Wednesday, February 9, 2011

A miracle of St. Charalampos in Athens

St. Charalampos the Hieromartyr - Commemorated February 10th (Icon courtesy of www.eikonografos.com used with permission)
  
Miracle of St. Charalampos at the Polyclinic of Athens (amateur translation)
This occurred to Konstantinos Livadan, an official of the Election Council [υπάλληλον του Ελεγκτικού Συνεδρίου], when he was young. He himself relates:

“January 1931 I was hospitalized in the Polyclinic of Athens with a liver abscess. For four weeks I was tortured by a fever. Day and night I had a 38-40 degree (Celsius) fever and terrible pains. It was decided that I should have surgery.

It was the day before the feast of St. Charalampos: February 9th 1931. That night, as I was in a terrible condition with a great fever and lethargy, I saw a magnificent priest come to me with a long beard. He approached me, and not the sick person across from me, who was at death’s door with peritonitis. He touched my head and said:

‘Don’t be afraid…Tomorrow you will be totally well. You are a good boy.’

I asked my nearby nurse, Nun Evanthia: ‘Who was that Priest who came?’

‘There was no Priest,’ she responded.

I related to her what occurred. She crossed herself and told me: ‘Tomorrow is the feast of St. Charalampos; you will be well.’

I then fell into a deep sleep. The fever began to decline from that instant. In the morning I was afebrile, totally well and without pains in the liver. In the morning the surgeon-professor N. Alivizatos and his brother Andreas (a pathologist) tested me, to get ready for the surgery. They studied and searched to find the liver abscess, but they couldn’t find it, neither did they find sclerosis or other disease of the liver (eight finger). [ούτε την σκλήρυνσιν και την διόγκωσιν (οκτώ δακτύλων) του ήπατος] The liver was normal!

The Nun related to the Professor what happened at night. She also showed me the Icon of St. Charalampos, whom I recognized. It was he that I saw. The professors related in astonishment:

‘We put up our hands, and put down our knives. Today a miracle of St. Charalampos occurred at the Polyclinic!’

Later I learned that St. Charalampos is especially a physician of infectious diseases, which is what I had.”
(http://www.impantokratoros.gr/agios-charalampos.el.aspx)

For the life of the Saint, see: http://full-of-grace-and-truth.blogspot.com/2010/02/st-charalambos-hieromartyr-of-magnesia.html.

For two additional posts with miracles of the Saint, see: http://full-of-grace-and-truth.blogspot.com/2010/02/modern-miracles-of-st-charalambos-in.html and http://full-of-grace-and-truth.blogspot.com/2010/02/miracle-of-st-charalampos-in-filiatra.html.

Doxastikon of the Praises in the Plagal of the First Tone
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit
Your precious skull, O divine Saint, is like an alabaster box that is full and pouring out cures, like very costly fragrant oil. It wondrously perfumes the faithful, and it delivers from every evil those who approach it with faith. It exterminates foul‐smelling delusion, diseases of every kind, and the pandemic plague, and it grants good health to all, as well as peace and great mercy.
 
Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

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