Konstantinos the Fool for Christ

Blessed Konstantinos the Fool for Christ, of Karyes (Gero-⁠Kostas), was born at Kalentsi near Dodona in Epirus on 10 February 1898, the son of Stavros and Anthoula. Little is known of his first years as a monk; he had been a novice at the Dionysiou Monastery. For years he was seen around Karyes, living in a ruined cell of the Koutloumousiou Monastery. In a corner, under a tattered blanket, he sat like an eagle in its nest. He wore an old coat tied with a rope, and inwardly he was clothed with the grace of the angelic habit. Those who looked from afar took him for a poor wretch or a madman, but from near, seeing his shining face, they understood that a mystery was in him.

He rarely spoke to people and always with God, in unceasing prayer. Sometimes his mind was ravished, and when he came back he made gestures with his hand "to stir the waters" and went away. By him lay a Psalter and a Horologion, and his household was a tin can with a wire for a handle. On Saturdays he received some leftovers at the guesthouses of Karyes. Some of his seemingly senseless words proved later to be prophecies. A young man who wished to become a monk but met obstacles was advised by him to read the life of Saint John of Damascus. In 1969, because many foreigners came and took him for a madman, the authorities sent him to an asylum in Thessalonica. The doctors found nothing wrong with him and moved him to an old-⁠age home, where he wept silently in corners, saying the prayer. There he ended his life. He is honoured by the faithful, without synodal canonization.