Hallowed Entries About Dark Culture & Thought, the Fantastic and the Supernatural (from an Orthodox Christian Perspective)
Sunday, October 31, 2021
Friday, October 29, 2021
Thursday, October 21, 2021
Saint Hilarion the Great as an Exorcist
By St. Dimitri of Rostov
1. The servant and driver of a certain nobleman of Gaza was set upon by a
demon as he was driving his carriage. He became stiff and could not move
at all but remained able to speak. This servant was brought to the
godly Hilarion in the desert, and as soon as the saint laid eyes on him,
he said, "You cannot be cured of your infirmity unless you first
believe in Christ the Lord, Who alone can heal you of your ailment."
The sick man cried out piteously, "I believe in Him; only let Him heal me!"
The saint prayed and healed the man by the power of Christ, and then instructed him in the faith. He told the servant to be baptized and sent him home freed from bondage to the devil and whole in body and soul.
The sick man cried out piteously, "I believe in Him; only let Him heal me!"
The saint prayed and healed the man by the power of Christ, and then instructed him in the faith. He told the servant to be baptized and sent him home freed from bondage to the devil and whole in body and soul.
Monday, October 18, 2021
The Dragon of Mega Spelaion
Mega Spelaion, or Great Cave, is a large cave near Kalavryta, in the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece. Today a monastery is there known as the Monastery of Mega Spelaion, because according to tradition, it was in this cave that the Apostle Luke lived while evangelizing the area, and where he also wrote his Gospel and made one of his first icons of the Mother of God. Many centuries later two brothers who were monks, Saints Symeon and Theodore, found this miraculous icon with the help of a local shepherdess Saint Euphrosyne in the cave and a monastery was established. However, after the two brothers found the icon, deep within the cave, unknown to them, it is said there lived a dragon.
Monday, October 11, 2021
Saint Athanasios the Demon-Destroyer, Archbishop of Trebizond
On October 11, 2020 the Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos in Oraiokastro, a municipality in Thessaloniki, revived the celebration of the memory of a long-forgotten saint who is known as Saint Athanasios the Demon-Destroyer, the Wonderworker, the Archbishop of Trebizond. (You can read the account of how this Saint was rediscovered here.)
To prepare for this first celebration, a Hierarch familiar with Pontian history, Metropolitan Paul of Drama, wrote the results of his research and with this had composed a Service of Praise in honor of the Saint. In the Prologue he tells us about the source of his information on Saint Athanasios, who was the Archbishop of Trebizond in the 9th century (specifically 867-886). He writes:
To prepare for this first celebration, a Hierarch familiar with Pontian history, Metropolitan Paul of Drama, wrote the results of his research and with this had composed a Service of Praise in honor of the Saint. In the Prologue he tells us about the source of his information on Saint Athanasios, who was the Archbishop of Trebizond in the 9th century (specifically 867-886). He writes:
Friday, October 8, 2021
How Lord Byron's Trip to Greece Brought the Modern Vampire to the West
When Lord Byron was 21 years old, he decided to undertake the customary upper class Grand Tour. The Grand Tour was the 17th- and 18th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a chaperone, such as a family member) when they had come of age (about 21 years old). Byron, who studied ancient Greek and the history of Greece, longed to see Greece and Constantinople, and thus made these the special focus of his Grand Tour.
It was in Greece during Lord Byron's Grand Tour, between 1809 and 1810, that he was told several local myths and legends. While in Athens, he became aware of the Turkish custom of throwing a woman found guilty of adultery into the sea wrapped in a sack. This inspired him to write The Giaour, the first of his three oriental tales.
It was in Greece during Lord Byron's Grand Tour, between 1809 and 1810, that he was told several local myths and legends. While in Athens, he became aware of the Turkish custom of throwing a woman found guilty of adultery into the sea wrapped in a sack. This inspired him to write The Giaour, the first of his three oriental tales.
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