The Greek town of Patras organized an enthusiastic reception of the relics of the late Metropolitan Ghermanos of Old Patras in order to honour the brilliant National Rouser, the Hierarch who raised the standard of Revolution in Saint Lavra and the flag of the Struggle in Patras in March of 1821, by swearing in its chieftains and captains with the motto of “Either Freedom or Death”!
Ghermanos of Old Patras slept in Nafplion in 1826 and was buried there. His relics are kept in his birthplace, the village of Dimitsana.
Within the framework of the grandiose celebrations of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece and the Holy Metropolitanate of Patras on the occasion of the bicentenary of the Revolution of 1821, the relic box containing the bones of the National Rouser Hierarch was translate from Dimitsana to Patras on a military vehicle and honorifically accompanied by Army and Police detachments. The reception took place near the holy church of Saint Andreas with the pomp and honour due and the ecclesiastical, political and military leadership attending together with representatives of the authorities and sections of Associations in traditional attire.
Most Rev. Metropolitan Chryssostomos of Patras received the relic box and, following the Doxology performed in the holy church of Saint Apostle Andreas, delivered a moving speech regarding the late Ghermanos, stating among others:
“Two-hundred years after the glorious day when the freedom of Greece dawned and shone, thou art once again on your throne, o Great Hierarch, here in Patras, to set the hearts of all of us on fire, with the fervour of your love of Christ and Greece. To teach our children the true history and tell them what Greece is, what its glory is like, what sacrifices and blood were offered by heroes and martyrs who fought gloriously and fell heroically for its freedom. To lead them to another revolution, the one against those who falsified history and the rights for which thou and the other heroes and martyrs of freedom fought to the point of shedding your blood; those who both relinquished the Greek language and altered the hallowed tradition of the race. […] The history and the future of Greece are founded on three words, you used to say, o famous Hierarch: “Religion – Freedom – Fatherland”. This is what we too reiterate. And rest assured that we shall fight to preserve them to the point of shedding our own blood, if need be”.
You may wish to see the entire text of the address delivered bythe Most Rev. Metropolitan of Patras here .
The Most Rev. Metropolitans Amvrossios formerly of Kalavryta and Aighialeia, Ierotheos of Nafpaktos and Saint Vlassios, Ignatios of Demetrias and Almyros (Chairman of the Committee of the Holy Church of Greece on Cultural Identity), Ieronymos of Kalavryta and Aighialeia, and His Grace Bishop Chryssanthos of Kernitsa partook of the reception.
From Dimitsana to Patras ecclesiastical and political dignitaries accompanied the relics of Ghermanos of Old Patras, together with young people dressed in traditional local costumes.
The relics of Ghermanos of Old Patras will remain in the holy church of Saint Apostle Andreas of Patras until Monday, June 14, 2021, when they will be returned to his birthplace, Dimitsana.
