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[[Image:PhanouriosRhodes25h.JPG|thumb|right||Original icon of St. Phanourios. Rhodes.]][[Image:PhanouriosRhodes110h.JPG|thumb|right|Interior of Church of St. Phanourios. Rhodes]][[Image:Phanourios.JPG|thumb|right|Contemporary icon of St. Phanourios]]The holy, glorious and right-victorious Great-[[martyr]] '''Holy Great-Martyr St Phanourios''' (also ''Fanurius, Fanourios, Phanurius, Phanourius'') the Newly Appeared '''of Rhodes''', the miracle workerMiracle-Worker, is commemorated by the Church on [[August 27]] and . Not much is not simply honoured by known about St. Phanourios's life other than the faithful images of his martyrdom on this date but on many occassions through a symbolic cake, called the "Phanouropita" which can be brought to the church, at any time, for a blessinghis [[icon]].
==Discovery of the icon==
The church has understood main way of familiarising oneself with the life of this Saint the saint is through the discovery of his icon in Rhodes (or Cyprus). Around this icon are 12 stations showing his martyric death.
:''They beheld a clearly outlined face of a saint with the name inscribed in what appeared to be fresh lettering that spelled out "Fanourios" and on closer examination fell on their knees at what they saw. Drawn about the saint were twelve distinct frames in each of which Fanourios was shown enduring a cruel form of torture in a realism that suggested the artist must have been witness to the atrocity. They rushed back to see if any of the other icons were in as perfect a state, but although they were all of the same basic design, size, and shape, all of them were quite ancient and quite indistinct. After careful scrutiny it was finally concluded that this icon of fanou4rios had, indeed , been one of a group that had been exhumed after untold centuries and that its freshness was a divine manifestation of the complete saintliness of this man about whom they were now determined to learn more.
:''But years of research, scanning the archives of centuries and questioning the leading authorities of the day, yielded nothing, and no more was known about Fanourios than the day on which his icon was snatched from the ruins of that ancient Greek church. The torture scenes of the icon provided no clues, and examination of which showed Fanourios being stoned, on the rack, being slashed, behind bars, standing before a judge, tied to a frame, being =burned with candles, tied to a post, thrown to wild animals, crushed by a boulder, holding hot coals, and a demon hovering against a background of flames. All of these horrors conveyed that Fanourios was an apparently indestructible instrument of God and that in itself was sufficient evidenced of his sainthood.
:''Archbishop Milos of Rhodes concluded that the unblemished icon itself was testimony enough to prove that Fanourios was a man of divine grace, and he petitioned the Patriarch to convene a synod which would officially proclaim Fanourios a saint, after which there was erected in the saint's memory a cathedral which enshrined the holy icon/ . Fanourios, lost for centuries in the ruins of a church, became the patron saint of things lost. To this day his name is invoked when prayers are asked for the recovery of things lost items."'' [http://www.saintfanourios.org/Bios.htm]
==Martyrdom of the Saint==The portrayle of each illustration original icon is as follows::1. The saint is standing in front of a Roman magistrate and defending his Christian faith;:2. Soldiers beat the saint on the head and mouth with rocks to force him to deny his faith.:3. The saint remains patient which angers the soldiers. They are shown in this illustration, throwing him to the ground and beating him with sticks and clubs in a further attempt to force him to deny his faith.:4. The saint is now in prison. He is illustrated completely naked with the soldiers ripping his flesh apart with some sort of iron implement.:5. The saint is still in prisonquite large. In this station, he is shown praying to God, perhaps to give him strength to endure his tortures. :6. Next, the saint center is standing in front of the Roman magistrate again defending his position. The expression on the face a portrait of the saint is calm.:7. In this image, it is obvious that the Roman magistrate has sentenced the saint to the executioners for remaining unmoved holding a candle in Station 6. The saint is again shown naked with executioners torching (burning) his body.:8. At right hand and around this station, the executioners are now using mechanical means to torture the saint. He appears tied to an apparatus that rotate to crush his bones. Though he would be truly suffering intensely for God, the look on his face is peaceful and patient.:9. :10. :11. :12. This last scene is smaller images showing the glorification each stage of the saint and end to his martyrdom. He is standing upright, over flames in a large kiln.
