Kathikaros, Tinos, Greece, December 14, 2020
Photo: romfea.gr On Saturday, the Greek outlet Romfea published the story of how the great St. Spyridon appeared and protected a 5-year-old boy from the village of Kathikaros on the island of Tinos several decades ago.
The boy came from a simple and humble family. He had great love for his father and always wanted to be by his side.
One autumn day, his father left to attend a funeral in the neighboring village of Tripotamos, a half hour’s walk away, telling his young son he could not go along. However, the boy so loved to be with his father that he escaped his mother’s attention and started off on the road to Tripotamos.
Eventually the boy reached a stream that he could not cross, as it had swelled from recent rains. The boy began to cry when he saw the door open at the church by the stream and an old man came out and started heading for him. The man wore a woolen shepherd’s cloak and small round hat.
The boy explained that he was walking to Tripotamos to find his father, who had not taken him with him.
“Does your mother know that you left?” the man asked. “No!” the boy answered.
“You did not do well,” the man told him. “Good children tell their mother when they leave. I will help you get to Tripotamos, but do not do that again.”
He grabbed the boy by the hand, and as though flying, they found themselves on the other side of the stream. He continued to hold the boy’s hand as they covered the rest of the distance to Tripotamos, until the village church became visible. The man told the boy he could find his father at the church.
“Go with God, and don’t forget—when you leave you house, you must tell your mother,” the old man told the boy.
Having walked a short distance, the boy wanted to turn and see the man again, but he was nowhere to be seen. He continued to the church and found his father, who was upset to see that his son had come alone. After the funeral, the father and son headed down, and when they reached the church by the stream, the boy told his father about what had happened.
The father knew that no one lived in that area, so he took his son into the church and told him to tell him if he sees the man in any of the icons. At first, he showed him the icons of the Lord Jesus Christ, then St. John the Baptist, but the boy shook his head no.
Then the father showed his son the icon of St. Spyridon, and the boy excitedly exclaimed: “That’s him, dad!”
His father was stunned and immediately fell to his knees, praying before the icon of the great holy hierarch. When he got up, they lit the saint’s lampada together and burned incense. When they returned home, the boy told his mother what happened.
The parents rightly considered St. Spyridon as the protector of their child, and from that point on, they went to the church by the stream every Saturday to light his lampada.
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