We
know nothing for certain about the background of St Phanourius, nor
exactly when he lived. Tradition says that when the island of Rhodes had
been conquered by Moslems, the new ruler of the island wished to
rebuild the walls of the city, which had been damaged in previous wars.
Several ruined buildings were near the fortress, and stone from these
buildings was used to repair the walls at the end
of the fifteenth century, or the beginning of the sixteenth.
While working on the fortress, the Moslems uncovered the ruins of a
beautiful church. Several icons, most of them badly damaged, were found
on the floor. One icon, of St Phanourius, looked as if it had been
painted that very day. The local bishop, whose name was Nilus, was
called to see the icon. It said, "Saint Phanourius."
The saint
is depicted as a young soldier holding a cross in his right hand. On
the upper part of the cross is a lighted taper. Twelve scenes from his
life are shown around the border of the icon. These scenes show him
being questioned by an official, being beaten with stones by soldiers,
stretched out on the ground while soldiers whip him, then having his
sides raked with iron hooks. He is also shown locked up in prison,
standing before the official again, being burned with candles, tied to a
rack, thrown to the wild animals, and being crushed by a large rock.
The remaining scenes depict him standing before idols holding burning
coals in his hands, while a demon stands by lamenting his defeat by the
saint, and finally, the saint stands in the midst of a fire with his
arms raised in prayer.
These scenes clearly revealed that the
saint was a martyr. Bishop Nilus sent representatives to the Moslem
ruler, asking that he be permitted to restore the church. Permission was
denied, so the bishop went to Constantinople and there he obtained a
decree allowing him to rebuild the church.
At that time, there
was no Orthodox bishop on the island of Crete. Since Crete was under
the control of Venice, there was a Latin bishop. The Venetians refused
to allow a successor to be consecrated when an Orthodox bishop died, or
for new priests to be ordained, hoping that in time they would be able
to convert the Orthodox population to Catholicism. Those seeking
ordination were obliged to go to the island of Kythera.
It so
happened that three young deacons had traveled from Crete to Kythera to
be ordained to the holy priesthood. On their way back, they were
captured at sea by Moslems who brought them to Rhodes to be sold as
slaves. Lamenting their fate, the three new priests wept day and night.
While in Rhodes the priests heard of the miracles performed by the holy
Great Martyr Phanourius. They began to pray to him with tears, asking
to be freed from their captivity. Each of the three had been sold to a
different master, and so remained unaware of what the others were doing.
By the mercy of God, each of the priests was allowed by his
master to pray at the restored church of St Phanourius. All three
arrived at the same time and prostrated themselves before the icon of
the saint, asking to be delivered from the hands of the Hagarenes
(Moslems, descendents of Hagar). Somewhat consoled, the priests left the
church and returned to their masters.
That night St
Phanourius appeared to the three masters and ordered them to set the
priests free so that they could serve the Church, or he would punish
them. The Moslems ignored the saint's warning, believing the vision to
be the result of sorcery. The cruel masters bound the priests with
chains and treated them even worse than before.
Then St
Phanourius went to the priests and freed them from their shackles,
promising that they would be freed the next day. Appearing once more to
the Moslems, the holy martyr told them severely, "If you do not release
your slaves by tomorrow, you shall witness the power of God!"
The next morning, all the inhabitants of the homes where the priests
were held awoke to find themselves blind, paralyzed, and in great pain.
They considered what they were to do, and so decided to send for the
priests. When the three priests arrived, they asked them whether they
could heal them. The priests replied, "We will pray to God. May His will
be done!"
Once more St Phanourius appeared to the Hagarenes,
ordering them to send to the church a document granting the priests
their freedom. He told them that if they refused to do this, they would
never recover their sight or health. All three masters wrote letters
releasing the priests, and sent the documents to the church, where they
were placed before the icon of St Phanourius.
Before the
messengers returned from the church, all those who had been blind and
paralyzed were healed. The priests joyfully returned to Crete, carrying
with them a copy of the icon of St Phanourius. Every year they
celebrated the Feast of St Phanourius with deep gratitude for their
miraculous deliverance.
The saint's name sounds similar to the
Greek verb "phanerono," which means "to reveal" or "to disclose." For
this reason, people pray to St Phanourius to help them find lost
objects. When the object is recovered, they bake a sweet bread and share
it with the poor, offering prayers for the salvation of saint's mother.
Her name is not known, but according to tradition, she was a sinful
woman during her life. St Phanourius has promised to help those who pray
for his mother in this way
