contaminated and, according to the laws of nature, the town would be destroyed by the epidemic. However, thanks to the intercession of Saint Spyridon, this people with their profound faith suffered almost nothing and rapidly recovered their health.

Who would not marvel to know that the people who had fallen down from the church tower, where out of devotion for the Saint, they had audaciously climbed, in order to extinguish the fire that had been caught there, did not suffer anything?

Saint Spyridon gave back the sight to two blind rowers who had been dismissed from the Venetian fleet because of their disability. All those who were witnesses of this miracle were greatly impressed and exclaimed, “Great is Spyridon, the patron of Corfu!”

One day an aristocrat was making vain and stupid remarks and was mocking a child, who, suffering from an incurable disease, was thrown under the relic case containing the relic of the Saint, at the time of the procession. Corfu actually kept the old tradition of processions with the relic of Saint Spyridon, as they do with the icons. Moreover, this noble was mocking at the child’s parents who were supplicating the Saint, crying. However, divine justice soon reached him. At the same instant, a cannon blew up and took out his right eye – something to which many testified. After this, he manifested his repentance by passing whole nights in tearful prayer in the church of the Saint.

About 1673, an infectious disease was decimating the inhabitants of the whole island, for the second time that year! Saint Spyridon halted the disease, though, and healed all those who had been affected. This was a great miracle on July 13, the day on which the miracle of the healing of the blind Theodore was celebrated, to see people, who were half-dead, suddenly recover health. In addition, on Palm Sunday, the day of the great annual procession with the relic of the Saint, the plague had stopped.

After the conquest of the Peloponese, while the Venetians and the Ottomans were in a state of war, it seemed sensible to the daring general of the impious Turks to try and seize hold of Corfu. Moreover, on June 24 1716, the Turks attacked and besieged the town by land and by sea. A cruel battle started. Fire and arms oppressed the town and its inhabitants. After violent battles which lasted 50 days, the Turks decided to concentrate their forces before launching a new offensive. All the Christians, however, supplicated Saint Spyridon with tears and groaning. Moreover, when the Turkish army returned to attack the fortress of Corfu, by the prayers of the Saint, the majority of their troops were destroyed and dispersed. After this defeat, the Turks became even more cruel and avid to murder. The menace of a new incursion, of a fatal captivity and of death, was hanging over the town, but the Christians did not cease to address prayers and supplications to their “Father”, imploring his protection with great faith. The intention of the Ottomans failed this time, too: while the people of Corfu were expecting the destruction of their town, our Father, the Great Spyridon, appeared to the enemies at dawn in company with an innumerable heavenly army. With a sword glittering in his right hand, he chased the Turks with anger. At the sight of this marvel, the Turkish soldiers immediately dispersed in confusion, believing that they had received an invisible thrashing. They ran away without combat, fire, or sword, but conquered by fear: nobody, indeed, chased them, but only the invisible power of God, our Saviour, by the ardent prayers of Spyridon the Wonderworker!

After the Turkish infantry and cavalry had taken flight, the fleet weighed anchor. Corfu then remained free. In the morning, while the inhabitants were awaiting the usual fight, they did not see anyone anymore: everything was calm and silent. They approached the tents of the enemies with curiosity and realised the miracle. Thrilled with exhilaration, they rejoiced over this extraordinary event: the Turks had definitely gone! Moreover, they seized hold of their spoils. As for the Turks, they openly confessed that they were forced to flee in disorder at the sight of a venerable monk – Saint Spyridon – who appeared in the sky in company with a glorious celestial army. All the people of Corfu then rushed up to the church of the Saint to give thanks to God and thank the holy hierarch. Recognizing Saint Spyridon as the liberator of the island and the protector of the Christian armies, the Venetian aristocracy,  with gratitude, immediately sent a silver candelabra for the church of the Saint and decided that every year, on August 11, the day of the liberation of the island, a procession would take place with the relic of the Saint, who had accomplished such wonders.

