Saint Athanasios the Demon-Destroyer, Archbishop of Trebizond

St. Athanasios the Demon-Destroyer (Feast Day - October 11)

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:

The Incorrupt Right Arm of Saint Cyprian in his Church in Bucharest and Some of It's Terrifying Tales

In the Zlatari Church, or Church of Saint Cyprian, of Bucharest, Romania is a wonderworking relic that faithful Christians flock to in order to be delivered from curses and spells - the right arm of Saint Cyprian of Antioch, a former magician of the third century who converted to Christianity and became a Christian Bishop.

 

The church itself, a Romanian historic monument known as “a church of miracles” due to the alleged powers of Saint Cyprian’s arm, got its name from the goldsmiths, or “zlătari,” who lived in the neighborhood and built the original wooden church in the 17th century. It was rebuilt in 1850, after nearly being destroyed by earthquakes earlier in the 1800s, and is known for the beautiful frescoes by Gheorghe Tattarescu that decorate the walls and the door.

 

Demons Fear the Power of Holy Relics - The Case of St. Babylas

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

A saint's power after his death is often many times greater than in life. "That is why God left us the relics of the saints," says St. John Chrysostom in his unsurpassable homily on St. Babylas (Sept. 4).

St. Babylas was buried in the city of Antioch. At that time, Emperor Gallus - the brother of Julian the Apostate - was reigning together with Constantius, the son of Constantine the Great. Inspired by piety, Gallus translated the relics of St. Babylas to the outskirts of Daphne and built a small church, placing the relics of the martyr in it.

Saint Joseph the Hesychast and the Confession of Demons

Elders Joseph the Hesychast and Ephraim of Arizona

By Elder Ephraim of Arizona

Even the demons know quite well who Elder Joseph was. When exorcisms were being read over a possessed woman in Thessalonica, she began shouting: “That Joseph! He went to Philotheou. He’s protecting Philotheou Monastery, and I can’t do anything to them!” Everyone who heard this wondered how she knew about Elder Joseph and that his skull was at Philotheou. She herself, of course, didn’t know this, but the demon inside her did.

In 1982 Father Stephanos Anagnostopoulos in Athens was reading the exorcism prayers for a different possessed woman. He described what happened as follows:

The Demon Possessed Village

After the repose of Saint Peter the Athonite (June 12) in 734, two grave-robbing monks stole the relic of the Saint, and having fled Mount Athos they came to the village of Photokomi which is located in Thrace. In this village was a well, where the monks sat down to eat bread after a weary journey. The relic of the Saint, meanwhile, was hanging in a sack on the branch of a nearby olive tree.