Monastery of St Patapios (Loutraki, Greece)

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Icon of St. Patapios the Righteous of Thebes (taken from Analogion)
The nunnery of saint Patapios (November 2010 )
The monastery of saint Patapios (November 2010)
Sister Patapia (October 2010)
The bishop of Corinth his Reverence Mr Dionysius at saint Patapios nunnery (28 April 2009)
The celebration of Saint Patapios at his nunnery (8 December 2010)
Father Nectarios, the establisher of the nunnery of Saint Patapios, at the nunnery's celebration (8 December 2010)

The Monastery of St. Patapios (also Agios Patapios), is a monastery for women located 14km (22ft) from Loutraki, Greece at an elevation of some 700m (1120ft) on the Geraneai mountains. The monastery is within the jurisdiction of the Metropolis of Korinthos of the Church of Greece.

History

At the insistance of father Nectarios Marmarinos (real name: Kyriakos) , the monastery, which is dedicated to St. Patapius of Thebes (December 8), was founded in 1952 by Prokopios, Metropolitan Bishop of Korinth, around the cave where the relics of Patapius were found in 1904 by Fr. Constantine Sosanis. The saints relics had been placed beneath tiles and large leaves, to protect his body from the damp, and exuded a sweet odor. On the relic there was a scroll giving Patapius's name, with a large wooden cross and some Byzantine coins.

The cave [1] today has a sanctuary and sacristy hewn out of the rock. It can be found northwest of the katholikon of the convent and the holy relic is kept in a special wooden structure at the back of the cave. Inside the cave there are also Byzantine wall paintings from the 13th century, with three prominent figures of St. Patapius, St. Ipomoni (April 3)[2] and St. Nikon.

After the founding of the monastery, nun patapia was nominated as Mother Superior, with father Nectarios Marmarinos as its spiritual leader. Today, there are some forty nuns living in the cells of the foundation and the current Mother Superior is Mother Isidora.

The monastery church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and contains at its center the Mother of God for veneration. The church also holds the relic skull of St. Ipomoni and part of the hip bone of St. Nikon.

Saint Patapios’ memory is celebrated on 8 December (main celebration) and also at the Tuesday 2 days after the Sunday of Easter (in memory of the day that his relic was discovered).

Notes

  1. The cave measures 8 x 4.5m (13 x 7.1ft)
  2. Empress Helen Dragash, also known as St. Patience or Saint Hipomoni, the mother of the last emperor of Constantinople, Constantine XI Palaiologos

Reference

  • «The Holy Monastery of Saint Patapios in Loutraki» [edition of the Metropolis of Corinth, Sikyon, Zemenou, Tarsus and Polyfengous, 2012].
  • «The Greek Monasteries» [Ev. Lekkou, Ihnilatis, Athens, 1995].
  • "Agiologio of Orthodoxy," [Christos Tsolakidis, Athens, 2001 edition]
  • «O Megas Synaxaristis of the Orthodox Church" Saint Patapios, p. (254) - (261) [m Victoras Mattheos, 3rd edition, Metamorfosi Sotiros Monastery, Athens, 1968]
  • "Saint Patapios" [Stylianos Papadopoulos, professor of the University of Athens, Holy Monastery of Saint Patapios, Loutraki, Greece, edition 2006).
  • "St. Patapios and his miracles," [Dr. Charalambos Busias, edition of Holy Monastery of Saint Patapios Loutraki 2004]
  • "Life, akolouthia, paraklitikos kanonas and egomia of the holy mother ‘’Saint Hypomone" [Dr. Charalambos Busias, edition of Holy Monastery of Saint Patapios, Loutraki 1999]
  • "Deltos of Miracles of our miraculous father St. Patapios" [Dr. Charalambos Busias, edition of Holy Monastery of Saint Patapios 4th Edition, Loutraki 2011]

External links

Images from the Monastery and the saint

Images of Monastery [1]$ [2] [3] [4]