Because of this miracle, Andrew Pizanis, the admiral the Venetian fleet and governor of Corfu, set his heart on constructing an altar in the church of the Saint, in order to celebrate the Latin Mass. He thought he would give thanks to the Saint like this, for having liberated the island from the Turkish yoke. How, though, would Saint Spyridon, the defender of the Orthodoxy, have permitted the Holy Sacrifice, the Divine Liturgy, to be celebrated in his venerable church by non-Orthodox priests, and with unleavened bread? The Saint appeared twice to the governor in his sleep and ordered him to abandon his project. He, however, would not listen, putting more faith in a theologian who told him that his dream was of diabolic origin. He even threatened the priests who were in charge of the Saint’s relic, because they refused such an innovation.

Since, then, the appearance of Saint Spyridon had not diverted the governor from his mad enterprise, a fire flamed up in the powder magazine of the old fortress. The explosion made the neighbouring houses collapse and killed Andrew Pizanis, all those that were with him, as well as numerous Latins. Andrew Pizanis was stifled between two beams which lacerated his throat and his unpleasant theologian was found dead in a canal. The guard who was in charge of the watch of the powder magazine saw the Saint approaching, with torches in his hand. He was saved because Saint Spyridon transported him close to the church of Christ Crucified. A Venetian inhabitant of Corfu, who at this moment was in the attic of his house, saw three flames coming out of the bell tower of the church of the Saint and turning towards the fortress. Immediately afterwards, the ammunition store exploded. This same night, a bolt of lightning fell in Venice on the portrait of Pizanis and burned it completely, without hurting anyone in the house. All these extraordinary events – what a miracle, what glory of the Orthodox – happened on November 12, 1718.

Such was Spyridon, an ardent defender of the faith, during his lifetime and after his death! Who, however, would be able to recount one by one the miracles that are accomplished every day by the intercession of the patron of our town?

It was at the time when the unforgettable Nikiforos Theotokis, the new star of the Church, taught at Corfu, related the miracles of Saint Spyridon his listeners to the protection of the Saint. Two weeks later, he related to eye witnesses this miracle which had taken place on Palm Sunday: during the procession with the relic of Saint Spyridon which is full of grace, a possessed person had been brought who foamed and ground her teeth. She had her hands and feet in fetters, but two or three men with great effort managed to contain her violent movements. Her face was without a human appearance any more, the voice was distorted, she bellowed like an ox, or barked like a dog, or even wailed like a newborn child. She was stretched on the ground three times and the relic of Saint Spyridon, which works wonders was passed three times over her, as a symbol of the Holy Trinity which the Saint had defended at the Council of Nicaea. The woman was immediately healed: she stopped moaning and screaming with her bizarre cries, and she started speaking normally. She was then released from her bonds; she got up all by herself and she prostrated herself at the feet of the Saint to thank him for his great mercy.

Towards 1769, a paralytic German soldier, who had been pensioned off because of his handicap, supplicated Saint Spyridon with ardent tears and recovered miraculously his health. Hearing the bells of the churches and the sound of the amazed crowd, Andrew Donas, the governor of Corfu, convened the doctors of the public hospitals in order to find out if it was a miracle. After he learned of them the truth, he hastened to the church of the Saint, where a service of thanksgiving was being sung.

In October 1855, the cholera that was ravaging Europe, suddenly hit Corfu. The first cases of the epidemic appeared in the suburb of Mandouki. Fear spread in the town and all over the island. The situation of the town and the suburbs, the great number of inhabitants distributed on a small surface, particularly in certain quarters, everything showed that the cholera was going to rage: the majority of the families had to prepare themselves for bereavement, and a multitude of tombs would be dug. After the first cases of the epidemic were made known, all the people, unanimously, hastened to the church of the Saint during the night and implored his help, on their knees and in tears. Three nights on end, there were addressed supplications to God and Saint Spyridon. Moreover, thanks to the intercession of the Saint, Corfu did not undergo the common fate of numerous other towns where the cholera raged: the number of the victims was far fewer than was dreaded. In fact, who would have been able to calm the just anger of God towards us and stop the epidemic, but for the supplications of our compassionate patron, our good Father Spyridon the Wonderworker, the defender of the Orthodoxy and champion of the faith?

