Phanourios the Newly-Revealed

Phanourios (Greek: Φανούριος, lit. 'the revealer') also known as Phanourios the Newly Revealed (Greek: Άγιος Φανούριος ο Νεοφανής, romanized: Agios Fanoúrios o Neofanís) is venerated as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church.^[1][2] He is commemorated on August 27.^[3]

Saint Phanourios the Newly-Revealed
Great Martyr, Newly-Revealed
Born	Unknown
Died	Unknown Rhodes
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church Roman Catholic Church
Feast	August 27
Attributes	Martyr's cross soldier holding a candle, symbolic of his patronage as a finder of lost objects red robes, signifying martyrdom
Patronage	Lost objects, Rhodes

Cretan school artist Angelos Akotantos from Crete had painted a number of icons of Phanourios, many times depicting him killing a dragon; this tradition is found mainly in Crete especially in icons of the 15th century when Phanourios is said to have saved many Cretans from certain death from the hands of the invading Ottomans.^[4]

The chapel of Saint Phanourios near the village of Agios Georgios on the north coast of the island of Cyprus is located near fossil bones of pygmy hippopotamuses. Locals believed them to be the bones of the saint and would powder them into a healing drink.^[5] The Cypriot dwarf hippopotamus, Hippopotamus minor, was assigned the binomial name Phanourios minutus in 1972.^[6]

History

Everything known about Phanourios comes from the icons found on the island of Rhodes in the 16th century. Some traditions state that his mother was a sinful woman, whom Phanourios prayed for fervently, though she refused to repent in her life.^[7] It is evident from his iconography that he was a soldier who lived on the island of Rhodes, and was severely tortured and eventually slain by Ottoman Turks sometime after their occupation of Rhodes.^[8]

Years after his martyrdom, an icon depicting Phanourios was discovered in a ruined chapel on the island, among other pieces of iconography by non-Christian construction workers.^[9][10] The Bishop of Rhodes was summoned to the scene of the icon, whereupon he pronounced Phanourios to be a saint. The veneration of Saint Phanourios subsequently spread to Cyprus, and then to Greece.

Veneration

A mural depicting Saint Phanourios in Greece

Phanourios is said to have been awarded the martyr's crown in the Orthodox Christian faith. He is given the saint titles of Great Martyr and Newly-Revealed.^[11] He is also well known for finding people's lost belongings after fervent supplications, according to the tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

A Vatican manuscript also commemorates his miracles in finding lost animals and objects and healing people.^[12]

A Greek dessert called a Fanouropita (Φανουρόπιτα) is often baked on the feast day of Saint Phanourios by Eastern Orthodox Christians, but is also baked on other days. It is a lenten cake baked in commemoration of the saint, and for hopes to find lost objects.