The biography of sister Patapia (1931 - 2017)

The biography of sister Patapia (1931 - 2017)

 

Sister (nun) Patapia was born in 1931 in Corinth, Greece, and passed away in 2016. Her real name was Eugenia Tsetsoni. Since early childhood, she attended in Corinth the Sunday school of Father Nektarios Marmarinos. This holly priest was born in Aegina, an island near Athens that raised many saints such as Saint Nektarios, Saint Hieronymus, etc. Father Nektarios was a disciple of Saint Hieronymus. 

 

In 1952 Father Nektarios established a monastery at the mountain Geraneia near Loutraki, a famous city for its spas and mineral water. It is located near Corinth and is 1 hour from Athens by car. Father Nektarios decided to establish the monastery at the cave, wherein in 1904, citizens from Loutraki found the relic of Saint Patapios. The cave of Saint Patapios is located near the summit of the mountain. 

 

In those early years, there was not any nunnery there. So, the cave of the Saint was unprotected. Some mean visitors of the Saints' cave took pieces of the Saints' relics for an amulet. But in many of them, the Saint appeared in their dreams and asked them to return his fragments to the nunnery. A priest from Loutraki, Father Konstantinos Sousanis, took the relic of Saint Patapios and kept it in his house (with the church's permission) away from the vandals. Later, when Father Nektarios established the monastery, the relic returned to the cave where it was discovered.

 

At age 21, sister Patapia decided to devote herself to the monastery of Saint Patapios in Loutraki. She announced the news to her parents, who initially reacted; however, in the following years accepted her decision. 

 

So, sister Patapia went to the cave of Saint Patapios in Loutraki, where the other three sisters (sister Kikilia, sister Stiliani, and sister Siglitiki; the last was mother superior) lived there in the small room – cells. At that time, there was no monastery. The saint's relic was kept in a coffin. There was no modern road from Loutraki to reach the monastery (but a small drift path). Also, there was no water supply. 

So, the first nuns every day had to bring water from a spring some miles away from the monastery with the help of a donkey. Every day they needed to ascend and descend this harsh route from the sanctuary to the spring and viva versa.

 

The first Mother Superior in 1952 was sister Siglitiki. In 1963 sister Patapia was named a mother superior. She struggled hard to build the monastery. In the following years, Saint Patapios helped Father Nektarios and the nuns to build the sanctuary at his cave. Initially, they created some room cells where the nuns could live. The nuns had difficulty bringing the construction materials (such as cement, bricks, and sand) to the monastery because – as mentioned above – there wasn't any road to reaching the abbey.

 

The nuns used the donkey to carry the construction materials every day. They often brought this stuff on their back! Even sister Patapia, the mother superior, carried materials, e.g., sacks filled with cement or sand, on her back! They also had to carry jugs with water miles away from the monastery. They had to take the construction materials from many miles and ascend to the monastery. 

However, they built the monastery patiently and with Saint Patapios' help. They faced a lot of difficulties. One day they had no money to pay the workers' wages for building the sanctuary. Sister Patapia was sad about it; however, Father Nektarios said God would help them. The next day a man came to the monastery and brought them food and a generous donation! With this, they paid the workers.

 

Over the years, the monastery thrived, and today it is a lovely monastery with a modern road (it was constructed by the army in the middle of the last century) and parking. All the constructions at the sanctuary are completed: the room – cells for the 40 nuns that inhabit the monastery, the church Panagia (Virgin Mary), the guestrooms, the cemetery (with its church Saint Maria from Egypt), the saint Trinity church inside the nunnery, and the exhibition room with handmade Christian stuff such as icons with Saints, amulets, etc. The abbey also has its water supply, and today the nuns do not need to carry water in jugs with water on their backs! However, there is still a donkey to help the nuns!

 

Sister Patapia was a mother superior from 1963 until 1968 when she resigned because of infirmities. Sister Isidora succeeded her. After her demise in 2014, the new mother superior became sister, Chrisovalandi, the current mother superior. 

 

The miracles of Saint Patapios are countless. Many people that visit the monastery with faith have experienced a miracle, such as healing from a disease. Women who could not conceive finally gave birth by enfolding a special sheet (the nuns gave them) on their waist. Most of the Saints' miracles are written down and kept in the nunnery records, with names and addresses, so no one can debate them.