Every year, on the first Sunday of November, as is well-known, a procession with the relic of the Saint assembles a large crowd. Some, especially the doctors, thought that the crowd of the people propagated the epidemic even more and that the gravediggers were going to work continuously. The people, however, did not share this belief, because, on that day, they placed all their hope in Saint Spyridon! The majority of the people from the countryside hastened to the town and, everybody, city dwellers and rural people, gathered at the place, where the relic of the Saint was to pass. The clergymen were singing a Paraclesis to Saint Spyridon the Wonderworker, and the crowd, on their knees and tortured by profound emotion, implored with tears his help and intercession. It was striking to notice the faith and piety of this people towards Saint Spyridon! Moreover, in fact – God is marvelous in His saints – the number of the victims decreased very noticeably from that day. There were almost no more deaths: the destructive cholera yielded in the face of the power of the prayers of the Saint and on December 11 the epidemic completely stopped.

The Hieromonk Gregory Balmis relates the following miracle in a review published in 1856. Vasilo, a woman who was born in Zagori in Epirus, wife of John Andreou, who was a native of Vouno of Chimara, where she and her husband lived, left on June 1853 in company with other women of the village for Mount Logara – two days’ walking distance – in order to collect pine wood, as usual, and came back on 16 of the same month. Exhausted by the journey and by the burden she was carrying on her shoulders, she sat down to have her lunch, then, since she was still sweating, she washed her feet and her hands with cold water. She had no sooner finished doing it than her left arm and leg contracted and became paralyzed – which dismayed her as well as her neighbours. Everything that this unfortunate woman did for more than two years, to be able to find healing and be freed from her paralysis, was wasted. Tortured by sorrow and despair, she went and saw a certain muezzin to heal her. She spent, however, a lot of money without getting any better and remained weeping over her incurable disease. She led, as one can easily imagine, a pitiful life. She separated from her husband with his consent and the agreement of the Church: she ended up being a burden to herself, to her family circle and her friends, who had grown weary of looking after a woman totally deprived of autonomy. Crying and moaning, with repentance and broken-hearted, she supplicated the most merciful God, by the prayers and intercession of His Saints, to forgive her sins and to deliver her from her painful illness. In December 1855, she saw a Clergyman in her dream, who hit her paralyzed leg saying to her, “Do not write to your brother in Corfu, as you were thinking, but go yourself down there!” Filled with amazement and full of curiosity, the woman asked him, “Who are you?” He replied, “I am the Saint that you have called so many times to help you!” After this vision, the woman woke up filled with fear and astonishment, she told her neighbours what she had seen. Everyone agreed that she was to obey the words of the Clergyman. With ardent faith, she took the decision with joy to execute all that the Saint had told her. Transported in a basket, which was attached on a horse, as far as Epirus, from there she disembarked in Corfu. The spectacle of this poor body suffering from an incurable disease shocked all who saw her. From the landing stage she was transported in a carriage to Saint Spyridon’s church, where she was carried seated on a chair as far as the Saint’s reliquary. There, prostrating in spirit before the feet of the Saint, she cried, inconsolably, and implored him without a break to intercede with the all-merciful and all-powerful God to grant her forgiveness for her sins, the health of her soul and body, and eternal salvation. Great is the Name of our God the Saviour! Her tears, which showed her ardent faith, and the prayers of our patron Saint moved the compassionate God. On the second of three nights of vigil, at about midnight, while she was lying near the Saint’s reliquary, she called the priest of the church and with ineffable tears of gratitude and joy in her eyes, announced to him that the Saint had cured her: her members, which until now had been petrified, were warmed up again and she could move them. After she had confessed with compunction and true repentance to the venerable Father Prifti, who spoke Albanian, on the morning of the following day, she approached all by herself the Royal Doors and standing upright, she was judged worthy to partake of the Pure and Life-Giving Mysteries. Being in good health, she passed the rest of her life giving thanks to God the Almighty and by proclaiming the ineffable glory that Spyridon the Wonderworker enjoys close to God.

In the beginning of November 1861, John Palios, the one and only son of Spyridon and Catherine Vrikou, Greek Orthodox, who had for years been installed in Barletta – a town in southern Italy – was seriously attacked by typhoid fever. Despite all the means used by the doctor for 17 days, the situation of the child, who then was eight years old, did not cease to get worse. On the morning of the 17th day, he had, according to the Greek medical expression, a Hippocratic appearance, that is to say he presented all the symptoms of a dying person: thread-like and almost imperceptible pulses, members immobile and frozen, a voice nonexistent and the death rattle which is typical of dying people.

