On a recent holiday to Kefalonia we decided to visit Omala – the location of the church of Saint Gerasimos, who is the patron saint of the island. I did not know much about the church, but images on the internet showed that it was richly decorated in the Byzantine style with paintings of saints and religious scenes, and so i thought it would be worth seeing.
As we arrived it looked like two coach trips had also just turned up, and we assumed that this was part of a tour around the island, but it seemed odd that most of the people were ignoring the church and walking towards a smaller building beyond it. Out of curiosity we followed the crowd into the building, and it turned out to be a chapel where the body of Saint Gerasimos is laid out in a large silver covered shrine, while the coach parties were actually there on a pilgrimage to see the holy relics of the saint.
The scenes of religious devotion taking place within the chapel were really quite unexpected, and visiting the shrine obviously had a deep religious significance for the people there. For us it felt like we had stepped through a doorway into another time, as we witnessed the chanting, praying, and elaborate rituals, in an atmosphere that was almost overpowering.
The pilgrims formed a long queue leading up to the shrine where a priest chanted continuously, and soon a large crowd had gathered around him and the shrine. As each person approached the shrine they bowed and kissed it, then prayed and crossed themselves before receiving a blessing from the priest. The mummified remains of Saint Gerasimos could be seen through the glass side of the shrine, while an opening next the the saints legs allowed people to lean in and kiss the embroidered cover placed over his feet.
The atmosphere was serious and quite intense, as there seemed to be a real concern that everything had to be done correctly in order to receive the full spiritual benefits and ‘grace’ from visiting the shrine. Elsewhere in the chapel people were carrying out other religious devotions, praying before the icons, lighting candles etc, while others wrote the names of loved ones on pieces of paper, and passed them to the priest who read them out as he continued to chant the religious blessings. At one point a man in the crowd took out a book, and standing before the shrine he began to intone a prayer in praise of the saint, to which other people then joined him in repeating the key phrases. Others clasped their hands while they prayed, and many seemed to be deeply moved by the whole experience.
Most of the people visiting the shrine of Saint Gerasimos seemed to be on an organised pilgrimage tour. Some had ID badges which suggested they were from Romania, where Orthodox Christianity is the main faith. The badge also suggested that this was part of a wider pilgrimage around the Greek Ionian Islands where similar shrines hold the bodies of saints on Zakynthos and Corfu etc.
The cave beneath the Chapel
After praying at the shrine, quite a few people then joined another queue next to a small trap door in the floor at the rear of the chapel. This trap door gave access to an iron ladder which descended underground into a small cave below.
This cave is said to have been dug out of the rock by St Gerasimos to create a hermitage where he lived and prayed before the monastery was built. Again, standing within the saint’s cave seemed to be a key part of the pilgrimage for many, and people of all ages struggled down the ladder to enter the holy cave.
When most of the people had left the chapel i took the opportunity to descend the ladder into the cave. It was indeed very small and not really a pleasant place to be for any length of time. As i stood there in the gloom i was startled to see a young man appear through a small hole at the base of the cave wall, which he said led to another chamber next door. He encouraged me to take a look, and so i reluctantly squeezed through the opening to find a similar sized cave with odd shaped blocks cut into the floor. There was something rather oppressive about the caves which produced the urge to leave quickly, and then i realised that this was because it was hard to breath down there – the result of all the previous visitors using up the oxygen in the cave. In the dim light it was difficult to get any photographs, and so after a few minutes i climbed the ladder back up to the chapel.
Saint Gerasimos
Saint Gerasimos was a 16th century monk who practised a harsh ascetic lifestyle – living alone in caves, in prayer and fasting, eating only the wild foods that grew around him. He eventually came to Kefalonia where he rebuilt a church in the Omala valley, and later set up a monastery there. When he died in 1579 his body was later found to have not decayed – and this was taken as a sign of his great holiness. While alive he had the power to heal the sick, cure madness, and drives out demons from possessed people. After his death his body retained these powers, and so pilgrims still come to his shrine hoping too be cured of there ailments. This may explain the seriousness with which the pilgrims approached his shrine, and the writing of names on pieces of paper were perhaps those of sick relatives or friends.
It is also believed that the saint still travels around the island to help people in need, and the proof of this is that his slippers become scuffed and worn, and have to be replaced each year. Because of this his slippers have become a symbol of the help that he provides, and this perhaps explains why the pilgrims kiss the cover laid over his feet.
The cave chambers below the chapel are a curious feature, but caves were often part of the ascetic tradition, providing an enclosed space where prayer and meditation took place. Some websites mention that the shrine is located above the saint’s tomb, which suggests that he was originally buried in the cave, perhaps in the second chamber accessed through the small hole. This might explain why his body did not decay, and instead became mummified. Although a world away, when standing in the cave i was reminded of the crypt below Ripon cathedral, especially with the small hole in the cave wall, which people crawl through – just like the Saint Wilfrid’s Needle in the crypt at Ripon. In this respect it was interesting to read that just like at Ripon, there is a tradition that passing through the hole is a test of faith, as only ‘true believers’ will get through. Also passing through the hole while pregnant will bestow a blessing on the child, and again a similar belief seems to have once existed at the Ripon crypt.
And finally some photo’s from the church next to the shrine – the original reason why we went to Omala!
