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October 21, 2023

The Right Hand of Saint Matrona of Chios and Her Personal Psalter


Saint Matrona of Chios (read here) was an abbess in the 14th century who became widely known for her miracles.

During her lifetime she had a personal prayer rule to read through the entire Psalter on a daily basis, beginning at sunrise and ending by sunset.
 
According to Archimandrite Joachim Strongylos, today a portion of the relics of Saint Matrona, which include her right hand and her personal Psalter, are at Dionysiou Monastery of Mount Athos. These together with other sacred treasures, vessels and manuscripts of the Monastery of Saint Matrona were brought to Dionysiou Monastery for safekeeping when it was destroyed by the Turks during the massacre of Chios in 1822.

Among the manuscripts is also an early encomium to Saint Matrona by Metropolitan Neilos the Diassorinos of Rhodes (14th cent.), who also as a layman with the name Niketas wrote a Service to the Saint. He was born and raised in the village of Saint Matrona, namely Volissos of Chios.