Sts. Dionysius and Dometius (1380) of the Monastery of the Forerunner (Dionysiou), Mt. Athos

Commemorated on June 25

He was born in Koritza in Albania. His elder brother Theodosius went to the Holy Mountain and in time became abbot of the monastery of Philotheou. A few years later Dionysius followed his brother and became a monk under him at Philotheou. A heavenly light began to appear to Dionysius every night at the same place, some distance from his monastery. Believing that the light was a divine sign that he was to build a monastery, Dionysius left the Holy Mountain to seek the help of his brother (now Metropolitan of Trebizond) and the Emperor Alexios Comnenis. From the Emperor he received both money and a Royal Charter, which is still kept at the Monastery of St John the Forerunner, which Dionysius founded in 1380, and which is often referred to as the Dionysiou Monastery. Later, pirates plundered the monastery, and Dionysius went to Trebizond, where he reposed at the age of seventy-two.

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