Information Of Genuine Orthodoxy

The Kollyvades movement during the second half of the 18th Century is a tradition of which the Orthodox Church is proud. The movement came about because of the argument of when memorial services should be performed. It was suggested that Sunday, the day of the Resurrection, was not appropriate for this service. It resulted in the spiritual elevation of the faith of that period. The purpose of the battle of the Kollyvades was to return to the original Ecclesiastical tradition including the Liturgy, the preparation of the faithful to partake of Holy Communion often, and finally the study of works of the Holy Fathers. “The name Kollyvades was an ironic label given to them by the opposing side [tr. note: From “Kollyva” the boiled wheat used in memorial services]. However, this disdainful name became for them an honorable title. In the intellectual life of Modern Greece this name stands out for one and a half centuries and offers many of her bright pages.”

The coming of the religious refugees Kollyvades to Patmos, including Makarios Notaras of Corinth, Nyphon from Chios and Gregory from Gravana in Nysiros, was like a nurturing rain from the Holy Spirit. Their way of life brought richness to the spiritual revival of Monasticism and the rebirth of monastic life on the island of Saint John the Theologian.

Saint Makarios, the son of George Notaras, was born in Corinth in 1731. He was a descendant of the Notaras family, a well known family during the Byzantine Empire and even later during the occupation of the Turks. Saint Gerasimos of Kephallonia (1509 – 1579) and the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Dositheos (1669 – 1707) and Chrysanthos (1707 – 1731) are also descendants of this family. Saint Makarios was given the name Michael when he was baptized by the Bishop Parthenios of Corinth. He was educated by the teacher Efstratios of Kephallonia. Later, due to the lack of teachers at the Academy of Corinth, Saint Makarios taught the children of this area for six years without pay. From a young age, it was evident that he did not care for material things of the world but only for the spiritual ones. When his father placed him as a supervisor of an area where he could be very rich, he gave money to the poor and his father scolded him.

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Burning with the desire for the monastic life, Saint Makarios left secretly for the Monastery of Megalo Spileo (the Great Cave). The fathers at the monastery did not want him to stay because they were afraid of the great power his father had in the Peloponnese. Truly, when his father learned of his whereabouts, he ordered them to send him immediately to his birth place. In 1764 when the Hierarch Parthenios of Corinth died, all the inhabitants of Corinth, clergy and laity, unanimously elected Michael Notoras as his successor: “He was ordained and clothed in the garment of a monk and was renamed Makarios. He went to Constantinople and appeared before the Holy Synod and was immediately proclaimed Bishop of Corinth while Samuel was the Patriarch.”

Athanasios Parios mentions in his biography of Saint Makarios that when Saint Makarios became Bishop, he wanted to follow the example of St. Gregory the Theologian. He believed that “he was given the power of the Bishop not for wealth without investigation and as a means of enjoying pleasures, but as service and fatherly care and guidance for the safety and salvation of his flock for which he would give an apology to the Great Shepherd and God and Master of the Universe.” He dismissed the uneducated and old priests from the Priesthood. He forbade the priests from being involved in politics. He ordained them consciously, exactly as required by the Holy Apostolic and Conciliar canons. He would not ordain anyone before the required age. When he ordained deacons, he taught them how to celebrate the Holy Sacraments and Services. He taught catechism to all the priests so that they would learn about the faith. To the villages and towns of the area he gave large baptismal fonts so that the Sacrament of Baptism could be performed perfectly.