Meet Father Spyridon: A Greek monk in an ancient cliffside monastery keeps island life together

Source: The Associated Press

April 10, 2025

    

For more than 50 years, Spyridon Denaxas has prayed, worked and welcomed the faithful in an island monastery carved into a seaside cliff that’s little changed since its founding more than a millennium ago.

Greece has rapidly secularized alongside the rest of Europe, and other Aegean islands like nearby Santorini are wrestling with the massive growth of tourism focused far more on beaches than churches.

But a few Orthodox Christian monks remain icons of local life — so much so that when the recent weekslong swarm of near-constant earthquakes caught Father Spyridon, as he’s affectionately known, away for a medical emergency, all he could think about was making his way back to Amorgos.

...Read the rest at the Associated Press.

4/10/2025

See also
Greek Metropolitan of Konitsa laid to rest after decades of service (+VIDEOS) Greek Metropolitan of Konitsa laid to rest after decades of service (+VIDEOS) Greek Metropolitan of Konitsa laid to rest after decades of service (+VIDEOS) Greek Metropolitan of Konitsa laid to rest after decades of service (+VIDEOS)
His Eminence Metropolitan Andreas of Konitsa reposed in the Lord on Saturday, April 5. St. Kallinikos of Edessa miraculously heals seriously ill infant St. Kallinikos of Edessa miraculously heals seriously ill infant St. Kallinikos of Edessa miraculously heals seriously ill infant St. Kallinikos of Edessa miraculously heals seriously ill infant
St. Kallinikos of Edessa, a 20th-century Holy Hierarch of the Church of Greece who was canonized by the Patriarchate of Constantinople in June 2020, is known as a great wonderworker. Greek Church proposes canonization of “Man of God” Papa-Demetrios Gagastathis Greek Church proposes canonization of “Man of God” Papa-Demetrios Gagastathis Greek Church proposes canonization of “Man of God” Papa-Demetrios Gagastathis Greek Church proposes canonization of “Man of God” Papa-Demetrios Gagastathis
At its session earlier this month, the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece unanimously accepted the proposal to canonize a beloved 20th-century married saint.

Subscribe
to our mailing list

* indicates required
×