Posts in category: Αγιοι της μονης 1 – Ξενοφώντος

The ‘chorus’ of saints of the Monastery includes the great martyrs Chrysanthos, Neofytos, Isaak and Xenofon, who were ‘sacrifices on the altar of faith’ during the first years of the Greek Revolution for Independence.
It is likely that Damianos, the Treasurer of the Monastery, who was martyred – along with many clerics and elders of the city – under the Ottomon laws in Thessaloniki during a particular period, also belongs to this ‘chorus’.

The long-established Athonite tradition also honours the second founder of the Monastery, Simeon the Blessed, as a saint. He is depicted together with the Athonite saints in a portable icon in the Protaton, which dates to around the middle of the 19th century.

The Great Xenofon the Founder had always been honoured as a saint, and is connected with the beginnings of the historical presence of the Monastery. He is mentioned together with the Athonite saints in the oldest known catalogue of them, which is included in the 18th century work The Garden of Graces by Kaisarios Dapontes. Xenofon the Founder is included in all the relevant studies of Athonite history, starting with the 1701 Pilgrim’s Book of Ioannos Komninos.
In 1998, during the events organized to celebrate the thousand-year anniversary of the Monastery, the Great Xenofon was officially added to the list of saints of the Orthodox Church by the Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, in accordance with the relevant normal procedure for such an action. The date for the honouring of his memory was set at 24 April, while a relevant liturgical service was also decided.

Among the honoured saints of the Monastery, the Great Xenofon the Senator is included as the earliest. According to the long-standing traditions of the Monastery, this Saint, depicted in the company of other members of his family in a portable icon of the Monastery, is its original founder. The memory of the Great Xenofon is celebrated on 26 January.