Today, our friend Haralambos ("Bahbi") brought us some wood for our new wood-burning stove. To get it to us, back along the cobblestone paths, he used one of his horses to carry the 18 burlap sacks full of cut wood.
This was only fitting, since we had just finished Liturgy for St. Modestos, patron saint of animals, in our chapel dedicated to the Holy Archangels (above). The chapel has a large icon of St. Modestos and there seems to be a long-standing tradition of celebrating the saint in that particular chapel. The weather this morning was very rainy and windy, but normally (so I'm told) many of the farmers and shepherds would bring their animals to the chapel for the agiasmos.
We then saw first-hand why this was so important. These were not simply cuddly pets to be pampered, but actually integral to people's livelihood, a significant part of their lives. It is thus no wonder that the people have traditionally asked for St. Modestos' intercessions for their animals.
Here's Bahbi when he arrived. Somewhat paradoxically, he was on his cell phone!
You can see the horse, which he told me is pregnant with a mule, has a burlap sack on each side. You can see our main temple, dedicated to the Holy Unmercenaries, in the background.
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