At this terrible moment, the mother of the child, who throughout the illness, had not stopped crying and supplicating Saint Spyridon, on her knees, intensified her mourning and her supplications. And suddenly, as if under the impulse of a divine inspiration, she exclaimed, “I want a telegram to be sent immediately to my family in Corfu, so that they have the reliquary of the Saint opened and celebrate a Paraclesis for my Johnny. Thanks to the power of intercession he possesses close to God, Saint Spyridon will save my child and he will give him back to me, because I have entreated it very much and I still do with all my soul and with all my heart.” The telegram was immediately sent and at about 11 o’clock in the morning – what a miracle! – the moment when the relic case was being opened and the Paraclesis was being celebrated, the child, whose state had got even worse, was suddenly seized by a spasmodic shiver, which shook his whole body. The doctors who were there thought that this was the last convulsive movement of life, when in fact, thanks to the intercession of the Saint, the body of the child by this violent shock drove back the mortal illness! A little bit later, the spasms stopped and the child sweated profusely. He opened his eyes, his face regained its colour, and his pulse became normal again: he presented all the signs of life, so that even the doctors themselves exclaimed with wonder, “A miracle has really taken place. God is marvelous in His Saints!”

Then started the convalescence which was long, because to the dismay of his parents, the child remained dumb. The healing, however, was total. By the prayers of Saint Spyridon the Wonderworker, on December 1, the eve of the Saint’s feast, the tongue of the child was loosened and he started to speak. He recovered his health completely, then, so that God might be glorified together with His faithful servant Spyridon the Wonderworker!

The following miracle was reported by the person who lived it personally, Christos Diamandoudis, a student of the school of police in Corfu. He related it to the Bishop of Corfu, in the presence of Charalambos Komninos, sergeant of the city police, and of Christos Tsatsaris, student of the school. This miracle was also confirmed by other students who had been eye witnesses of it.

On February 12, 1935, Christos Diamandoudis was at the café which was situated near the school, in company with other students: Panagiotis Skylakakis, Spyridon Kaloudis and Aristidis Georgakopoulos. They were all listening to Spyridon Trivyzas, the owner of the cafe, talking about the miracles of the Saint. Christos Diamandoudis, was expressing his incredulity by his whole behaviour and was full of irreverence towards Saint Spyridon. Immediately, he felt his powers were failing him, and under the influence of an interior distress, he was shaken with convulsive movements. At the same moment, there were heard two knocks on the door, as if somebody was throwing stones. Disturbed, Christos Diamandoudis got up and went into the school. The police immediately investigated the matter of the knocks on the door, but they were unable to clarify anything. No stones were found, so the conclusion was drawn that these knocks were not of human origin.

The conversation, which had been interrupted, was continued after the departure of Diamandoudis, and a lot of things were discussed concerning the pros and cons of the supernatural origin of the incident. Tortured by the agitation, Diamandoudis started to wander in the corridors of the school, while it was a time of study. The sergeant Charalambos Komninos, who met him, reprimanded him, and Diamandoudis told him then in detail what had happened. At this account, the sergeant advised him to repent and to ask the Saint to forgive him. Diamandoudis passed a dreadful night: he was troubled and uneasy because at regular intervals he heard knocks which were identical to those ones at the door of the cafe, and he could not have a wink of sleep all night. He passed the following morning in the same way, February 13, in anxiety, wavering between faith and unbelief, piety and impiety. His schoolmate and friend, Christos Tsatsaris, advised him to go to the church of Saint Spyridon, embrace the reliquary of the Saint, light a candle and ask forgiveness. He himself accompanied him. As soon as they entered the area where the reliquary of the Saint is, Diamandoudis felt an invisible force pushing him back outside the church and, frightened, he was forced to lean against the door. His schoolmate, who was accompanying him with fear of God, urged him to move forward and embrace the reliquary, but this proved difficult. The priest of the church, Father Constantine Skafidas, who had seen what had happened, took him then by the hand, led him near the reliquary of the Saint, and sang a Paraclesis for the ill and frightened student to recover his health. During this service of intercession, Christos Diamandoudis felt an invisible force – like an electric Current – coming out of the reliquary, running through his body, and warming him. Simultaneously, he heard, as he recounted it himself, a loud bang from the interior of the reliquary.

