Folklore - Saints

 
 

Ioannis Xenos - Biography

  

 

From early childhood Ioannis was attracted to life as an eremite and he spent some years in the wild landscape close to Cape Lithino (the southernmost point of Crete). 


One day he discovered a cave with two tombs in the middle of the wilderness. He was wondering who was buried there when he suddenly heard a divine voice telling him that it was the tombs of Eftychios and Eftychianos, and that it had been predicted that he was to build a church in their honour here.

When Ioannis had finished the church and some other buildings, he let an old monk stay there to look after things, while he went northwards to the area where the village of Myriokefala is situated today (a little south of Argyroupoli).


Because it was in the middle of winter, Ioannis cought shelter from the bad weather in an empty house. He had just come inside, when he  suddenly lost his sight. After a week a voice called to him: "Ioannis, come out of the house and look eastwards." Ioannis thought that it was some kind person who wanted to help him so he went out and looked eastwards. At once he was dazzled by a powerful light, and the voice told him to build a church to the Holy Mother of God with the byname Antifonitria ("She who answers prayers"). After this Ioannis regained his sight just as suddenly as he had lost it.

 
With financial support and help from the inhabitants Ioannis quickly built the church and a monastery with monks' cells and some other buildings to make life easier for its future residents. And in fact, shortly afterwards seven monks moved into the monastery.



 

 The monastery's most important relic is the miracle-making icon of Panagia. According to tradition Ioannis saw a flickering light in the neighbourhood when the church was under construction. He assumed that it was a good omen and walked over to the sight. As he got closer, he realised that the vegetation was so thick and impassable that he had to set fire to it in order to get through. Soon after he heard a voice: "Here I am". At once Ioannis put out the fire and discovered the icon, which has been in the church ever since.

 
Over the years the icon has performed quite a few miracles, among others it can be mentioned that it has prevented plagues from locusts, made rain during periods of drought, made childless women pregnant, given a child its voice back and exorcised evil spirits.

 
Shortly afterwards Ioannis entrusted the duty as prior of the monastery to an ordained monk by the name of Loukas, while he himself walked further on, partly to escape from the Christians' honour and glory, partly to follow his vocation.

 
Ioannis continued towards the north coast and came to a place called Melix, where he built a monastery consecrated to Agios Georgios.

 
There is doubt about the exact location of Melix. Some researchers consider it to have been situated at Dramia, close to the coast at the  mouth of the Mousela river between Georgioupoli and Rethymno. On the other hand Tomadakis thinks (Kritika Chronika B', p. 53) that Melix is a distortion of the name Melecha, i.e. the peninsula which is known as Akrotiri today. Furthermore he thinks that the monastery consecrated to Agios Georgios Douvrikas, which Ioannis built, is identical to the present Agios Georgios Koumbelis church northeast of Chania, where you still find ruins of monks' cells.

 

 

 
The sources describe Melix as a dry place almost without vegetation, which speaks in favour of the location on Akrotiri.

 
While Ioannis Xenos was staying here, he built a large cistern for accumulation of rainwater, he cultivated the fields which the local Christians gave to him, he planted trees and laid out vineyards and vegetable gardens.

 
After some yeas he gave all this to the monk Nikodimos and left for the village of Pigi, c. 10 km east of Rethymno.

 

 

 Outside the village Ioannis built a new Agios Georgios church, which was given the byname Psaropiastis (the Fishcatcher). The reason for this byname was that Ioannis sent some of his workmen out to fish, because there was a lack of food in the village. They caught so much fish that everybody was convinced that it was due to a miracle of Agios Georgios.

 
Apparently the byname has fallen into oblivion. At least none of the locals knew the name when I asked the way, but according to information from the Metropol of Kissamos and Selino it should be the chuch situated on the cemetery of the village.

 
Shortly afterwards a monk called Eftychios took over the church, while Ioannis returned to Myriokefala, beause the monks had problems with the operation of the monastery. Here he applied to the local villagers, who gave him six yokes.


After this Ioannis went down to the Mousela valley - below the present Argyroupoli - where the locals gave him four patches. Here he built a chuch dedicated to the Egyptian saint Patapios.
Around the church he built monks' cells and laid out vineyards and vegetable gardens, so the monks from Myriokefala could be self-supporting.



In spite of the large number of churches and monasteries it was the monastery of Myriokefala which was the apple of Ioannis' eye. At the beginning of the 11th century he therefore went to Constantinople, where he succeded in obtaining a chrysobull from emperor Romanos III Argyros ordering the Customs House of Crete to pay one litre of coins, twelve tunics, twelve gowns and a piece of valuable, red-coloured material (vlanti) to the monastery every year. Furthermore he succeded in making Patriarch Alexios Studites give him a sigilium, which proclaimed that it was forbidden in all future time to violate the monastery, that forced labour could not be imposed, that it was exempt from paying taxes to either ecclesiastical or secular authorities, and that it should be independent and referred to as the canonical appellation "stavropigios monastery", i.e. a monastery which is part of the Oecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Ioannis also received many presents from the Christian community in the form of books and icons, which he brought back home to the monastery in Myriokefala.

 
From Myriokefala he went on to Koufos, two kilometres southwest of Alikianos at Chania. Here he erected another big monastery with a church dedicated to Zoodochos Pigi (The Lifegiving Spring).

 


 

 
After having laid out fields here as well he handed over the management of the monastery to the monk Kyrillos and left for the Sfakia district. At Opiso Aigialos (a little east of Agia Roumeli) he constructed a beautiful, little church on the beach dedicated to the apostle Paul.

But even after this Ioannis continued to build churches. From the coast at Agia Roumeli he went further on to the village of Azogyres, where he erected an Agios Georgios church. This church does not exist any longer, and the present church - also dedicated to Agios Georgios - is of a much more recent date.


Ioannis spent his last years on the western coast of Crete close to Falasarna, where, among other things, he founded a monastery dedicated to Agios Efstathios and several small churches, for instance the cave church dedicated to Agios Fotios, which is located in the southern part of the plain in the region of Falasarna.