By Monk Simon
At the beginning of the 1990's, our country* was plagued by drought. The authorities were worried about a major water shortage, and the media had added a water bulletin to the news reports. Every day they told us that Lake Marathon** had so many cubic meters of water, which was enough for so many days. They recommended us not to waste water needlessly and to take various measures to limit its consumption.***
Saint Eumenios Saridakis (+ 1999) from the Leper Hospital of the Municipality of Agia Varvara was hospitalized at that time in Evangelismos, for about three months, seriously ill and with the prospect of the doctors amputating his leg. On the day of Great Saturday, in the morning, he told me to take him and go to the Metropolis to attend church, since we had previously received permission to leave the hospital.
Afterwards, we went to offer our veneration at Penteli Monastery and at Saint Panteleimon in Nea Penteli. Returning, he asked me if Lake Marathon is nearby. After I answered in the affirmative, he said to me:
"Can we go there?"
When we arrived, Father was walking on the dam and blessing the lake with the sign of the cross and saying many and various prayers. I was trying to be as close to him as possible, because I was afraid that he might fall, since his leg was very heavy. However, when I got very close to him, he stopped praying and said to me: "You know, when the lake is filled with water, with a lot of water, they will start pouring from the sides, from what are called overflows."
And I said to him: "Very well Father," and I left him and he moved away a little while he continued to bless with the sign of the cross the lake and say many prayers. Then we returned to the hospital.
After two or three days, some female students visited Father Eumenios to receive his blessing.
As we were told later, all the time they were there, Father was looking out of the window, waving his hands and saying continuously:
"What a beautiful rain! What a beautiful rain! My my, the rain! Lots of rain! Lots of rain!” and they said to themselves, with their thoughts, that Father had probably been affected by his illness, because there was not even a cloud in the sky.
In a few days it started to rain torrentially, day and night, and then we realized what had happened. Our Father, with his prayers, opened the heavens and let out the rain. It was the spring of 1993 and it had not been raining normally for about three years, so the authorities decided to bring water with water tankers for the water supply of Athens.
Source: Ἅγ. Εὐμένιος Σαριδάκης ὁ Ποιμήν ὁ Καλός καί Θαυματουργός, ἐκδ. Ἑπτάλοφος, Ἀθήνα 2022, 257. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
Saint Eumenios Saridakis (+ 1999) from the Leper Hospital of the Municipality of Agia Varvara was hospitalized at that time in Evangelismos, for about three months, seriously ill and with the prospect of the doctors amputating his leg. On the day of Great Saturday, in the morning, he told me to take him and go to the Metropolis to attend church, since we had previously received permission to leave the hospital.
Afterwards, we went to offer our veneration at Penteli Monastery and at Saint Panteleimon in Nea Penteli. Returning, he asked me if Lake Marathon is nearby. After I answered in the affirmative, he said to me:
"Can we go there?"
When we arrived, Father was walking on the dam and blessing the lake with the sign of the cross and saying many and various prayers. I was trying to be as close to him as possible, because I was afraid that he might fall, since his leg was very heavy. However, when I got very close to him, he stopped praying and said to me: "You know, when the lake is filled with water, with a lot of water, they will start pouring from the sides, from what are called overflows."
And I said to him: "Very well Father," and I left him and he moved away a little while he continued to bless with the sign of the cross the lake and say many prayers. Then we returned to the hospital.
After two or three days, some female students visited Father Eumenios to receive his blessing.
As we were told later, all the time they were there, Father was looking out of the window, waving his hands and saying continuously:
"What a beautiful rain! What a beautiful rain! My my, the rain! Lots of rain! Lots of rain!” and they said to themselves, with their thoughts, that Father had probably been affected by his illness, because there was not even a cloud in the sky.
In a few days it started to rain torrentially, day and night, and then we realized what had happened. Our Father, with his prayers, opened the heavens and let out the rain. It was the spring of 1993 and it had not been raining normally for about three years, so the authorities decided to bring water with water tankers for the water supply of Athens.
Source: Ἅγ. Εὐμένιος Σαριδάκης ὁ Ποιμήν ὁ Καλός καί Θαυματουργός, ἐκδ. Ἑπτάλοφος, Ἀθήνα 2022, 257. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
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Notes:
* This was in Greece in 1993.
** Lake Marathon or the Marathon Reservoir is a water supply reservoir formed from the construction of Marathon Dam at the junction of Charadros and Varnavas Torrents near the town of Marathon, Greece.
*** Greece faces national emergency because of drought, premier says
* This was in Greece in 1993.
** Lake Marathon or the Marathon Reservoir is a water supply reservoir formed from the construction of Marathon Dam at the junction of Charadros and Varnavas Torrents near the town of Marathon, Greece.
*** Greece faces national emergency because of drought, premier says