Saint Phanourios | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Great Martyr[1] and Newly-Revealed | |
| Born | Unknown |
| Died | Unknown Rhodes |
| Venerated in | Eastern Orthodox Church |
| Feast | August 27 |
| Attributes | Christian martyr Soldier holding a candle, symbolic of his patronage as a finder of lost objects |
| Patronage | Lost Objects, Rhodes |
Saint Phanourios (Greek: Άγιος Φανούριος, meaning "the revealer") also known as St. Phanourios the Newly-Manifest (Greek: Άγιος Φανούριος ο Νεοφανής) is recognized as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church.[2] He is commemorated on August 27.[3]
Cretan school artist Angelos Akotantos from Crete had painted a number of the Saint's icons many times depicting him killing a dragon; this tradition is found mainly in Crete especially in icons of the 15th century when the Saint is said to have saved many Cretans from certain death from the hands of the invading Ottomans.[4]
The chapel of Saint Phanourios near the village of Agios Georgios on the north coast of the island of Cyprus is located near fossil bones of pygmy hippopotamuses. Locals believed them to be the bones of the saint and would powder them into a healing drink.[5] The Cypriot dwarf hippopotamus, Hippopotamus minor, was assigned the binomial name Phanourios minutus in 1972.[6]
Everything known about Saint Phanourios comes from the icons found on the island of Rhodes in the 16th century. Some traditions state that his mother was a sinful woman, whom Saint Phanourios prayed for fervently, though she refused to repent in her life.[7] It is evident from his iconography that he was a soldier who lived on the island of Rhodes, and was severely tortured and eventually slain by Ottoman Turks sometime after their occupation of Rhodes.[8]
Years after his martyrdom, an icon depicting Saint Phanourios was discovered in a ruined chapel on the island, among other pieces of iconography by non-Christian construction workers.[9][10] The Bishop of Rhodes was summoned to the scene of the icon, whereupon he pronounced Phanourios to be a saint. The veneration of Saint Phanourios subsequently spread to Cyprus, and then to Greece.
Saint Phanourios is said to have been awarded the Martyr's Crown in the Orthodox Christian faith. He is also well known for finding people's lost belongings after fervent supplications, according to the tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
A Greek dessert called a Fanouropita (Gr. Φανουρόπιτα) is often baked on the feast day of Saint Phanourios by Eastern Orthodox Christians, but is also baked on other days. It is a lenten cake baked in commemoration of the saint, and for hopes to find lost objects.
