Prologue.
Saint Fanourios is without doubt an
important and holy youthful figure, who stands out in a par-ticular way
among the other Saints of Christianity, as he is not only honoured on a
single date, but the faithful often make use of the well-known
“fanouropita” (Fanourios cake).
Saint Fanourios, who lived during Roman
times, went up bravely against the idolatric world, for the Christian
spirit of this man of God did not allow him to deny his unquestionably
virtuous prin-ciples. Thus, the 12 tortures that the Saint suffered
constitute for us a strong motivation for per-severance and adherence to
the moral values of Christianity, to come out victors from the
in-cessant struggle of unbelief and injustice of our time. This Saint
teaches us with his real sacrifice that even though we do not struggle
against Roman soldiers and vile Hagarenes, still we have to confront the
more skillfully set traps of materialism and atheism, that attempt en
masse to overwhelm the Christian order.
Saint Fanourios also taught us that
the crown of a virtuous life is not easily won but only through
continuous tests – with boldness, patience and perseverance. Therefore,
as true fighters of the faith let us imitate the exemplary and
irreproachable life of the Saint, so that we too may be found worthy to
honour the Christian name we bear, as he so fittingly did.
Saint Fanourios
1. General overview of his life.
Nothing certain is known concerning
the lineage and the life of Saint Fanourios because all the information
about his life was lost during turbulent times.
The only information we have concerning
the Saint is the discovery of his icon, around 1500 AD according to the
Synaxarion, or according to other sources around 1355-1369 AD. Some
main-tain that the icon of the Saint was found in Rhodes but others say
in Cyprus.
2. The discovery of the icon
Let us return to the past, when the
Hagarenes (i.e. Muslims) ruled Rhodes and had decided to rebuild the
wall of the city, which they so barbarically demolished and leveled a
few years pre-viously.
They started to send workers outside
the south part of the citadel to gather stones from the semi-ruined
houses of the inhabitants, to rebuild the new and strong walls of the
city. Among the ruins they discovered a most beautiful church which was
partially destroyed on one side. Inside they discovered a multitude of
icons, which over the course of time the faces of the Saints as well as
the inscriptions on them were indistinguishable.
Only one magnificent icon stood
apart from the rest, one that time did not affect, which depicted a
youth dressed as a soldier. The Metropolitan of Rhodes, Nilus, went
immediately to the site and clearly read the name of the Saint,
Fanourios. The Metropolitan, moved by the appearance of the saint, saw
that he was dressed as a Roman Soldier, holding a cross in his left hand
and a lit candle in his right. Around the icon the iconographer had
also painted the twelve depictions of the martyrdom that the saint had
suffered, clearly telling his life.
These depictions are as follows:
1. The Saint is present in front of
the Roman magistrate, standing and looking like he is boldly testifying
and defending his Christian faith.
2. Here the soldiers are intervening
and striking Fanourios’ head and the mouth with stones to force him to
succumb and deny the Lord.
3. The soldiers have thus far become
enraged by the persistence of Fanourios, throwing him to the ground and
beating him mercilessly with sticks and clubs to break his steadfast
resistance.
4. Fanourios is in jail and is being
tortured in a most abominable way. He appears totally naked and the
surrounding soldiers are tearing his flesh with sharp metal instruments.
The Saint is silently enduring his frightful martyrdom.
5. Fanourios is back in jail praying to God to strengthen him to the end of his tortures.
6. The Saint is again brought before
the Roman magistrate to give a defense for his posi-tion. By the
peaceful expression on his face it appears that neither the tortures he
suf-fered nor the future threats of the tyrant can shake his faith, and
thus being undeterred he is waiting for further tortures.
7. The torturers of Fanourios with
rage and cruelty are burning his naked body with lit torches, thus
showing his insuperable sacrifice for the Crucified One. The Saint wins
again with his indomitable will and fortitude for the Lord.
8. Here his savage torturers are
making use of mechanical means to achieve the worse of his tortures.
They have tied the Saint on a press which crushes his bones when
rotated. He is suffering without grumbling, but on his beautiful face
there is an inexpressible exul-tation since he is suffering for the sake
of the Lord.
9. Fanourios is cast into a pit to
become prey to wild beasts and his torturers are watching from above to
witness his end. The beasts, however, are totally docile through the
grace of God and silently surround him like lambs to enjoy his
magnificent company.
10. The torturers were not satisfied
by the latest result so they removed him from the hole and are crushing
him under a huge rock, convinced that they will finish him off.
However, even this time they do not succeed.
11. The scene presents the Saint in
front of an altar, where the torturers are urging him to sacrifice,
placing burning coal in his hands. Fanourios also passes this test
victoriously and a devil in the form of a dragon is shown flying in the
air and crying over its failure.
12. The last scene is the end of his
martyrdom, with Fanourios being cast into a large furnace standing on a
stool and surrounded by flames and smoke. The Saint seems to be praying
intently to God, without complaining or grumbling, and thus unwavering
and without giving in, he flew to heaven, full of contentment for all
the tortures he had suffered for the sake of the Lord.
3. The Erection of the Church.
The then Metropolitan of the island,
Nilus, after carefully studying the icon that was found, pronounced
that Fanourios was one of the most significant great martyrs of our
Faith. He immediately dispatched a delegation to the ruler of the island
and to ask him for a permit to erect a church. However, when the ruler
refused the Metropolitan himself went to Constanti-nople and managed to
obtain from the Sultan the permit he sought. He soon returned to Rhodes
and built the church exactly on its old spot, outside the walls. The
Church survives to this day and is a sacred shrine for all Christians.
