EDITOR’S NOTE. An old saying in Greek villages goes: “A saint doesn’t really need to be proclaimed…the people know one when they see one.”
But it is no secret that our Orthodox Church has a rich history, written in the lives, miracles, and martyrdom of countless saints. And what the village saying refers to is the “visible saints” that were active in the lives of the local communities, and stood out for their holiness in a way that the voice of the people eagerly cried out “ΑΓΙΟΣ” at their burial, just like they are supposed to exclaim “ΑΞΙΟΣ” for a worthy candidate for ordination.
People never doubt, even years or decades before, that a “well-known” saint is formally declared by the Church…
Some saints are also “invisible” in history: they worked silently behind the scenes and received the crown of sainthood, but nobody knows or finds out about them, truly fulfilling that Scriptural mandate to “do all good deeds in secret in order to be rewarded by God”.
And then, there are some saints who are lesser known to the broader public, but have at least some solid testimony of their sainthood, or who miraculously appear out of nowhere (St. Phanourios….Saints Raphael/Nikolaos/Irene in Mytilini, etc)…
GOARCH has announced the exhumation of Gerasimos of Abydos, a well-respected clergyman and scholar who reposed in the Lord over 30 years ago. Media outlets already describe, in words and photographs, that the relics appear to be incorrupt. It would be a wonderful thing for Orthodoxy in America to have another saint to venerate on the East Coast, just like the relic of St. John Maximovich is on the West Coast.
At the same time, GOARCH should be extremely cautious in our day and age so they don’t inadvertently “import” the same tumultuous debate that occurred about 20 years ago following the exhumation of the monk Vyssarion in Greece…
That very public debate damaged the faithful of the Church of Greece more than it helped them… We trust that the Synod will remember what happened there, and remember the Greek “village saying” quoted in the first paragraph… (slow and steady is best in these situations).
Hellenic College Holy Cross welcomed the relics of Bp—Gerasimos in a historic ceremony honoring his enduring spiritual legacy.
BROOKLINE, MA — Hundreds of faithful gathered at Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology on October 10, 2026, for the historic translation of the relics of Gerasimos, Bishop of Abydos—the ceremony, presided over by Abp. Elpidophoros of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and joined by Metr. Savas of Pittsburgh, brought the relics from the hierarch’s gravesite into Holy Cross Chapel for public veneration for the first time.
The observance coincided with what would have been Bp. Gerasimos’ 116th birthday, more than 30 years after his repose on June 12, 1995. Before the ceremony, clergy, former students, and seminarians gathered for a panel discussion recalling his ministry as a Scripture professor, spiritual father, and mentor whose example continues to shape generations of Orthodox Christians.
Following memorial prayers at his gravesite, the relics were transferred to the chapel, where Abp. Elpidophoros and Metr. Savas, assisted by clergy who had known the hierarch, vested them in new hierarchical vestments. A solemn procession followed, culminating in the faithful’s opportunity to venerate the relics.
“The presence of Metropolitan Savas carried particular personal and spiritual significance,” the Orthodox Observer reported. “His Eminence was the priest who administered Holy Communion to Bishop Gerasimos shortly before his blessed repose in 1995, and now, more than thirty years later, stood alongside the Archbishop to honor his memory and participate in the translation of his sacred relic.”
Abp. Elpidophoros described the event through Christ’s image of a lamp brought into the light, declaring that Bishop Gerasimos’ spiritual legacy had never been extinguished. The observance represents a local recognition of his holiness, not a formal canonization, which remains the prerogative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Following his retirement from the episcopacy in 1977, Bp. Gerasimos lived a simple life in one of the dormitories at the seminary, where he worked as a professor and remained as a source of spiritual wisdom for the students and wider community.
One story of his sanctity was told of a five-year old boy who came with his parents to the Holy Cross Chapel. He excitedly told his mother: “Mother, I want to come here for Church, where that elderly pappou is celebrating.” “Why?”asked his mother? “Because during the Liturgy I could see a beautiful light on his head.”
An apolytikion has also been published by the archdiocese:
Apolytikion – Mode pl. 1
God-inspired professor and teacher of the Faith and the spiritual life to the Orthodox who live in America, O grace-filled Gerasimos, we salute you as a Christ-centered, humble hierarch who loved the all-holy Gospel. We pray, implore Christ our Savior to have mercy and to save us all.
Bp. Gerasimos of Abydos. Photo: acrod.org
Previously, the UOJ reported that the Ecumenical Patriarchate welcomed the Greece-Bulgaria agreement on the return of relics.