The following night Diamandoudis was quite peaceful. He went to sleep towards the morning and saw Saint Spyridon in his dream, looking like an old man with white hair who was looking at him happily. The following day, he went back again to the church, with piety and true repentance, in order to venerate the feet of the Saint and ask him to forgive him. His health was restored immediately, without any intervention by doctors, and he continued his study at the school of police, giving thanks to God and thanking Saint Spyridon for having granted him the health of soul and body.

On October 12, 1939, at the beginning of the Second World War, the steamer “Aris” was sailing at 175 miles away from the north-east coast of Ireland. Suddenly a German submarine appeared. The ship stopped immediately and the crew gathered on the deck. The submarine hurled two explosives: George Tsakilis, the second in command, was killed as was a sailor, and seven others were seriously injured. Then the Germans made a sign to the crew to quit the ship. The sailors got into the lifeboats, taking the injured with them. The Germans then sank the ship with canons. The sailors hardly managed to move away from the whirlpool caused by the wreck of the ship, having time only to take a box of rockets with them in order to be able to make a signal of distress. They attached the two launches together, so that in case of danger all would have the same lot. The sailors spent two days and two nights in the launches, at a huge distance from the earth, at the mercy of the wind and the waves of the Atlantic Ocean and without any hope of help. Among the shipwrecked there was the radio operator, George Kokkinos, a young resident of Corfu, very faithful, whose heart and thoughts were turned towards God: he called Saint Spyridon for help, persuaded that the Saint would not abandon them. In addition, indeed, it is only to the help of the saint that the shipwrecked, who had remained two days and two nights without food or drink, were preserved from drowning. Save certain incredulous ones, all saw with their own eyes that the Saint was encouraging them and was giving them strength. Actually, on 13 October, at 16.25, the figure of Saint Spyridon, in the form of an old man with white hair, drawn from the head to the chest, as by a skillful painter, stood out all luminous in the north-east of the horizon. Afterwards it disappeared without disintegrating. Not only George Kokkinos, but the other shipwrecked equally saw this apparition. He, however, was the only one to interpret this phenomenon as a sign of the protection of the Saint. On the second night, towards midnight, the shipwrecked men saw in the distance, in the north-east of the horizon, first a light, then two, and then more. Thinking that it was the trawlers, they sent rockets as a sign of distress, crying and rowing to the direction of the lights. A little bit later, however, all these lights disappeared. The nonbelievers among the twenty-eight shipwrecked then started to blaspheme. George Kokkinos cried at them to stop their blasphemies and be conscious of their desperate situation, from which only God’s Mercy could save them! Indeed, according to his faith, only the intervention of Saint Spyridon moved them to start rowing in the direction of the lights which had appeared: actually, it was at dawn of this same night that a ship arrived, as if it was sent by God. In addition, in the morning of October 14, at 4.25, they went on board of the ladder of the Danish steamer “Sicily”, which had stopped in order to take them aboard. George Kokkinos and the more sensible of the shipwrecked attributed their rescue to a miracle of Saint Spyridon and justly gave thanks to God: as sailors, they were the only ones who were able to estimate their chances of salvation and the seriousness of the danger in which they found themselves!

On their return to Piraeus, thirteen of the shipwrecked who had been saved sent as an offering to Saint Spyridon’s church two small silver boats, linked to each other by a silver chain, in memory of their salvation and as a thanksgiving gift to the Saint.

