Anastasios Gordios

Saint Anastasios Gordios was a learned priest and teacher of the nation in the time of Ottoman rule. He was born in 1654 at Vrangiana in Agrapha and fell asleep on 7 June 1729. The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece glorified him among the saints in 2021.

Studies and return home

He was the most distinguished disciple of Saint Eugenios of Aitolia (commemorated on 5 August). He studied medicine in Italy, where he learned Latin and ancient Greek literature from Greek and foreign teachers. He also spoke French and Italian fluently. He remained faithful to the right faith and rebuked the Greeks who fell into the snare of papism. Great universities abroad wished to have him, but he chose to return home to Vrangiana, to contribute to the spiritual uplift and education of the nation. He taught at the "Holy Spirit University" of Great Vrangiana, the School of the Nation, and then at Aitoliko, Trikala and Karpenisi. He spoke to his students about Christ and about Greek history, and secretly cultivated the idea of the nation's rising.

His work

He left many writings, kept in the monasteries of the region: a concise exposition of Logic, an art of rhetoric, a lexicon of the spoken language, handbooks of spelling and syntax, medical prescriptions and about 750 letters, many about the organisation of the schools. He translated the physician Hippocrates into plain Greek, compiled a botanical and zoological nomenclature, and wrote the life of Saint Eugenios of Aitolia, as well as theological treatises. Some of his works were printed in Bucharest, Moschopolis and Vienna. He urged learned Greeks who had gone abroad to return. At the same time he helped large families, supported widowed mothers and cared for orphans. He was the physician of Vrangiana, of bodies and of souls.

Repose and veneration

He fell asleep on 7 June 1729 and was buried at Vrangiana, beside the tomb of his teacher Saint Eugenios. His skull is also kept there, a source of healing according to the faithful; many who kissed it with reverence found the healing they sought. The Synod of the Church of Greece, on the proposal of the metropolitan of Karpenisi, glorified him in 2021, appointing his commemoration for 7 June, the day of his repose, for his holy life and his contribution to the Church and to education.