Seraphim of Phanarion

Holy Hieromartyr Seraphim of Phanarion (Phanari) was archbishop of Phanarion and Neochorion in Greece, executed by the Turks on 4 December 1601. He is commemorated on 4 December.

He was born in the village of Bezoulia in the Agrapha region, to pious parents, Sophronios and Maria. He loved the monastic life and went to the Monastery of the Mother of God called Korona or Krya Vrysi (Cold Spring), where he practised virtue; he was distinguished by his asceticism and became abbot of the monastery. Later he was ordained archbishop of Phanarion and Neochorion.

He was accused of taking part in the revolt of Dionysios the Philosopher, metropolitan of Larissa (commemorated on 10 October), and was seized by the Turks, who tried in vain to make him a Muslim. Enraged at the hieromartyr's steadfast faith, they subjected him to terrible tortures, which increased as Seraphim continued to refuse to betray his faith. After his nose was cut off and he was repeatedly brought before the judge, still refusing to renounce, he was executed on 4 December 1601 by impalement, or according to others by hanging.

The learned Christophoros Prodromites composed for Saint Seraphim canons in the eight tones, with prosomoia and idiomela, printed together with his service. His honoured head, placed in the Monastery of Krya Vrysi (Panagia Korona, near Karditsa), where the saint had been a monk, is a continuing miracle of God, for, despite the abuses, it is covered with skin, which in some places has been taken by the faithful as protection, and bears the marks of martyrdom.