==Phanouropita==
The custom of the Phanouropita ("Phanourios" and "pita" for "bread" or "cake") is a Greek and Cypriot tradition, preserved in many regions of Greece and Cyprus and spread to the Greek people of the diaspora. Though it is not a Holy Tradition, it has been welcomed and adopted formerly into the church as a blessing service, that take no more than 5 minutes to complete.
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* Church dedicated to St . Phanourios within the abandoned [http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/3361238.jpg/ Monastery of Valsamonerou](or Valsamoneri), Vorizia (Heraklion, Greece).:''''This abandoned 14th-15th century monastery stands in the village of Vorizia, 52 kilometres south-west of Heraklion and had a church dedicated to Agios Phanourios, housing some incredible [http://http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/3535926.jpg/ 15th century frescoes] which are pure artistic masterpiece and unique examples of the Cretan School.'''':The two aisles of the church were constructed and painted at different times: the northern aisle is the oldest with dates inscribed in the wall of 1332 and 1404, the southern one is next with an inscription dated 1400-1428. :The church is a very rare example of a church with two narthex at the entrance of the church, both at right angles to the two aisles of the church. The church contains interesting exterior decorations of bricks. The doors and round windows are exceptionally well-carved. It is one of the best examples of Gothic influence in the exterior decoration of Byzantine churches in Crete; also the church contains some very well-preserved frescoes.*[http://www.SaintFanourios.org/ St. Fanourios Church] - Elizabeth, New Jersey, USA; [[GOARCH]]'''Recent'''*The Greek Orthodox Church of St. Barbara, St. Phanourius and St. Paul - Westcliffe-on-Sea, Essex, England; [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain]]
==External Sources==* [http://www.serfes.org/lives/phanourius.htm/ Life of St Phanourios ] compiled by Father Demetrios Serfes]* [http://www.SaintFanourios.org/ St Phanourios Church] (GOARCH) - Rev. Fr. Constantine Xirouhakis*''St. Phanourios - His Life and Miracles'' (booklet published by the Kentro ministry of St. Spyridon Hellenic Orthodox Church, Palos Heights, IL)* [http://wwwgnisios.narod.ru/phanourios.html Translation of the Life of St Phanourios] by George Lardas.* Marianthi, Kaplanoglou.saint"[http://0-spyridionliterature.proquest.com.fama.us.orges/KentroofOrthodoxMartyria/ Life searchFulltext.do?id=R03821945&divLevel=0&area=abell&forward=critref_ft The Folk Cult of St Phanourios in Greece and Cyprus, and Paraklesis Service bookletits Relationship with the International Tale Type 804.] " ''Folklore'' 1(2006):54- available in English74.
==External links==
*[http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=108969 St Phanourius] ([[OCA]])
*[http://www.goarch.org/chapel/saints_view?contentid=584 Phanourios the Great Martyr & Newly Appeared of Rhodes] (GOARCH)
*[http://gnisios.narod.ru/phanourios.html The Holy and Glorious Great Martyr St. Phanourios the Newly-Manifest Whose memory we celebrate on 27 August] translated by Fr. George Lardas from the ''Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church'' (in Greek), 4th ed. (Athens, 1974), Vol. VIII, pp. 470-474.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090902154820/http://www.saintandrew.net/fr_josiah/works/Pentecost/St.%20Phanourios%20&%20Riches%20Pentecost%2012.pdf Homily: St. Phanourios & The Rich Young Man (PDF)] by Fr. Josiah Trenham
*[http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2010/08/saint-phanourios-great-martyr-and-newly.html Saint Phanourios the Great Martyr and Newly-Revealed of Rhodes]
===Phanouropita===
*[http://www.orthodox.net/recipes/st-phanourios-story-prayer-to-bread-recipes.html St Phanourios (Phanurios), newly revealed, of Rhodes.]
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20041225151026/http://www.saintdemetriosgoc.com/sd/nv1i3p6.htm ''Archive of'' Phanouropita]
*[http://www.prosphora.org/page20.html#St.%20Phanourios%20Bread%20(Fanouropita) St. Phanourios Bread (Fanouropita)]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100820092217/http://www.fortunecity.com/millennium/goodgirl/1215/stfanourios.htm Of Cakes and Miracles]
[[Category:Martyrs]]
[[Category:Saints]]
[[Category:Greek Saints]]
[[Category:About Icons]]
[[Category:15th-century saints]]
[[Categoryel: SaintsΦανούριος, Άγιος]][[Categoryro: IconsFanurie]]