Droviani celebrated the memory of Saint Gerasimos Mikragiannanites

Saint gerasimos of mikragiannanites was honored with Splendor In his village, Droviani, agion Saranta.

In fact, Metropolitan Nathanael of Gjirokastër, who knew him personally as a Mount Athos resident, celebrated Mass in the church of Saint Nicholas of Droviani on the day of the memory of Saint Gerasimos of Mikragiannanitou and carried a fragment of his relic.

As he said in his emotional sermon, he accompanied the saint as a deacon to Jerusalem, when he was honored by the Patriarchate of Jerusalem for his contribution to the hymnography of the Orthodox Church.

Next to the piece of his relic was his iconographic image, as well as his photograph.

Although he missed his birthplace, after his departure from it at the age of 9, he never visited it again, as Albania closed its borders and the saint passed away in 1991.

Moments from his life are constantly being revealed. The moments show that he was a citizen of the heavens from his childhood, when in the soil of his hometown, Droviani, which in the year of his birth, 1904, was still under Turkish occupation, his poor parents transmitted to him a pure and genuine faith.

The content of his wretched and wandering soul, his inner world, was revealed when, at the age of just 18-20, his godlike heart and his thoughts and reflections led him to the hermitage of Little Saint Anne, where his spirituality was destined to emerge.

Those who approached him inhaled his spiritual oxygen, which he transformed into the power of faith, into the flame of confession, into the breath of hymnody, into an ascetic life.

While still young, a nun on Mount Athos, he had reached a height of great virtue, with his basic "weapons" being prayer and contemplation, love, humility, deep fidelity, hard work, and patience in sorrows, which he maintained until his death.

These were our own impressions of his person and life, when in the late 1980s, when we were still young, still students, we saw him at the monastery of Little Saint Anna and absorbed his wonderful advice and opinions.

The diffused mesh and nod of peace and gentleness were discernible in him, and his simplicity conveyed to you the aroma and sweetness of his perfumed heart.

A turning point in his life was his acquaintance, during his youth, with Saint Nektarios, whom he constantly commemorated. (It is said that he departed for heaven, exclaiming his name).

And he felt awe and devotion, bringing to mind Saint Nektarios, who had been purified internally by divine fire.

According to testimonies, Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the saints appeared to him in visions while he was alive, as Saint Gerasimos of Mikragiannanites always invoked divine help for both lofty and everyday matters, and he always had an invocation to the Virgin Mary on his lips. But he very rarely, almost never, referred to these visions and experiences.

The following incident has been preserved: When the children of a catechist were traveling on a pilgrimage to Mount Athos, Saint Gerasimos met them on the ship. And he struck up a conversation, feeling like a child himself, and was in his soul, among them.

When a catechist asked him, "What is Christ?", he answered with great enthusiasm and spontaneity:

I saw him, he is beautiful and shining...

In fact, days earlier, he had predicted his death, which occurred On December 7, 1994.

Although he walked on earth, he saw things with heavenly eyes, even the most humble situations, and with transcendental criteria he sang or composed music.

In the services he composed, one can rightly judge him as the most beautiful synthesis of theological mind and saintly life, with a full and balanced affirmation of the spiritual values that exude the joy of Christ.

In an era when people are moving in the area of anxiety and spiritual famine, the life of saint Gerasimos of Mikragiannanites clearly shows us that the remaining plank of salvation is genuine faith. This constitutes the hope of our increasingly marginal era.