Wondrous stories of
St. Ephraim of Nea Makri
~Discovery
The monastery of Saint Ephraim, in Nea Makri, Greece, is one of the oldest monasteries in the region. During the Ottoman rule, the Ottomans slaughtered the monks and the monastery was no longer operating as such.
In 1945, Gerondisa Makaria visited the ruins of the Ancient Monastery of the Annunciation (the so called Stavropegic), on the Mount of Amomoi, on the Pentelikon. She decided to live there and build a small room (cell) for herself. She also began unearthing the ancient ruins of the church in order to rebuild it.
She often contemplated upon who had lived in those ruins and prayed to the monks who lived there to show themselves to her so that she would get to know them. Every now and then she would hear a voice deep in her soul, a voice that became clearer with time: ‘Dig and you will find what you are looking for.’ In time, a specific point was revealed to her in the front yard of the ancient monastery.
On January 3, 1950 she asked a worker to dig at the front yard. The worker initially refused, but with her prayers and persuasion he decided to begin. At that exact specific point in the yard there were ruins of a fireplace, a wall, and items that indicated that there used to be a monk’s cell (room). The first thing that was unearthed was a human skull and the whole place emitted a fragrant smell.
“I knelt down with piety and venerated the holy body of the Saint. I felt his martyrdom deep in my soul. My heart was filled with joy, I had just found a treasure. I slowly cleared the soil from his holy remainings that seemed untouched by time,” wrote Abbess Makaria. She unearthed his body and placed it in a case over the tomb.
The same evening, while reading vespers, she heard footsteps. The sound came from the tomb and could be heard from the Church door. There she saw St. Ephraim for the first time: tall, with small dark eyes, long dark beard, in monk’s clothes. In his one hand he was holding a flame, while he blessed with the other.
He asked for his body to be removed from the case. The next morning the Abbess took the holy relics from the case, cleaned them and put them in a small slot in the Church.
That same night St. Ephraim appeared also in her sleep, thanking her and revealing his name: Ephraim. St. Ephraim’s holy relics have been held there since and hundreds of faithful visit daily asking for his help and blessings.
~A man in jail
“My name is T.M., I’m Greek and I live in Sweden. 12 years ago, I was convicted of a crime I hadn’t committed. They sentenced me to 3 years in jail. They locked me in a dark cell. I was waiting 5 months for my appeal, which was due on Friday, December 18, 1981.
All of a sudden, I woke up at 3am on Thursday before the trial. I jumped onto my feet without even realizing that I was awake. There was a man standing in front of me and smiling. He was barefoot and wore a white robe. He was tall and skinny, with a dense beard and a bare head. His eyes were blue, clear and kind.
I asked him in Swedish, “Who are you?” He smiled again and replied in Greek, “You’ll be released tomorrow.” I repeated, “Who are you? How do you know that?” He told me again with a smile, “You’ll be free tomorrow.”
I was shocked and turned to see if the door was open. The door was shut. I turned to the visitor and gazed at him. It was at that moment that I saw something I will remember for as long as I’m alive: the man rose to the upper corner of my cell and disappeared. I was sure that I saw a miracle made by Christ. I made the sign of the cross and went back to bed.
The following morning, I was brought to court. I spent several hours there. Finally, the judge declared, “You are free now.” I fell to my knees, crossed my heart, and left the courthouse. I called my parents to inform them that I had been released. I was surprised to find out that they had known that already. “How?! How could you know that?!” I exclaimed. They replied that my sister had told them about it after praying to Holy Martyr St. Ephraim in Nea Makri.
I called my sister. She told me how she had gone to the Monastery of St. Ephraim on Thursday to pray for me. While praying, she clearly felt that St. Ephraim had heard her prayer, and that I would be released the next day. She called our parents and told them about the event, which was to happen only on the following day! It was even more mind-boggling because none of them had known the date of hearing of my appeal.
Several days later, my sister sent me an icon of St. Ephraim and a book about him. I immediately recognized my mysterious guest on the icon. I traveled to Greece and visited the Monastery to thank the Saint for the mercy that the Lord had revealed to me thanks to his prayers.”
(T.M. Carussell V, Stockholm, Sweden)
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