Venerable Christophoros Papoulakos in the Hagiologion of the Church
August 30, 2024
By Dr. Haralambos M. Bousias
August 30, 2024
By Dr. Haralambos M. Bousias
Saint Christophoros, the wandering preacher of piety, was a modern missionary, a preacher of the gospel of love with an unenslaved phronema, who fought to the death for the truth, for Orthodoxy, for the ancestral traditions. He was a spiritual revolutionary, who participated in the great preparation of the nation for the overthrow of the long-standing Ottoman tyranny and then reacted strongly both to the effects of the Bavarian rule on the Greek Orthodox spirit and on the ancestrally received way of life, as well as against agnosticism and secularization, plagues that threaten to this day to change the spirit of our Orthodox Tradition.
The virtuous, popularly revered preacher, ascetic, good, prophetic, miraculous hermit Christophoros, known to all as Papoulakos, as well as other divinely-illumined spirits of that time, Konstantinos Oikonomos of Oikonomon, Kosmas Flamiatos and Ignatios Lambropoulos of Megaspelaion, with whom he founded the Philorthodox Society in Patras, were also Kollyvades Fathers, solid in tradition, and hence diagnosed the immediate danger that the Orthodox Nation of the Greeks was undergoing from the occupying modernists and the treacherous enemy of ignorance of the gospel truth. He diagnosed the galloping disease and proposed spiritual medicines suitable for the revival and treatment of the storm-tossed Orthodox Hellenism of the Peloponnese, Attica and the islands where he either taught the word of salvation or remained in exile, after his persecution for his strict rebuking preaching in which he disgraced the glorious ones of the earth who are "regarded as rulers over the nations."[1]
Today, in the confusion caused by globalization, the substitute of the then Bavarian rule, the relaxation of morals and the secular attitude of the Church, the highlighting of the personality of Saint Christophoros is judged, as we have already mentioned, imperative and a necessary act, for the retention of the confused Orthodox flock. The offering of Papoulakos to Orthodox society is timeless and always relevant; always worthy of imitation.
Saint Christophoros, the so-called Panagiotopoulos, known to all of us as Papoulakos, was born in the year 1770 in the village of Armpounas, in the mountainous areas and lush forests of the province of Kalavryta. He was a peaceful man, just, selfless, honorable, simple in manners and very merciful. He worked as a butcher until he was seventy years old. Then the grace of the Holy Spirit overshadowed him completely and brought him the good change. Then he was found worthy to experience his personal Pentecost and from being illiterate to becoming a "chosen vessel,"[2] and an imitator of the Holy Apostles.
Obeying some divine call, he dedicated himself completely to the Lord and, after joining the ranks of the monks of the Great Cave, with personal effort and expense he built the Skete of the Dormition of the Theotokos, a little above his village, Armpounas. Exuding a genuine Orthodox phronema and steadfastness in our uninnovative faith, he began to preach piety and tour the cities and villages of the Peloponnese, teaching and instructing the people who were in the shadow of agnosticism. As a wandering preacher, Papoulakos had "no place to lay his head,"[3] like the God-man Jesus, who taught and inspired the multitudes with simple words, which, however, proved the depth of his spiritual well.
His teachings poured balm into the wounded souls of Christians, they became hope for the desperate and suffering Greeks of the southern regions of our country, they became a revolutionary spark against injustice, theft, living a vain life, in the mire of ignorance and the undermining of the authorities of our tradition. With his sermons, he transformed the shapeless masses into images of God, with the prevalence of love, justice, forgiveness, and the selfless offering to every weary and suffering person. He was a philanthropist and a true follower of the evangelical commandments.
Having as his only property his staff and his humblest cassock, he toured the countryside, which on hearing of his arrival rose up with enthusiasm and prepared an unprecedented reception for him. The crowd adored him by chanting "To you the Champion Leader" and remained close to him for many hours listening to his words, which, like the words of Sirens, magnetizing them to the gospel truths.
Kalamata vibrated with enthusiasm. Twenty thousand faithful came out on the street to welcome him and stayed with him all day by listening to the simple yet practical teachings and admonitions, with a small interruption, which he himself imposed at noon, for a small meal with the dry food that each one had in their sack. Mani embraced him and protected him from the persecutions of the powerful and the betrayal of the new Iscariots.
The movement of Papoulakos remained in history as a movement of the heart, as a popular movement for spiritual renovation, for the expectation of not earthly pleasures, but eternal ones. And like our Christ, he too could not but be imprisoned and suffer walking in His steps. The humid and sunless prisons of Rio kept Saint Christophoros as their tenant for several months under the charge of being a vagrant and a mobster. His later transfer to Athens for trial became a pilgrimage. Clergy and people bowed down to the new apostle and wherever he passed they welcomed him with tears and prayers. This popular support of Papoulakos forced the state to avoid the trial.
He was exiled to the Monastery of the Prophet Elias in Santorini, where he was associated with the also exiled Kollyvada and Skiathite Saint, Dionysios Epiphaniadis. And here, however, he did not stop his preaching activity. He continued to speak "what is beneficial to the soul"[4] with the result that the measures of his restriction became stricter and finally he was sent into exile elsewhere, in fact to the more remote Monastery of Panachrantos, in Andros. The people learned about it and Andros became a pan-Orthodox place of pilgrimage. His iron fenced cell turned out to be a place of empowerment and sanctification for the struggling pilgrims, who asked for scraps from his cassock as a blessing.
He reposed in this cell on January 18, 1861, in order to resettle in the city above, in the Kingdom of Heaven. Just before he reposed, his guard hurried to ask for forgiveness from the Venerable One and his blessing to clothe him in the monastic schema, since he believed that under his white beard there leapt out the light of real faith, the light of truth, which illuminated every human of the difficult time for our nation. He was accompanied by the crown of the confessor, which was deservedly given to him by our champion and crowner Jesus, the One who found him worthy to work miracles as long as he lived, as well as after his venerable repose.
My brethren, today society is going through an economic crisis. A crisis imposed by international capital, globalization, international leveling. Everyone deals with the crisis and proposes measures to suppress it, measures to quickly heal the wounds it inflicts on the social and especially on the lower strata. The crisis of spiritual values no one is concerned with, no one is touched by. Only when the problem knocks on the door of our house with dependent persons, with diseases that result from sin, since "the wages of sin is death,"[5] only then do we wake up and run to our great mother, the Church, to heal. If we are constantly vigilant, let us constantly listen to the words of our Christ, to "keep watch and pray."[6] Let us rise up like Papoulakos, let us at least be theoretically alone against the forces of darkness and be sure that we will not be alone. Christ will fight by our side, as David shouts: "My strength is the Lord"[7] and as a religious poem from our catechetical years also says: "We will surely conquer, because the general is Christ."
References:
[1] Mark 10:42.
[2] Acts 9:15.
[3] Matt. 8:20.
[4] Konstantinos Garitsis, Monastery of the Prophet Elias, Thera, page 32, Thesvitis Publications.
[5] Rom. 6:23.
[6] Matt. 26:41.
[7] Ps. 117:14.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
