Here in North America, we were pretty preoccupied today with commemorating St. Herman of Alaska. There is no question that St. Herman is a wonderful saint, but I took a moment as well to remember another one of my favorites, St. Spyridon, Bishop of Tremithus.
St. Spyridon reposed in, more or less, the year 348. His relics, completely incorrupt, are kept in the cathedral on the island of Corfu. He has a reputation as being an unusually active saint — he is seen here, there and pretty much everywhere, interceding for the faithful. Oh pshaw, you say. How do you know that?
There is some unusual proof to the statement. Every year they take his relics and process through the streets of the town. The relics are so incorrupt, so soft and flexible, that they bounce slightly as he is carried, as you or I might bounce when being carried in a chair. After the procession, they do one other thing. Every year. For the who knows how many centuries. What do they do?
Every year, they change St. Spyridon’s shoes. The reason is that the old ones — which were just put on him the year before — are worn out, with holes in the soles. Just like they would be if worn by a man who had just spent the last year covering a lot of ground.
~deep sigh of satisfaction~
I love this Church.
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Eh? I know ROCOR calendars place St Herman on 12 December, along with Ss. Juvenal and Peter. But the Orthodox Church in America rightly commemorates his repose on 13 December and Ss. Juvenal and Peter on their own dates of repose. So, St. Spiridon has his own day.
I am finding that there is quite a bit of confusion about St. Herman’s date. The Greek practice is also to place him on December 13. I’m not sure how the discrepancy came about, but it would be nice to get everyone on the same page.
i picked saint spyridon for my saint research paper for my church history class. i’ve loved this saint since the first time i saw a pair of his worn out shoes donated to my own church. when i was doing research, i couldn’t find any mention of the shoes in his biographies.
then i found your blog. (thank God). just wanted to say thanks for the help!
merry christmas
Re: the feast of St Herman, it seems that he actually reposed on November 15 (O.S.). December 12 or 13 (O.S.) is the date of his burial, but which of the two dates is actually correct hasn’t been conclusively established.
In many places in the Church Abroad (which, as it stands, is the only Church in which St Spyridon is celebrated on Dec. 12), the services of Sts. Spyridon and Herman are combined to celebrate both saints together. I think this is as it should, since St Spyridon, a very great saint widely venerated throughout the Church Universal, should not be displaced by St Herman, whose commemoration is essentially local.
And I too love this, St Spyridon’s and St Herman’s Church, very much. Thanks for this post!