Miracles... I believe.

[Postmaster]

Something remarkable and extraordinary happened in Cyprus so much so that the Greek Cypriot news had make there way to place of where a miracle occurred. A village man that died, that we actually knew as he his daughter is married to my mum's first cousin. What had happened about 3 months ago tests even the most rational thinkers, he was a village man, his wife had died and he lived a simple life, he had 2 birds as pets and when the time came for his passing he was discovered by his family. After his funeral his friends, family went back to his house to morn his death and clear up all his belongings to discover the 2 birds he had caged had fallen to the ground with the birds missing, the conclusion they came to was that the wind had knocked down the cage and the birds had escaped. The next day the family went to the mans grave as it is tradition to light a candle for that person near there grave, to discover the 2 birds on his grave in a state unknown that birds go into, it appeared as if they were weeping and they couldn't stand they were tilting on his grave distraughtly. The News had filmed it after people had reported it and no rational thinking can explain what had happened. In villages in Cyprus miracles are accpeted and understood, this might be why they happen in the first place . Many reports of saints been seen in the grounds of churches. One church my great grandfather found after being visited by a saint (Agio Xenofontos = Saint Xenonfontos) in his dream asking him to go to a place and bring back his Icon and to build a church in his name, villagers thought he had gone a little loopy untill he actaully found an ancient icon of the saint in near by grounds so they went about building the church.

This being the Church, this picture was taken from our house This being my village http://www.mazotos.org/

http://www.mazotos.org/english/village_churches.shtml

 

[Sacredstar]

Wonderful story PM and thank you for sharing the beautiful pictures. It is fascinating how the holy spirit is represented by birds once more.

Love beyond measure

Sacredstar

 

[Postmaster]

Sacredstar do you know of any other instances where birds are involved in miracles or divine signs?

 

[iBrian]

Birds have a history of being a symbol of prophecy - Roman augurs at least could be very sensitive to the movement of eagles. Crows, too, if I remember my Livy right.

 

[Postmaster]

Just think, that Miracle I described happened a few months ago. Alexander the great was lost with his men in the dessert and they were close to death, apparently they followed an eagle which gave them a helping hand finding there way out.



Birds certainly do have symbolic and spiritual connection to some divine force, or at least some birds do and it’s not hard to see why.



Here's the official story about my great great grandfather he was my Grandmothers grandfather. Called Hadjidimitro, when you have "Hadji" in front of your name it means that you were or your family line was once a pilgrim of the holy lands and is an arab word, but this tradition is not in practise anymore. I and my family went on pilgrim to the holy lands and didn't change our name.

Chapel of Saint Xenophontas (xorinou)
In a distance of half a kilometer, in the north east of the village there is the chapel of Saint Xenophonta the Xorinou .The icon of the saint is dated and was drawn since 1821, according to an epigraph that the icon has .It was brought to the village by Hadjidemetros, a camel man from Voukolida of Karpasia, who came and was married at Mazotos.

It was a summer night, in the middle of the century before last, when Saint Xenophontas appeared to him and said:

-«Wake up; to go and get me to Mazotos and the village will have good things from me. ».

In the morning Hadjidemetros borrowed the mule of his neighbor and set up for Voukolida, who knew where the icon was .He stayed for a week, but he came back empty-handed, because the priest of the village from whom he asked the icon refused that he had this Saint in the church.

The following year, the Saint appeared to him again and asked him to bring his icon at Mazotos.He borrowed the same animal to do God’s wish. During the trip ,that kept few hours this time, his soul was full of feelings such as awe ,deep faith and ecstasy so he reached the priest’s house as hypnotized.He asked for the icon once more but the priest refused again.Hadjidimitros was determined to run Saint’s Xenophontas errand this time and insisted on going to the church and find it.

«Let’s go he told him and it is on the right side of the icons next to the icon stand».

The priest then, on his effort to keep the Saint in the church, he ordered to lift the icon from its place and hide it under the ground, in the church yard. When this was done then the priest, the vestrymen and many villagers took Hadjidimitro to the church so he could see with his own eyes that the icon he mentioned was not there.

When they arrived at the yard of the church Saint Xenophontas did his miracle and all the attendees were surprised in front of the sight they faced .In the middle of the yard there was a great fire and all the surroundings looked mysterious .Hadjidimitros in ecstasy went and dug the ground in that spot, and in a clear sheet, that was not destroyed from the fire, there was the icon. After this no one dared to stand against this devout sender of the Saint so Hadjidimitros took the icon and brought it to Mazotos in one night only. The mules that brought him back as soon as they reached the yard, sweat and tired, leaned and died.

The whole village gathered at Hadjidimitro’s house and after they made triumph pomp, chanting and honoring God, they carried the icon to the old chapel that was in the same place of the new one and officiated.
From the next day the miracles of the Saint began.
He exiled all the infidels from the village .They did not catch up their deads and funerals. In just a few times they abandoned the village and the population remains purely Greek.

Therefore He is the Saint who exiles evil and sickness that’s why he took the name Xorinos.The villagers know a lot of illnesses which he cured.

Every year on the 26th January, the Saint Xorinou festival, there is a big celebration and a lot of people all over Cyprus go. After the festival the people of the village are gathered to eat together to take their guests in friends and strangers and they celebrate for many hours.

Recently though, during the decade of 1990,near the chapel a new big church was built with expenses of the villagers and the emigrants of Mazotos and the other people ,dedicated to Saint Xenophonta too which officiates every first Sunday of the month.