ST. SPYRIDON'S GREAT MIRACLE IN CORFU

INTRODUCTION

One of the greatest Saints of the Ecclesia is St. Spyridon the Miracle-Worker. The history of the island of Corfu is closely associated with St. Spyridon, the patron Saint of Corfu, who was a Cypriot bishop born in 270 AD. He took part in the First Oecumenical Synod in Nicaea (325 AD), where he gave his miraculous testimony in the disputed doctrine of the Holy Trinity. During the last years of his life he performed a great number of miracles, which was the reason why people considered him a Saint before his death.

For over a 100 years after his death, sweet-scented exhalations were perceived emanating from his tomb, until the local churchmen dug it up and found his body intact. The holy remains were kept in Cyprus for over 300 years. In the second half of the 17th century the Saint's body was carried to Constantinople, until the fall of the City to the Turks in 1453. Shortly after the Turkish conquest, the priest George Kalochairetis carried off the body of the Saint, together with that of Saint Theodora and he brought them to Corfu in 1456. Since that year St. Spyridon has never ceased to be the object of devout veneration by the faithful.

A FAMILY STORY

Approximately 1300 years after his repose, Saint Spyridon's body remains incorrupt on the island of Corfu generating an untold number of miracles.

Being a web-host of this website, I know the people well and they asked me to add some of the miracle stories that have taken place in my family with the help of the Saint.

My grandfather fought in the Albanian-Greek war, and while near the borders one day, he was miraculously protected twelve times in that day from certain death thanks to the Saint's intercessions. (To give the reader an idea of the type of events involved here, my grandfather, who was an officer in command, had gone to scout the surrounding area and had stepped near a crevice in the dark while doing this. When dawn came, he realised that there was no crevice and that he should have in fact fallen off the cliff but he was protected and had literally "walked in the air"!) Since then, my late grandfather and his family would greatly venerate this Saint.

My own father who knew of this story still recalls when once he was driving with a fellow worker outside Alexandroupolis, Greece, one cold winter many years ago, and their truck's engine died out. They tried a few times to start the engine but to no avail. The cold was piercing, with temperatures going many degrees below freezing point, strong winds, and general bad weather that is so typical during winter in these areas. The nearest town was still far away and the snow, cold, wind and lack of heating would probably kill them eventually.

While sitting inside the truck, thinking what to do, my father's friend sighed and said "Ah, my St. Spyridon, what you do to us!" Then my father looked up and asked him "Is it St. Spyridon's day today?" His friend nodded in agreement. Then my father, remembering how much the Saint had protected his father many years ago, smiled with relief and said "Why didn't you say so earlier?" and then added "Start the engine, we can go". The other person looked at him strangely and asked him not to joke with their current predicament but my father insisted. So, the other guy, who was the driver, tried once more to start the engine; and it did! They left and arrived safely at their destination.

For this reason I am particularly touched and honoured that years later I am alive thanks to St. Spyridon's intercessions (who protected my grandfather and my father) and present here to describe the following well-known miracle of the Saint that took place many years before my grandfather, father or I had been born.

Our website dedicates this story to our Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Mr. Christodoulos who, ignoring strong reactions from the Holy Synod, insisted upon his intention to visit Ratzinger, the latest Roman Pontiff.

THE GREAT MIRACLE

In 1716 the Turks had the island of Corfu under a tight siege. They had 50,000 troops and a good number of ships surrounding the island, cutting its lifeline from land and sea.

The barbarian armies had been concentrated at the far walls of the city. Pizani, a general of the forces of the Venetian Republic, was anxiously anticipating the oncoming enemy attack (since Corfu and the nearby islands were occupied by Italy at the time).

At daybreak on August 11, 1716, St. Spyridon, the patron Saint of the island, appeared in front of the enemy lines holding a glistening sword in his right hand. His austere and grandiose appearance horrified the aggressors who began to recede. The Agarenes, panic-stricken by the most awesome presence and fearless attack of the Saint, abandoned weapons, machinery and animals, running for their lives.

This great miracle became known throughout the island. The Turks had left behind 120 cannons, a large number of weapons, ammunition, animals and food.

After this powerful, surprising and most obvious miracle, the Venetian ruler Andrew Pizani, who was a Papist, wanted to erect a Papist altar inside the Orthodox Church of St. Spyridon (forever pushing for this was also the Papist Cardinal of the island). However, St. Spyridon appeared to Pizani in a dream saying: "Why are you bothering me? The altar of your faith is unacceptable in my Temple!" Naturally, Pizani reported this to the Papist Cardinal who answered that it was nothing but an evil fantasy of the devil who wanted to nullify the noble deed. After this, Pizani was much encouraged, so he ordered the necessary materials to commence construction of the altar. The materials were piled up outside of the temple of St. Spyridon. When the Orthodox priests of the temple and the Greek leaders of the island realised what was going on, they were greatly grieved. They asked to meet with Pizani to ask him to put a stop to this. Pizani's response was quite disheartening. He said quite bluntly, "As a ruler I will do whatever I please!" At that moment, the Orthodox community of the island turned their eyes to their Saint, beseeching him to put a stop to this abomination.

That same night, St. Spyridon appeared to Pizani as a monk and told him, "I told you not to bother me. If you dare to go through with your decision, you will surely regret it, but by then it will be too late."

The next morning, Pizani reported all this to the Papist Cardinal who now accused him of being not only faithless but also of being "yellow". Again, after this, the ruler mustered up enough courage to order the construction of the altar.

The Papists of the island were celebrating their triumph while the Orthodox were deeply grieved. Their grief could not be comforted and with tears they begged for the Saint's intervention to save them from the Papist abomination.

The Saint heard their prayers and intervened dynamically.

That evening, a terrible storm broke out, unleashing a barrage of thunderbolts on Fort Castelli, Pizani's base and his ammunition barracks. The entire fort ended up in a holocaust. 900 Papist soldiers and civilians were instantly killed from the explosion, but not a single Orthodox was harmed (as they were not allowed inside the fort after dark). Pizani was found dead with his neck wedged between two wooden beams. The body of the Papist Cardinal was found thrown a great distance from the fort.

But the most incredible fact was that the same night and at the same hour, another thunderbolt struck in Venice, targeting the compound of Pizani, burning his portrait that hung on the wall. Strangely enough, nothing else was damaged. Also, the guard of the ammunition barracks saw the Saint draw near him with a lit torch. He was carried by the Saint near the church of the Crucified without a single scratch.

PRESENT TIMES

Many are the miracles of St. Spyridon to our dearest Orthodoxy. It seems that the Saint does not share the enthusiasm of certain Ecumenist clerics. Because we do not wish to draw attention to specific names at this point, we would simply like to mention that very recently, an important Orthodox hierarch in Corfu had decided to go and meet with Latin Papists outside the island, himself being a philo-Papist. However, he never made it back to the island as he suddenly dropped dead.

It seems that the Saint does not want those clerics who make openings to the Latins back in his island ...