The following miracle took place on August 11, 1946, at the end of the procession with the relic of the Saint. “Eight years ago,” relates Catherine, the woman who was healed – the wife of Basil Yfanti, “I lost my voice after a stroke, and my right arm was paralyzed. Four years later, I had another stroke, and, this time, my left leg was paralyzed. For eight years, I could not speak. With great pain and efforts, I sometimes managed to articulate a word with audible pain, then after a long moment, again with great pain, I pronounced another word, which had no connection to the previous one. Nobody then could understand anything. I had been making myself clear by nodding. After my second stroke, paralyzed, I stayed permanently in bed, even for my needs, or I was rather transported in a blanket. I consulted the doctors, who made me lose any hope of being healed. Tortured by the illness and having no hope in the doctors any more, I turned towards God and put all my hope in Him. I glorify Him and I adore Him for having taken pity of me. One day, I let out very strong groaning, as if I was crying, and with great pain I pronounced the words “Saint Spyridon”. Then I became mute again like before. My husband who was at my side and heard me, understood that I was asking him to take me for veneration to the relic of Saint Spyridon, and without any hesitation, he promised me with eagerness to grant my desire. In addition, on August 10, the eve of the procession, he took me in a blanket and brought me down into the car that transported us to Igumenitsa. From there, again in a blanket, he transported me to a ship, and in the same way in Corfu for the journey from the port to the church, where I arrived yesterday evening. I remained lying down on the slabs of the church and I attended the Vespers and the Liturgy. At the Verse of Communion, I made a sign to my family and I was transported in order to receive the Holy Communion. From the balustrade, where my husband and my son carried me, I attended the beginning of the procession, while it was comіng out of the church. When the Saint was passing in front of me, I was crying with emotion and tried to speak in order to supplicate him to have mercy on me, but in vain. At the return of the procession, as the sound of the music was approaching again, I made a sign to my husband to put me at the front, on the steps of the solea chancel, where the Saint was going to pass from. Doing what I had wished, my husband, who had never refused me anything, immediately obeyed and transported me to the steps. However, as soon as the policemen saw me, they started shouting in order to oblige my husband to move me from there. Because of my insistence and my tears, however, they were touched and allowed me to stay. My emotion was great, thinking that God would grant me the favour for the Saint to pass above me! I was persuaded that afterwards I would feel better. Indeed! Great is the grace that Saint Spyridon possesses! Blessed be his name!

The procession was about to finish. The priests got into the church, after them the relic of the Saint, which was going to pass above me, entered, too, the church. Immediately after the passing of the Holy Relic, my husband, being helped by a woman, hurried to lift me, so that I wouldn’t be trodden on by the crowd, and laid me down on a church bench. About a quarter of an hour later, when everything was finished and the majority of the people had left the church, I felt that my tongue was loosened and my leg healed. I tried to speak and I managed to do it without any difficulty. I tried my leg and, what a miracle, I could move it. Filled with joy, I then tried to get up and walk. Leaning on the church bench, I got up and stood up straight, after I had leaned on my leg which had been paralyzed for four years! Saint Spyridon had healed me!”

Indeed, Saint Spyridon, whom she had venerated with piety and compunction, had healed her. Her persevering and unshakeable faith had accomplished the miracle. God, who always grants our supplications as long as we invoke Him in faith, by the intercession of Saint Spyridon, granted the supplication of his humble servant: He gave her back the speech which she had lost eight years before and healed her leg which was paralyzed for eight years!

Concerning the following miracle, in the archives of the church of Saint Spyridon, there is a report dated from 14 December, 1948. Angela Papafloratou, single, 42 years old, coming from the village of Argostoli in the island of Cephalonia, lived in 1948 in Patras. Possessed by a demon for 10 years, she suffered for a long time and the doctors could not cure her. Her family took her to the church of Saint Yerasimos, which houses the venerable relic of the Saint and she was healed. Certain people will perhaps think that it is not serious to pay too much attention to this; it is however in accordance with the words of Christ in the Gospel, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do”(Jn 14,12). Only the insane incredulity of rationalism denies the truth of the Gospel.

