St. Phanourios the Great Martyr

We know nothing for certain about the background of St. Phanourius, nor exactly when he lived. Tradition says that when the island of Rhodes had been conquered by Muslims, the new ruler of the island wished to rebuild the walls of the city, which had been damaged in previous wars. Several ruined buildings were near the fortress, and stone from these buildings was used to repair the walls at the end of the fifteenth century, or the beginning of the 16th.

While working on the fortress, the Moslems uncovered the ruins of a beautiful church. Several icons, most of them badly damaged, were found on the floor. The icon of St Phanourius looked as if it had been painted that very day. The local bishop, whose name was Nilus, was called to see the icon. It said, “Saint Phanourius.”

St. Phanourios has become famous for assisting the faithful in revealing lost or hidden spiritual matters of the heart, objects, directing or revealing actions that should be taken, restoring health and similar situations. He is then honoured by the faithful through a symbolic cake, called the "Phanouropita" which can be brought to the church, at any time, for a blessing.

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.

Many villagers in Greece believe that they follow this tradition to grant rest to the soul of the saint's mother. The Church does not formally hold this position since there is no evidence from what we know of the saint's life to confirm whether his mother indeed was a fornicator, as this 'hearsay' suggests. Despite the Church having made this statement on many occasions, the common people within the Church will still express the phrase, "May God grant rest to the soul of Saint Phanourios' mother."

The Phanouropita pita is small and round, like a cake, and should be made using either nine or eleven ingredients. The basic ingredients include sifted flour, sugar, cinnamon and oil.