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[[Image:StCosmas_Aitolos.jpg|thumb|right|St. Kosmas Aitolos (1714-1779)]]The holy, glorious and right-victorious New [[Hieromartyr]] and [[Equal-to-the-Apostles]] '''Kosmas Aitolos''' (also known as '''Cosmas Aitolos''') was born in 1714 in Aitolia, Greece, to a father who was a weaver and a devout mother. He attended public schools, but was tutored by an [[archdeacon]]. He taught and then attended a school on Mt. [[Athos]]. He became a [[monk]] and later a [[priest]] at [[Philotheou Monastery (Athos)|Philotheou]] [[Monastery]] there. After a time, he felt a calling to do [[missionary]] work in Greece, especially in the remote areas where there was a lack of [[Church|churches]] and priests for the many [[Baptism|unbaptized]] adults. As an aftermath of four centuries of Turkish oppression in Greece, Kosmas received the [[Patriarch|patriarchal]] blessing to travel wherever needed, for however long, with complete independence, to breathe life back into Christianity in Greece. Kosmas sojourned to Greece, its islands, and Albania for 25 years, founding over 200 schools, as well as charities and rural churches. He planted [[cross]]es wherever he went. The [[Islam|Muslims]] tried him on charges of conspiracy and sentenced him to hang in August 1779 in Albania. However, one account reports that he [[prayer|prayed]] and gave up his spirit before this could occur. St. Kosmas received from God the gift of [[prophecy]], and was known to have prophesied of the telephone, airplanes, and aerial bombings. Patriarch [[Athenagoras I (Spyrou) of Constantinople|Athenagoras]] [[Glorification|canonizedglorified]] him in 1961. His [[feast day]] is celebrated on [[August 24]].