In October 1947, Angela Papafloratou suffered the same demonical crisis. She suffered a lot and she did not calm down except for brief instants. She was led again to the church of Saint Yerasimos, where she stayed for several days, but she found no healing at all. Suddenly one day during such a demonical crisis, she shouted at her family who were accompanying her, “We are not staying here! We are going to Spyro!” Her relatives led her to her home in Patras, having found no healing. Moreover, on 11 December, which is the beginning of the three days of the feast of Saint Spyridon, she arrived early in the morning in Corfu. Her mother, as well as other members of her family accompanied her. They led her to the church of the Saint and, seeing that she was calm and peaceful, profited from the occasion to take her to the priest. She confessed and took Holy Communion. In the evening and during the whole following night, she stayed in the church and attended the vigil. On the following day, 12 December, under the supervision of her family, she attended the Divine Liturgy which was celebrated by the bishop. She was lying on the ground, on the right hand side at the far end of the church, when, during the Great Entrance, the moment when the priests came out of the sanctuary with the Holy Gifts, she was suddenly seized by a demonical crisis and she started yelling, “I am leaving, Spyro, I am leaving!” At the same time, out of her mouth came white smoke, like a strong gust of wind. Angela was healed. Accompanied by her mother, she moved forward on her knees and venerated the feet of the Saint, who was exposed upright, as is the custom these days. Those who were present had followed with wonder what had happened. They all understood that a miracle had taken place and invoked Saint Spyridon with tears and emotion. This miracle was certified equally by the bishop, who was celebrating at that moment. The frightening cries of Angela had indeed troubled all those who were in church. The woman was thereafter completely healed.

On 11 December of the same year, eve of the feast of Saint Spyridon, the wife of Constantine Demiris, a native to Zagori in Epirus, arrived in Corfu with her son George, 11, so that the Saint should heal him. The child was actually born mute. The parents had seen many doctors, but medical science was unable to heal him. Before arriving in Corfu, they had made a tour of the main churches of Epirus, supplicating God to heal their child. Suddenly, a few days before the feast of Saint Spyridon, the mother of young George had a dream and saw the Saint heal her son. She told her husband about it and expressed the desire to take their son to Corfu, to the church of the Saint, where so many other sick people go in order to be healed! With the consent of her husband, she then left on foot with their George and they arrived near Igumenitsa. Only there did they find means of transport, but the mother did not lose hope of arriving in time for the feast. Indeed, on 11 December, they reached Corfu. They went into the church of Saint Spyridon and prayed with faith during the two vigils and the Divine Liturgy of 12 and 13 December.

On 13 December, at four o’clock in the afternoon, the moment when three processions with the body of the Saint were going on in the church before case, the mother laid the child down on the ground, so that the Venerable Relic would pass over him. Suddenly, after the body of the Saint, carried by three priests, passed over him, George Dimitris, the mute child, got up crazy with joy and cried to the assembly, “Good day, Good day to you!” From the crowd, who had immediately understood that a miracle had taken place, came cries of emotion, of praise and acts of thanks to God and to the Saint. Some sailors, who were near the child, raised him in their arms, carried him triumphantly round the market place and got ready to take him to the police station. Little George, however, until then mute and now healed, cried, “Not to the police! Let’s go to Petino!” He meant by this the man who had given accommodation to him and his mother. Because of the miracle, the crowd, instead of dispersing, concentrated even more in the church in order to see the child which had been healed. The priest Constantine Skafidas lifted him up in his arms, walked up the steps in front of the Royal Gates and showed him to the crowd. Mad with joy, George, the miraculously healed little boy, greeted the crowd saying, “Good day to you!” Filled with happiness for his healing, he got back to his village with his mother and remained thereafter in good health.

Such was, Christians, blessed of God, the life of Saint Spyridon. Such were the most notable of his innumerable miracles. Because, in truth, who would be able to count them? The inhabitants of Corfu are witnesses of innumerable miracles which, by the Power of Christ, Saint Spyridon continues to work. Not only the Orthodox people, but the Catholics also witness of the grace of wonderworking.

Those who travel by sea and those who suffer misfortunes and afflictions address especially him. The numerous precious objects that are offered to the church of Saint Spyridon are a manifest proof of the brilliant miracles that the Saint accomplishes. Those who resort to him with faith and compunction do not fail in being granted their wish.

Let us give glory and thanks to the Most Good God, who has granted Corfu, our most beloved native land, to possess this sacred treasure, Saint Spyridon, our grand and marvelous patron, and let us sing, “God is marvelous in His Saints!”. To Him belongs glory, power, honour and adoration unto the ages of ages.