OSIOS PATAPIOS MONASTERY

The Monastery of St. Patapios (also Agios Patapios), is a monastery for women located 14km (22ft) from Loutraki, Greece at an elevation of some 700m (1120ft) on the Geraneai mountains. The monastery is within the jurisdiction of the Metropolis of Korinthos of the Church of Greece.

History

At the insistance of father Nectarios Marmarinos (real name: Kyriakos) , the monastery, which is dedicated to St. Patapius of Thebes (December 8), was founded in 1952 by Prokopios, Metropolitan Bishop of Korinth, around the cave where the relics of Patapius were found in 1904 by Fr. Constantine Sosanis. The saints relics had been placed beneath tiles and large leaves, to protect his body from the damp, and exuded a sweet odor. On the relic there was a scroll giving Patapius’s name, with a large wooden cross and some Byzantine coins.

The cave today has a sanctuary and sacristy hewn out of the rock. It can be found northwest of the katholikon of the convent and the holy relic is kept in a special wooden structure at the back of the cave. Inside the cave there are also Byzantine wall paintings from the 13th century, with three prominent figures of St. Patapius, St. Ipomoni (April 3) and St. Nikon.

After the founding of the monastery, nun patapia was nominated as Mother Superior, with father Nectarios Marmarinos as its spiritual leader. Today, there are some forty nuns living in the cells of the foundation and the current Mother Superior is Mother Isidora.

The monastery church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and contains at its center the Mother of God for veneration. The church also holds the relic skull of St. Ipomoni and part of the hip bone of St. Nikon.

Saint Patapios’ memory is celebrated on 8 December (main celebration) and also at the Tuesday 2 days after the Sunday of Easter (in memory of the day that his relic was discovered).

source: wikipedia