In a solemn ceremony on Saturday, August 30, 2025, a new saint, Saint Dimitrios Gagastathis (1902-1975) was added to the liturgical calendar of the Holy Orthodox Church. His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew presided over the official signing of the Patriarchal and Synodal Act, signing it along with the Synodal Hierarchs, in the official Codex of the Ecumenical Patriarchate at the Patriarchal Cathedral of Saint George in the Phanar.
His All-Holiness explained the importance of this event, saying that “at the very heart of ecclesiastical life is revealed the presence of the Saints, who, through their participation in the holiness of the ‘only Holy’ God, embody the ‘communion of saints’—the communion of theosis—which is the very life of the Church itself, marked from its beginning by their witness and sanctity. This same reality is present today, as the people of God continue their journey into the future ‘in the footsteps of the Saints.’”
Referring to Saint Dimitrios Gagastathis, the Ecumenical Patriarch noted that “the newly canonized Saint is a living icon of a God who does not remain enclosed in His inaccessible transcendence but is ‘God with us,’ the ‘God of relationships,’ who is glorified in His Saints and invites us to share in His holiness.”
His All-Holiness added that Saint Dimitrios was “distinguished by his simplicity and humility, ‘numbering himself among the least,’ devoting himself to vigils and prayers. Virtuous and ascetic, he was a vigilant confessor of Orthodoxy, endowed with proactive spiritual gifts, sanctifying, miraculous, and healing, even after his repose. Long before his official inscription in the diptychs of the Saints, his name had already been engraved in golden letters upon the hearts of the faithful.”
Saint Dimitrios was a humble parish priest in Greece; he and his beloved wife, Presvytera Elizabeth, had nine daughters. He and his family lived a quiet life until Communist insurgents took over his village of Platanos in 1946. He recounted later: “The (Communist) guerrillas called me in for interrogation three times. Each time they wanted me to go along with them and keep quiet, just as the other priests in our district had done. Me? Deny my Christ? Never! On the contrary, I stood firm and prayed to the Archangels to continue helping me in my duty. I did not sign the declaration of cooperation they wanted. ‘I will die doing my duty’, I told them.”
The Communists sentenced him to be executed, but granted him a few minutes to pray inside the church before carrying out the sentence. “I entered the temple,” Saint Dimitrios wrote later, “fell on my knees in front of the iconostasis and prayed to the Archangels from the depth of my soul…I then began a service of supplication. As soon as I uttered ‘Blessed is our God…’ I heard a loud crash coming from the iconostasis and the icon of the Archangels shook as if to tell me, ‘Do not be afraid. We are with you!’…..I took courage and went outside. To my surprise, I no longer saw the Communist guerrilla escorts waiting for me.” Yet they tried to kill him several more times, and were thwarted in similar ways each time.
His All-Holiness stated: “The blessed priest of Trikala, through his God-loving and philanthropic life, multiplied the grace he had received from God. He is a priceless heavenly gift to the people of Trikala, to the Christ-loving faithful, to the Orthodox world, and to all humanity, proclaiming ‘to the ends of the earth’ that ‘there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved’ (Acts 4:12), except Christ, who has delivered us from the bondage of the adversary.”
The Ecumenical Patriarch concluded: “The inclusion of a new Saint in the Hagiology of the Church is a significant event for the people of God. At the same time, it invites each of us to reflect on what holiness means for our own lives as members of the Church of Christ.”
“All this is from God,” says Saint Paul, “who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” (2 Cor. 5:18) Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ calls us to become like Him, and the ones who do this most fully and perfectly are the saints. Through the prayers of Saint Dimitrios Gagastathis, may all of us, Archons and all of the faithful, redouble our efforts to become saints ourselves. May we, by God’s grace, enrich God’s Holy Church as did Saint Dimitrios, by our unstinting efforts to conform our lives to Christ.
