Feast of Saint Demetrius the Great-Martyr, at the Monastery of Saint John of San Francisco

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Created on Tuesday, 10 November 2020 01:13

On Sunday October 26/ November 8, His Eminence Metropolitan Demetrius celebrated the feast of Saint Demetrius the Great-Martyr, at the monastery of Saint John of San Francisco, the Wonderworker.

At the monastery, a special fast is observed, and traditional prefestal hymns of the Saint are chanted, the week preceding the feast. Afterfeast hymns are chanted on the week following.
 
Many faithful traveled many hours to visit the monastery on this occasion. The atmosphere was very festive; the presence of the saint was very tangible.

His Eminence delivered a powerful sermon in honor of Saint Demetrius which can be viewed in the below video. After the Divine Liturgy, the monastery offered hospitality to the many pilgrims who sat for the trapeza meal. Since there were more people than anticipated, some had to wait to eat.

Following the monastic traditions of Mount Athos, after the "Panagia" service in the refectory, the monastics and pilgrims returned to the Church to complete the service with an ancient canon chanted in honor of Saint Demetrius, followed by "many years" to His Eminence who blessed the faithful.

His Eminence spent the rest of the day speaking with the faithful who patiently waited one by one, (or group by group), outside of his reception area.

We wish "Many years" to our beloved archpastor!

View the feast day gallery on Saint John of San Francisco’s Monastery website: https://www.saintjohnsmonastery.org/feast-of-saint-demetrius-the-great-martyr-2020-gallery/

For more videos, visit our Orthodox Tradition website.

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This miracle of Saint Spyridon took place in Mandra, Greece in 1926.

It was 12/25 December, 1926. The state Church of Greece adopted the Papal calendar and with the help of the Greek government persecuted all those who did not accept the Papal calendar. The faithful Orthodox Christians of Mandra woke up and headed to their Church to celebrate the Feast of Saint Spyridon. When they reached the Church they saw that the door to the Church had been secured with chains and the faithful could not enter. Before leaving the Church to return to their homes they stuck their candles on the door. As soon as the last person placed his candles on the door

the chains broke and fell. The faithful, confirmed in their Faith, entered the Church and celebrated the Feast of Saint Spyridon.

The miracle was reported the next day by the newspaper Skrip.

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