The day of Saint Theodoros was celebrated with splendour yesterday 12 May 2023. From early Thursday morning, many people flocked to the Holy Pilgrimage, as well as many visitors from Koroni in Messinia and from neighbouring Crete.
On Thursday evening, the Great Pan-Holy Vespers was celebrated, presided over by the Metropolitan of Kissamos and Selino, Mr.Amfilochios, and on the morning of Friday, May 12th, on the very same day of the feast, the Archpriestly Mass was celebrated, presided over by the above Metropolitan. Afterwards, the Holy Litany of the Holy Cara of Saint Theodoros took place in the courtyard and the courtyard of the Monastery, accompanied by a crowd of people.
The festivities were honored with the presence of the MP for Piraeus & Islands of the New Democracy and again Candidate Mr. Nikolaos Manolakos, the Mayor of Kythera Mr. Efstratios Harhalakis with the Deputy Mayors, the Chairman of the Property Committee Mr. Evangelos Venardos, the Candidate Mayor of Kythera Mr. Anargyros Sophios, the Governor of the Kythera Hospital Mr. Georgios Megalokonomos, the former Mayor of Kythera Mr. Theodoros Koukoulis and representatives of the Security Corps of the island.
Eleni Harou wrote about the day:
Our local church honours the memory of Saint Theodoros, who according to the synaxarium of the 10th century was born in Koroni of Messinia around 880. Around 921, during the reign of Emperor Romanos of Lekapenos, Saint Theodoros, coming from the church of the Virgin of Deaconess in Monemvasia, arrived in Kythera when the island was «deserted and invincible» due to the invasions of the Saracens of Crete. In Kythera, he languished in the early Christian church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, which seems to have been founded on the site of a pagan temple in honour of Dionysus. In 922, Theodore died. Monemvasian sailors buried his skeleton and the old church of Saints Sergios and Bacchus was dedicated to the saint. Over time, a monastery was created, which acquired property. According to the chronicle of the monk Chila of 1460, the monastery in the 13th-14th centuries belonged to the jurisdiction of the Venetian feudal lords Venerians. Then the monastery was taken over by a protopapas Notaras. Around 1630 the bishop of Kythera, Athanasios Valerianos (later Metropolitan of Philadelphia-Venice) founded the new church in a Byzantine style. The church was built in the Byzantine rhythm. Above the main entrance, an impressive coat of arms with a commemorative plaque was installed, which bears the following inscription: «TOIS DIONYSIAKOIS ATHANASIIS PROFRON AGLAISI PTILOIS HYPSITHRONO TEMENEI. OXYTATIS DE MAKAR ARETAON VENTHESIN AYTHIS LETHIS LEFT LIGHT UPON TRIADOS Uranium» In free rendering «Athanasius zealot, you flew high with glorious wings and surpassed the Dionysian cult and raised the old temple of Dionysus to a glorious temple. With the infinite depth of your virtue you will receive the light of the Heavenly Trinity» Around the monastery a residential area was created and in 1695 the monastery numbered 10 cells with nuns and novices, and is under the direct supervision of the Bishop of Kythera, unlike the pilgrimage of Myrtidia, which from the Venetian rule until today is jus patronato publico, i.e. belongs to the jurisdiction of the State.
