Kosmas the Aetolian
saint in the Greek Orthodox Church
Kosmas the Aetolian, sometimes Cosmas the Aetolian or Patrokosmas "Father Kosmas" (Greek: Κοσμᾶς ὁ Αἰτωλός, Kosmas Etolos; c. 1714 – 24 August 1779) was a monk, who is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church. He is recognized as one of the originators of the twentieth-century religious movements in Greece. He is also noted for his prophecies.
Saint Kosmas, the "Equal to the Apostles," was officially proclaimed a Saint by the Orthodox Church of Constantinople on 20 April 1961 under the tenure of Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras. His feast day is celebrated on 24 August, the date of his martyrdom.
Life
Kosmas was born in the Greek village of Mega Dendron near the town of Thermo in the region of Aetolia. He studied Greek and theology before becoming a monk after a trip to Mount Athos, where he also attended the local Theological Academy.
After two years Kosmas left Athos. He studied rhetoric in Constantinople for a time. In 1760 he was authorized by Patriarch Serapheim II (who had marked anti-Ottoman tendencies) to begin missionary tours in the villages of Thrace – later extended to what would form the areas of both Western Greece and Northern Greece.
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This entry incorporates text from “Kosmas the Aetolian” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.