Saint Gerasimos Mikragiannanitis (), born Anastasios-Athanasios Graikas (5 September 1903 – 7 December 1991), was a Greek Orthodox monk of Mount Athos and a prominent contemporary hymnographer. He was officially glorified as a saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople on 10 January 2023. His memory is celebrated annually on 7 December.
Early life He was born in Dhrovjan in the Delvina region of Northern Epirus in 1903. He received his primary education at the local elementary school in his birthplace. Upon graduating from elementary school, he left his village, where his mother and younger brother continued to live, to join his father, who had already settled and was working in Piraeus..
He initially settled in Piraeus, close to his father and his aunt. They subsequently moved to Athens, where he attended high school. After high school, he continued his studies at a higher education institution and attended church regularly. He later mentioned that his parish was St. Dionysius the Areopagite, though they usually went to St. George of the Rizarios School on Vasilissis Sofias Avenue. "There, Nectarios of Pentapolis, whom I saw, also celebrated the liturgy repeatedly," he added.
In Athens, he nurtured the idea of becoming a monk. He arrived at Mount Athos on 15 August 1923.
On Mount Athos On Mount Athos, he lived as a novice at Little St. Anne's, in the cell of the Holy Forerunner, under the spiritual guidance of the Asia Minor hieromonk Meletios Ioannidis. On 20 October 1924, during a vigil in memory of Saint Gerasimus, his monastic tonsure took place, and he received the saint's name.
After a few years, Elder Meletios left permanently for Athens, leaving Gerasimus by himself.
Below the cell of the Holy Forerunner is the cell of the Dormition of the Theotokos, where the ascetic Elder Avimelech (d. 1965) lived. In 1946, the future hieromonk Dionysios became his disciple. Gerasimus formed a bond with Dionysios, and later, in 1966, they united into a single monastic brotherhood. Monk Gerasimus became the founder of the Church of the Holy Fathers Dionysius the Rhetor and Mitrophanes. In 1956, he built a small chapel in the cave where the two venerable saints lived as ascetics, and in 1960, he completed it with a narthex (lite).
During his lifetime, he served as librarian and typikaris of the Kyriakon of the Skete of Saint Anne. As a librarian, he was involved in compiling and publishing a catalogue of the manuscript codices in the Kyriakon's library.
Monk Gerasimus is among those hymnographers whose work was, for the most part, immediately integrated into the liturgical life of the Church.
He died on 7 December 1991. His extensive hymnographic work is estimated to include more than 2,000 sacred services. On 28 December 1968, the Academy of Athens honoured him with a silver medal.
Canonization On 10 January 2023, the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate decided to include Monk Gerasimus in the Calendar of Saints of the Orthodox Church.
References
Sources Μοναχού Μωυσέως Αγιορείτου, Μέγα Γεροντικό εναρέτων αγιορειτών του εικοστού αιώνος Τόμος Γ΄1984-2000 , pages 1315-1323, εκδόσεις Μυγδονία, Α΄ Έκδοσις, September 2011.
Bibliography