St. Xenia of Kalamata

In 1934, our local Philoptochos chapter was started and named St. Xenia by the Rev. George Nassis, the priest of the Reading Parish at that time. Our ancestors tell us that, while meditating one day, Fr. Nassis had a vision of a lovely young girl who announced herself as St. Xenia, a martyred saint of the Church. She asked Fr. Nassis to paint her likeness with her hands clasping a cross. At first, Fr. Nassis revealed this incident to no one with the fear of being ridiculed. But, finally, he could no longer contain himself and told his superiors. After a detailed search, they found an exact description of St. Xenia, just as Fr. Nassis had witnessed, with long golden blond hair, blue eyes, and beautiful features.

St. Xenia was born in Kalamata in Poloponnesos in 291 A.D. She was raised by her parents with a devoted and strong faith in Jesus Christ; and, as she matured, her deep faith outshone her physical beauty. Magistrate Dometianos, a non-Christian, fell in love with her and proposed marriage. She rejected his proposal since she could never agree to marry a non-Christian. He imprisoned and tortured her in order to change her mind, but his tactics failed to budget her beliefs. She was eventually executed on May 3, 311 A.D. Shortly after that, she was sainted by the Church because of the many miracles attributed to her.