Venerable Joachim of Ithaka

Saint Joachim (in the world John Patrikios) was born in 1786 in the village of Kalyvia on the island of Ithaka to devout and virtuous parents, Angelos and Agnes.

John lost his mother when he was young. His father married again, but John's stepmother tormented and tortured him. During those difficult years, the Saint struggled patiently and with humility, finding refuge in prayer in Saint Spyridon's chapel, and by studying holy books.

In his teenage years, he worked as a sailor on his father's boat, which caused the crew to respect and esteem him for his virtues and his character.

On one of his journeys he found refuge on the Holy Mountain. There, at Vatopedi Monastery, he was tonsured as a monk and received the name Joachim.

At the start of the Greek Revolution, the Monastery sent Father Joachim to the Pelopónnēsos as a preacher. The Saint taught, guided, supported, and encouraged the Greeks. Furthermore, with a boat belonging to Papa John Makrḗ of Kephalonia he transported old men, women, and children from the Pelopónnēsos to the Ionian Islands, thereby saving them from an invasion by Pasha Imbraim.

Around 1827, Saint Joachim arrived in his English-occupied homeland of Ithaka. For 49 years he ministered in the world and protected his flock from sin, delusion, and heresy. There are reports of how Saint Joachim prayed and stood in the air above the ground, bathed in heavenly light. God gave him the gift of clairvoyance, and thus he became a counselor, an educator in Christ, and a physician of the Ithakians.

Saint Joachim reposed peacefully in 1848, and was glorified as a Saint in 1998. He is also commemorated on May 23 (the recovery of his relics).