The Synod of the Metropolis of Bessarabia has submitted a proposal to the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church that Saint Kallinikos of Edessa be officially included in the Orthodox calendar, with his commemoration to be held annually on August 8, starting next year.
The proposal was adopted at the beginning of September during a synodal meeting, which also approved the liturgical texts dedicated to Saint Kallinikos of Edessa.
Saint Kallinikos of Edessa
Born in 1919 in Sitaralona, Thermo, Greece, into a family with a long tradition of priesthood, Saint Kallinikos was tonsured a monk and ordained a hierodeacon and later a hieromonk in 1957 at Myrtia Monastery.
On June 25, 1967, he was ordained Metropolitan of Edessa in the Church of Saint Dionysius the Areopagite in Athens by Metropolitan Dionysius of Trikala and Stagoi, together with Metropolitans Meletios of Kythira, Constantinos of Didymoteicho and Orestiada, Synesios of Kassandreia, and Theoklitos of Aetolia and Acarnania. He was enthroned in Edessa on July 16, 1967.
In 1984, after many years of ministry, he was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Following seven months of suffering, he reposed in the Lord.
He was buried in the public cemetery of Edessa, and soon after, accounts of miracles and healings were reported at his grave.
On June 23, 2020, the Ecumenical Patriarchate canonised Saint Kallinikos of Edessa, Pella, and Almopia (1919–1984), setting his annual feast day on August 8.
Read more: Saint Kallinikos of Edessa: 9 spiritual reflections from his bed of suffering
Photo: Mystagogyresourcecenter.com
