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Great Martyr · Unknown

Phanourios

Commemorated as

The Holy, Glorious Great-Martyr Phanourios the Newly-Revealed of Rhodes

Dates unknown; the saint's life is reconstructed entirely from a 16th-century icon discovered on Rhodes.

Also known as Phanourios the Newly-Revealed

A martyr whose story was rediscovered through his icon on Rhodes.

Draft — pending review. Not yet verified for publication.

Life

St. Phanourios, also rendered Fanourios, Phanurius, or Fanurius, is venerated as a Great Martyr in the Eastern Orthodox Church and is also commemorated in the Roman Catholic Church. His name derives from the Greek verb meaning 'to reveal' or 'to make known,' and he is titled 'the Newly-Revealed' or 'the Newly Appeared of Rhodes.'

Almost nothing of his biography survives independently of his icon: according to his tradition, everything known about Phanourios comes from an icon found on the island of Rhodes. He is identified as a soldier who lived on Rhodes and was severely tortured before being slain, by tradition after the Ottoman occupation of the island (Rhodes was occupied by the Ottomans in 1522).

He is best known across Greece and Cyprus as the saint invoked to find what is lost, and his feast is kept on August 27.

Customs & Traditions

A simple cake, the 'Phanouropita,' is baked and given away when asking his help — especially to find what is lost — and offered for the repose of his mother.

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Timeline

  1. 1522 Ottoman occupation of Rhodes Rhodes came under Ottoman rule; tradition places Phanourios's martyrdom on the island sometime after the occupation, though no firm dates survive.
  2. c. 1500–16th century Discovery of the icon An icon depicting Phanourios was discovered in a ruined chapel on Rhodes. Accounts vary: by one tradition non-Christian construction workers uncovered it; another relates that Arab raiders found it among the ruins of an ancient church, where it had remained remarkably preserved while other icons had deteriorated, and that monks retrieved it after the raiders departed. Some sources debate whether the icon was found on Rhodes or Cyprus.
  3. After the discovery Proclamation as a saint The Bishop of Rhodes authenticated the discovery and pronounced Phanourios a saint. By one account, Archbishop Milos of Rhodes petitioned the Patriarch to convene a synod that officially proclaimed his sainthood, after which a cathedral was built to house the icon.
  4. 15th–17th centuries Spread of veneration The veneration of Phanourios spread from Rhodes to Cyprus and then to Greece, including Crete. A 2008 folklore study identified two manuscripts — one from 1452 in Crete and another from 1600–1640 in Heraklion — describing miracles that carried his cult from Rhodes to Crete.

Contributions & Legacy

The Icon and Its Imagery

Because no written life preceded his veneration, Phanourios is known chiefly through the iconographic program of the rediscovered icon. The icon portrays twelve scenes of his suffering: standing before a magistrate, being beaten with rocks, imprisonment with his flesh torn by iron implements, torture by fire and by mechanical crushing devices, exposure to wild beasts, burial under a boulder, hot coals placed in his palms, and a final death in a kiln.

The Cretan-school artist Angelos Akotantos painted numerous icons of Phanourios. In Crete, especially in 15th-century icons, he is often depicted killing a dragon.

Relics & Shrines

A chapel dedicated to Saint Phanourios stands near the village of Agios Georgios on the north coast of Cyprus. It lies near a deposit of fossil bones of pygmy hippopotamuses, which local tradition held to be the saint's own remains.

After his proclamation as a saint, a cathedral (by one account) was erected on Rhodes to house the discovered icon.

Miracles & Traditions

Historically Documented: A Vatican manuscript records miracles attributed to Phanourios in finding lost animals and objects and in healing people. A 2008 folklore research paper points to two surviving manuscripts — one of 1452 from Crete and another of 1600–1640 from Heraklion — that describe miracles spreading his veneration from Rhodes to Crete.

Traditional Accounts: Phanourios is especially associated with revealing what is lost or hidden, both physical objects and, by some accounts, hidden spiritual matters. A tradition holds that his mother was a sinful woman for whom he prayed fervently, though she refused to repent during her life; for this reason the cake baked in his honor is also offered for the repose of her soul.

Customs

On his feast day the faithful bake a Greek lenten cake called the Phanouropita (Fanouropita). It is a small round cake made with nine or eleven ingredients — including flour, sugar, cinnamon, and oil — and is blessed during Vespers or before the close of the Liturgy.

The cake is baked and given away when asking the saint's help, especially to find what is lost, and is offered for the repose of his mother.

Related Saints

Notes

Faithful bake 'Phanouropita' when asking his help.

Sources: Synaxarion