Saint Gerasimos of Cephalonia – Antiqued Lithograph – Mount Athos

Saint Gerasimos, also known as the new ascetic, is the patron saint of the island of Cephalonia, where he is particularly honored.

Saint Gerasimos was born in 1509 in Trikala, Corinth, to wealthy parents, Dimitrios, who came from the famous Byzantine family of Notaras, and Kali.

At a young age, he left his family home and traveled through Zakynthos. After visiting Constantinople, Mount Athos, monasteries in the East, Jerusalem, where he was ordained as a deacon and priest, the Monastery of Saint Catherine in Sinai, Egypt, and Crete, he returned to Zakynthos and settled in the Cave. Later, he built a women’s monastery named New Jerusalem in the Omala region of Cephalonia, where he lived as a monk.

Saint Gerasimos “fell asleep in peace” on August 15, 1579. His feast day is not celebrated on the day of his death, due to the feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, but on October 20, the day of the translation of his relics. Additionally, on August 16, a procession of his incorrupt relics takes place in Omala, Cephalonia, at the monastery that was named after him.