Meletios of Ypseni

Venerable Meletios of Ypseni (Meletios of Lardos) was born toward the end of the eighteenth century in the village of Lardos on the island of Rhodes, with the baptismal name Emmanuel. His parents, Nicholas and Stamatia, raised him in love of God and in the traditions of the nation. From infancy it was clear that he was a chosen vessel: he refused his mother's milk on fasting days, Wednesday and Friday. Later he gave out goods from his father's storehouse to the poor without their diminishing, to the amazement of his parents, who had scolded him.

He learned to read from the village priest and studied the lives of the saints with zeal, trying to imitate their struggles by vigil, prayer and fasting. He would withdraw into the forest, to a cave in the area of the old monastery, then in ruins, of the Most Holy Mother of God of Ypseni (the Height). One night he saw a column of light descend from heaven over an ancient olive tree and, drawing near, found an old icon of the Mother of God. The Mother of God then appeared to him in a vision and told him to build a church there and rebuild the monastery; she also showed him where to dig to find the money. Meletios found a hidden treasure, obtained permission from the Turkish authorities, built the church and the cells around it, received the angelic habit and the name Meletios, and struggled there. The local hierarch ordained him deacon and priest and made him abbot.

His fame spread across the island. He healed the sick and freed many possessed, received kindly those persecuted by the Turks, and urged Christians to remain faithful to the faith of their fathers. The Turks sought an occasion to kill him. In old age he was unjustly accused: a Turk had made pregnant a Christian woman of Lardos, Pelagia, who was mentally impaired, and the Turks forced her to name the venerable father as the father of the child. Summoned before the Metropolitan of Rhodes, Meletios could not bear the accusation and gave up his spirit at the hierarch's feet. The truth came to light when his body was prepared for burial. He was buried in the courtyard of the cathedral of the Entry of the Mother of God into the Temple, and when the grave was opened later, the relics were found fragrant. He is commemorated on 12 February (new style).