Celebration of the Feast of Saint Philothei at the Holy Archdiocese of Athens

On Monday, 19 February 2024, the memory of Saint Philothei of Athens was honoured by the Church. On the morning of the feast day at the Metropolitan Church of Athens, the mystery of the Divine Eucharist took place presided over by His Grace Bishop Pavlos of Thespa.

The holy sermon was delivered by the Preacher of the Cathedral of Athens, Archimandrite Fr. Nektarios Karsiotis.

Afterwards, the procession of the holy relics and the holy icon of the Saint took place accompanied by the philharmonic band of the Municipality of Athens and an honorary detachment of the Coast Guard.

This was followed by a prayer outside the family house of Saint Philothei and immediately afterwards in the Holy Archdiocese of Athens.​

The Protosyncellus of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens, Archimandrite Varnavas Theoharis, also participated, while the Directors of Services of the Holy Synod and the Holy Archdiocese of Athens were present, the Proistamenos of the Cathedral of Athens, Protopresbyter Fr. Thomas Synodinos, who also had the general responsibility of the celebration, along with clergy and many faithful.

Saint Philothei was a great personality of her time, which is reflected in the reputation she had both in her time and in the following centuries, a reputation that derives from her social work and which eventually led to her recognition as a Saint.

She was born in Athens in 1522. After she became a widow, she became a nun and founded, in the place where the Mansion of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens is today, the Monastery of Saint Andrew, where needy girls of the city found protection and learned domestic arts.

The house of the Benizelos’, probably built in the first half of the 18th century, is the last surviving konaki (residence) in Athens and one of the few examples of similar mansions surviving in southern Greece.