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January 8, 2022

When Saint John the Baptist Appeared to Elder Eumenios Saridakis on a Boat and Covered Him


By Monk Simon

One time, Father Sophronios [later known as Father Eumenios Saridakis] fell ill there in the Monastery [the Monastery of Saint Niketas located in Achendria of Archanes Asterousia, in Crete].

As he told us:

"Some skin was coming off of my body. The Abbot told me, 'Go to Athens to be examined.' They gave me the fare, and I got on the boat to go to Athens.

I was not sitting inside, but outside on the deck. It was night, the weather was bad, the waves were high. I lay down, turned my eyes, and looked at the sky. It was night, very cold.

The Forerunner came, he covered me with a blanket, so that I wouldn't be cold. He did not speak to me, I did not speak to him.

The Honorable Forerunner! Who came? The Forerunner!

The Forerunner with his hair, with his twisted beard.

He did not tell me anything, I did not tell him anything, only that he covered me so as not to catch a cold.

Finally I arrived in Athens, I went to the doctors, they examined me, but they did not agree with what I have."

Source: From the book Πατήρ Ευμένιος, Ο ποιμήν ο καλός και θαυματουργός. Translation by John Sanidopoulos.