 

The miracles of Saint Patapios to sister Patapia were also many. In the first years of the monastery, the nuns needed to descend the mountain and go to Loutraki to supply food and other helpful stuff. One day sister Patapia and sister Matrona went to Loutraki for supplies. But it took them too long, so when they returned to the monastery, ascending the mountain from a small path, it got dark in the evening, and they could not see where the monastery was. However, the Saint helped them, and they saw a glowing light at the nunnery that guided them to it! 

 

Also, one day, sister Patapia carried a sacking filled with lime with a donkey to construct the nunnery. She ascended to the monastery with the sack upon a donkey when it started to rain. She was sad when she finally reached the abbey because she thought the rain soaked the lime. But when she opened the sack, it was intact (of course, in those years, the cover was not plastic but made of cardboard). The same miracle also occurred with sister Xeni from Crete.

 

Once there was a lack of oil in the nunnery. A poor woman visited the convent and brought a small amount of oil for the Saint's candle. Sister Patapia asked the poor woman to place the small amount of oil in a jug that they would use to fill the oil at the Saints candle. Later they found the jar full of oil! The nuns gave the extra oil to the poor.

 

Sister Patapia is an excellent example of how faith can move mountains, and her living to an advanced age is a miracle. She had 32 operations (most of them major, like gastrectomy, esophagus operation, etc.), asthma, many (she mentioned 11) pulmonary embolisms, three pulmonary edemas, and a heart attack. However, her condition was quite good! Even her asthma improved a lot! All her doctors were surprised that although she suffered many illnesses, she was mentally and physically fine; she could walk and was in good condition. She claimed her faith and zeal in God, and Saint Patapios kept her alive. 

 

Sister Patapia was the soul of the nunnery. She experienced many miracles by Saint Patapios; the most important was her health. Once, she was in the intensive care unit in Athens (at Sotiria hospital) and was about to die. The nuns brought her a Saint's amulet (with a piece of the relic), and in a few days, sister Patapia recovered utterly! 

 

For many years, sister Patapia lived in Athens because she often needed to visit the hospital because of health problems. In 2007, she broke her hip and was transferred by ambulance to the trauma hospital 'KAT' in Athens. The following year she recovered at the nunnery's elderly residence room, a few miles from the abbey, in Loutraki. Every day she watched the monastery from the window and asked the Saint to help her return there. Initially, she walked with a walking aid and then with a stick. She finally got rid of her cane, and one year after her accident, she fully recovered and returned to the monastery to stay there permanently. She still had a walking stick, but it was just to prevent falls. She could walk perfectly without it! That was a miracle from the Saint.

 

Another miracle for sister Patapia was her health. She has been suffering from asthma for years. Her doctors advised her not to stay at the monastery because it was at a high altitude, and there was inadequate oxygen, which could deteriorate her asthma. The Saint, with his miracle, relieved her from asthma attacks. 

 

Father Nektarios, the establisher of the nunnery, continued his Sunday school in Corinth at Soinikismos until his demise on 21 July 2019. Soinikismos is a place near the hospital of Corinth. His school was held in a room belonging to the church of Panagia (Virgin Mary) near this church.

 

Father Nektarios used to visit the nunnery of Saint Patapios every Friday morning. He also had established another monastery at Geranoia (with monks, called 'the 3 Hierarchs'), summer camps for children (also at the mountain Geranoia, called 'Bethlehem'), and an elderly residential house in Loutraki. He had been awarded by the church of Corinth, in which he was chancellor. He was also awarded by the archbishop of Greece at Saint Paul's church in Corinth. There was the church the Apostle Paul established himself. 

 

Closing this text, I want to mention that in the summer of 2009, massive fires burned a large area of Attica near Athens. Sister Patapia prayed at Saint Patapios' cave and pleased God to put out all these fires. She prayed not in a selfish way as we all do when we pray to God, but she prayed for the common good! Then a miracle happened. The fire brigade put out the fires. The next day it rained, putting out the remaining fires. 

I strongly suggest following sister Patapia's example and not praying only for our or our family's wellbeing, which is selfish, but also for the common good.

 

Let God bless us all!

Amen!