The spiritual preconditions of the 1821 Revolution were the Greek Orthodox ideals which were rooted in the souls of those enslaved for 400 and (with regard to Northern Greece) 500 years of the Turkish Rule.

Orthodoxy, the sense of continuity of Hellenism, language, the resistance spirit of the Greeks, the Great Idea, these were the spiritual foundations of 1821. Besides, the enslaved Greeks were determined to revolt even before the French Revolution (1789). Already a few years only after the Fall of Constantinople the first revolutionary movements began to sprout in the Peloponnese, in Heimarra and elsewhere. Dozens of Greek movements against the Ottomans between 1453 and 1821 have been noted by the historians. Most of them were led by Orthodox clergymen. The blood-stained frocks were omnipresent and whether in underground or official schools it was the priest and the monk who would transmit the love for Christ and the fatherland.

Saint Cosmas of Aetolia did not take up arms but through the spiritual and moral regeneration of those enslaved paved the ground for the great Greek Revolution. His contribution to the national awakening came at a very difficult time when the Nation was in danger of being disheartened by the numerous and unsuccessful revolts. His passage left indelible marks on the souls of those enslaved not only in his birthplace in Aetolia but also in Epirus, Western Macedonia and all the areas he visited during his three (or four) tours. His contribution to the preparation of the Struggle can briefly summarised as follows:

a) Cultivation of the Orthodox spirit. By means of his sermons, his example and his intelligible but at the same time theological language, the Saint averted Islamisation and solidified the Orthodox Faith. Out of fear, because of blackmail but also often of their own free will in the expectation of offices, a number of Christians did join the Islam. All those persons were lost not only to Orthodoxy but to Hellenism, such as the Cham Albanians of Thesprotia: descendants of Islamised Christians, they became the cruellest persecutors of Hellenism during the Turkish Rule as well as, later on, the German-Italian Occupation. The fight of the Saint was primarily about saving souls. However, those who remained Christian by the same token kept their Greek consciousness. In order to avert Islamisation, Saint Cosmas taught Triadology with emphasis. He knew that many illiterate Christians easily fell victim to Muslim propaganda, which dismissed the Holy Trinity.

b) Persistence in the Greek language. It is overwhelming to read the teaching of the Saint whereby he would take upon himself the sins of those who would cease to speak other tongues and would decide to speak solely Greek at home. He was aware of the action of various propagandas which subverted the faith and language of those enslaved. The Saint emphasised that “our Church is in Greek!”.

c) Education and schools. In his last letter to his brother Saint Cosmas himself stated that he had founded ten “Ellinika” (higher) schools and 200 lower-grade ones. In one of his extant letters to the inhabitants of Parga he emphasises that they should found a school for the preservation of the faith and the freedom of the fatherland. His paramount goal was for children to learn about Christ at school, but at the same time the schools of Father Cosmas cultivated the historic and linguistic continuity of Hellenism.

d) Emphasis on social justice. Saint Cosmas had realised what Eleftherios Venizelos much later said about the peasants of Thessaly shortly before the Balkan Wars: if they remain socially and financially oppressed, they will not be able to wage a war to free their enslaved brethren. The sermons of the Saint in defence of social justice, women’s rights, against greed and injustice, in favour of forging community bonds and solidarity, buttressed the mental unity of Greeks and contributed to the prevention of dangerous divisions and disputes between people of the same nation.

e) The Prophecies. The desideratum, the Greek race, the mountains that will save many, the two Easters that will coincide, just as it did indeed occur in 1912, all this and many other optimistic messages were included in the prophecies of Saint Cosmas. This was his greatest national gift to a people in danger of losing every hope for freedom and rebirth. Let us not forget that the Saint lived the slaughter of the Greeks by Turkish Albanians following the Orlov Revolt. His voice was the sole oasis amidst despair.

f) His martyrdom. By means of his martyric death by hanging (Kolkondas, Fier District, in present-day Albania, August 24, 1779) Father Cosmas became a legend, a symbol and a model for those enslaved. His sainthood was immediately recognised by the entire Nation enslaved long before official recognition in 1961. His sacrifice inspired and still does, particularly the Greeks of present-day Albania. Saint Cosmas was executed by hanging and demonstrated in practice that the Freedom of the Greeks did indeed come “from the bones of our slain”. Together with the choir of innumerable Neomartyrs he enriched the Greek Orthodox self-consciousness of those enslaved, which led to the Regeneration of 1821. We kneel in veneration before his sacred memory.