David of Euboea

Description

Ὁ Ὅσιος Δαβὶδ ὁ ἐν Εὐβοίᾳ), ca.1480 – ca.1589, is a Saint and Wonderworker of Ottoman Greece. His feast day is celebrated by the Orthodox Church on November 1.
The Monastery of Saint David in Euboea, which is dedicated to the Transfiguration of the Savior, and yet is associated with Saint David who founded it about 1535-1540 AD and lived his monastic life there in the 16th century, celebrates on August 6th as well as on November 1. Within the church are the relics of Saint David, his censer, his priestly stole, and other treasures.
Saint David was born between 1470 and 1480, in the village of Gardinitsa in the province of Locrida. The name of this village today is Kyparissi. His father, Christodoulos, was a priest. He and his pious wife Theodora had four children, whom they raised “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord”.

St. David of Euboea as a child before the icon of St. John the Forerunner.
When little David was three years old, one evening he saw Saint John the Baptist in a vision. Saint John took his hand and they went together to a chapel dedicated to his memory. There, Saint John went into his icon, while the child got down on his knees in front of it. Little David’s parents, as well as the whole village, were looking for him for six days and nights.

On the sixth day, which was Saturday, David’s father went with some villagers to that chapel to serve the Vespers and pray to the Saint for his child. When they arrived, they were surprised to see little David on his knees in front of the icon of Saint John. His face was glowing with a celestial light, and he didn’t look at all haggard. Then they all understood that this child was not like the other children, he was special.

When Saint David was fifteen years old, he left his village with the blessing of his parents and followed the Hieromonk Akakios, a virtuous and experienced spiritual father, whom he met due to the Providence of the Lord. In the monastery of Elder Akakios, Saint David lived as member of the brotherhood for five years.

His asceticism, obedience and humility were sterling. The prudence and the wisdom of the young novice were the reason his brothers in the monastery called him “David the Elder”.

Following Akakios, who had the desire to meet virtuous monks, they left the monastery and visited a lot of other monasteries and retreats. In a monastery in Ossa, where they stayed for a long time, Saint David was ordained Deacon.

Their next destination was Mount Athos. After worshiping in the Holy Monasteries and meeting the holy ascetics, Elder Akakios left for Constantinople to receive the blessing of the Patriarch, while Saint David remained at the Great Lavra of Saint Athanasios the Athonite. The Patriarch not only blessed Elder Akakios, but also convened a Synod and ordained him Metropolitan of the Holy Diocese of Nafpaktos and Arta. Akakios took Saint David with him to the Diocese, where he ordained him a priest.

The obedience of Saint David to the Elder, his spiritual father, was great. The following incident depicts this obedience in the most vivid way. One day, Elder Akakios sent David from Nafpaktos to Arta for some work. It was a journey of four days by foot. Saint David was walking barefoot, as was usual for him, through difficult and wild paths. When he arrived outside the city of Arta, he stopped for a while to rest. A charitable Christian saw him and immediately bought a pair of tsarouhia (traditional Greek footwear) and gave them to the fatigued monk. The humble Saint David, who did not want to offend this kind and devout man, accepted and wore them. After finishing the work that the Elder had assigned to him, the Saint returned to Nafpaktos. When the Bishop saw him wearing new shoes, he reprimanded him for accepting the offer of the Christian without first having received his blessing. He ordered Saint David to remove the shoes from his feet and return them to the person who gave them to him. Saint David, obeying his Elder, returned barefoot to Arta, found the Christian, and after giving him back the tsarouhia, returned once again to Nafpaktos.