4. Information from the discovery of the icon.
Observing the icon of Saint Fanourios that was found in Rhodes we can conclude many sig-nificant points which are as follows:
1. When we read the name of the Saint on the icon we conclude immediately that he was of Greek ancestry.
2. We also conclude that his parents were pious to give him such a Christian name (which means “Revealer”).
3. The youth would have been very educated to become a military officer.
4. We also reckon that the martyrdom
of Saint Fanourios occurred during the second or third century when the
persecutions of the Christians were at their peak.
5. Fanourios has obviously proven to be a great martyr from the many horrible tortures he suffered.
6. For there to be such a church
found in Rhodes, we are also certain that he was honoured in churches by
the pious Christians from the time of his martyrdom.
7. From the depiction of the Saint on the icon it appears that Saint Fanourios martyred at a young age.
5. Miracles of the Saint
Saint Fanourios worked many miracles for the pious who called upon his name and one of them was the following:
At one point in its history, Crete
was occupied by the Latins (1204-1669 AD) who had their own Archbishop
and for this reason they tried by all means to lead the inhabitants of
the isl-and to Catholicism (Papism).
The Latins took an oppressive
measure against Orthodoxy by banning the ordination of priests in Crete,
forcing the Cretans to go over to the island of Tsirigo (Kethyra) to be
or-dained by an Orthodox hierarch who served there.
At some point, three deacons set off
from Crete for Tsirigo and having been ordained priests there, they
were joyously returning to their tormented enslaved island. To their bad
luck, Hagarene pirates captured them at sea and transported them to
Rhodes, where they were sold to three different Hagarene masters.
The lot of the three priests was
lamentable but a sweet occurrence came to sweeten their lot. They
learned that in Rhodes Saint Fanourios worked miracles and they set
their hopes in him, incessantly praying, each one separately invoking
him to free them from the harsh captivity to the vile Hagarenes.
Each priest asked their master,
without previously having communicated between them-selves, to allow
them to go to church to venerate the icon of Saint Fanourios. They all
re-ceived permission easily and so reverently venerated the icon of the
Saint, wetting the earth with their tears and kneeling and praying with
all their soul begging Saint Fanourios to inter-cede so that they may be
relieved from the hands of the Hagarenes.
After the priests departed, having
been consoled of their pain, Saint Fanourios appeared that night to all
the masters and ordered them to free their captive priests, otherwise he
would punish them severely. However, the Hagarene masters believed the
intervention of the Saint to be some sort of magic and they chained
their captives and started to torture them in the worst possible way.
However, the next night Saint
Fanourios intervened more effectively. He loosed the three priests from
their bonds and promised them that they would be freed from the
Hagarenes the next day. He then appeared again to the Hagarenes and
threatened them this time that if they did not free the priests in the
morning he would use harsh measures against them.
The next morning the Hagarenes felt the
punishment because they all lost their sight and their bodies became
paralyzed. They were thus forced to seek the advice of their relatives
and discuss the evil that had befallen them. All the masters then
decided to invite the three priests in case they could help them. The
only answer the priests gave them was that they would pray to God and He
would decide.
The third night Saint Fanourios
again appeared to the Hagarenes and informed them that if the three
masters did not send in writing to his church their agreement for the
release of the priests, they would never recover their health. The
Hagarenes, whether they wanted to or not, wrote the letter the Saint
asked for and declared straight out that they granted freedom to the
three priests. These submissions were sent to the holy church of the
Saint.
Even before the messengers of the
Hagarenes returned from the church, the blind and para-lyzed faithless
ones were completely healed according to the will of the Saint. The rich
Ha-garenes gave the priests all the expenses for their journey and the
priests before leaving went to the church, thanked the Saint for their
release, and carefully copied the icon of Saint Fanourios, which they
took to Crete where they honoured it every year with doxologies and
litanies (processions).
6. The Pita (cake) of Saint Fanourios.
The great honour the Christians have
for Saint Fanourios became the reason for the adoption of the customary
tradition of the pita (cake) of the Saint, better known as
“Fa-nouropita”.
The pita is usually small and round and
is made of pure flour, sugar, cinnamon, and oil. After all these
ingredients are mixed together, they are kneaded, put in a round cake
form and the pita is baked under medium temperature in the oven.
The pita is prepared so that the
Saint may reveal to someone a lost item, find a job for someone
unemployed, deal on a lost cause, restore the health of someone sick,
etc.
Our Church commemorates Saint Fanourios on August 27.
*****
Apolytikion (Troparion) – Tone 4.
A heavenly song of praise is chanted
radiantly upon the earth; the company of Angels now joyfully celebrates
an earthly festival and from on high with hymns they praise your
contests and from below the Church proclaims the Heavenly glory which
you have founded by your labours and struggles, O glorious Fanourios.
Kontakion – Tone 3.
You did save the Priests from the
ungodly captivity and did break their bonds by Divine Power, O godly
minded one; you did bravely shame the audacity of the tyrants and did
gladden the orders of the Angels, O Great Martyr. Wherefore, we honour
you, divine warrior, glorious Fanourios.
Megalynarion
To those who embrace your sacred
icon with faith and asking your assistance, Martyr, heirs of the
Heavenly Kingdom, Fanourios, to all your entreaties provide.
