Greece 2014 Adventure. St Gerasimos Day 6

Omala Valley – Convent of Ayios Yerasimos “The Saint Gerassimo Monastery”

Please note: I found two versions of spelling Gerassimo and spelt with one “s” often in the same text.

We did not have as much time as we would like to have had. Many tour busses were arriving and our host was concerned that when we got to the caves it would be hours before we had finished and the queues would be sheer madness.

 

How do I describe St Gerasimo. It is out of this world, your are swept back into a time capsule of the old traditional Greek Orthodox Church in all its ornate gold, silver and jewels, the inside of the church, well it is truly a sight to behold, your eyes feast and reveal at its shear boldness, the stunning murals on the walls and roof, the intricate metal work, the icons, the relief work… it just never seems to stop all in jaw dropping fascination.  I then had the opportunity to go down into the cave. Now I love caves but I am just not a fan of confined spaces so this was rather brave of me. I went down the metal stairs into a cold and dark little cave. Wow this is where Saint Gerasimo lived. All over the walls I found many markings and writings carved into the rock wall, I am assuming that they were done by Saint Gerassimo himself. A little to my right was another tiny little hole in the cave wall, I watched as a man was struggling to come back out and saw the panic in his face. Well that did it for me I was going no further this was surreal enough. Now as I write this I wish I had gone in and now I will always wonder, a moment lost discovery passed.

 

 

 

 

Some Background History:

The Omala valley is about 10km from Argostoli and its boasts the biggest and most prestigious monastic community on the island. The convent of Ayios Yerasimos is the religious centre of Kefalonia. The Omala valley is found at about 400m above sea level on the western foothills of Mt Enos (Ainos). It is well watered by ground water from the mountain. There are also numerous wells, many of them said to have been dug by the convents founder Yerasimos Notaras (St Gerassimo), who was subsequently canonized and is now the islands miracle-working patron saint.

The main road to Sami leads you to the imposing new church and the convent of Ayios Yerasimos. The road itself is lined with poplars and cypresses. At the gateway into the precinct you find a free-standing campanile in true Heptanesian style, as found next to many churches in Kefalonia.

 

 

 

The open spaces in the precinct are full of ornamental shrubs and flower which are tended to by the nuns.

 

 

 
 

Inside the conventional Church of  Panayia rests a silver casket containing the body of St. Gerasimos. A staircase inside the church leads down to a small crypt which was his cell. You can also visit the place where he lived as a hermit, which  has its entrance is inside the church: it is a very narrow passage that leads through a nearly vertical iron ladder with length of three meters in a basement space which is divided by a narrow hole in two rooms

 

 
 

The monastery which was established in 1560 by Saint Gersimos himself (1509-1579) came from an aristocratic family living in Trikala, Korinthia. He became a monk at an early age and went to and lived in various parts of Greence  before spending time in Jerusalem, where he was ordained as a priest. On Kefalonia he started to live as a hermit in a cave found in the Lassi district, at a place called Spilia (caves). He then moved on to the Omala valley where he organized the Convent of Nea Ierousalim with 32 nuns. The new convent, built on the site of the old Convent of Ayia Ierousalim was not only a religious Centre but also a Centre for cultural, educational and scholarly activities.

One of the objects of St Gerasimos set himself was to improve the educational standards of the nuns and of the islanders in general and he founded the nunnery’s great library.

When Gerasimos’s corpse was exhumed for the removal of this bones to the ossuary, his body was found to be uncorrupted (had not decomposed, in fact it was reportedly perfect) he was then canonized by the Holy Synod of Constantinople in 1622. The relics of the saint are dressed in the vestments of the burial and placed inside a silver reliquary, over his actual grave.  A great many miracles are attributed to the intercession of St. Gerasimos, mostly concerned with the exorcism of demons. He has two feat-days when his memory is celebrated by the Kefalonians with great pomp and ceremony. They are on the 16^th August, the anniversary of his death and the 20^th October the anniversary of the translation of his relics. On both days his body is carried in procession from the large church to the well he is reputed to have dug himself, under a huge plane tree.it was pointed out to us as we went through the white stone traffic circle. On the premises of the monastery you will also find three large trees that the Saint planted himself. They were pointed out to us and it is awesome that they are still standing. We were also shown the three wells that he opened with his bare hands according to tradition. The ceremonies are always followed by thousands of Kefalonians and foreign visitors. Early editions of religious books and some historic papyri are also kept in the Mother Superiors quarters and there an actual guesthouse that allows groups of visitors to stay.