Saint Ipomoni

A saint, a true mother of all rulers and those in power. A quick helper of all mothers in the upbringing of their children. A gentle guardian and intercessor of all monks and nuns.

With the secular name Elena Dragash, she was the wife of Manuel II Palaiologos, the daughter of Konstantin Dragash, one of the many heirs of the great Serbian king Stefan Dushan. She came from a blessed royal family. Among her ancestors were saints - Venerable Simeon the Myrrh-Bearer, in the world - Stefan Nemanjic was a Serbian king and founder of the Athonite monastery "Hilendar". Konstantin Dragash was the governor of the modern Bulgarian part of northeastern Macedonia - an area located between the Axios and Strymon rivers. Elena's birth is dated shortly after the death of Dushan. Her upbringing, education and training were imbued with the highest Byzantine ideals, since the Serbs were strongly influenced by Byzantine culture.

From her mother's milk, she adopted the Orthodox faith traditional to her family. This faith would guide, enlighten, and inspire the saint in her difficult, sorrowful, and tested life.

At the age of 19, she married Manuel II Palaiologos (late 1390). A few months later, Manuel became emperor.

It immediately became clear that the new life of Helena – Saint Ipomoni promised to be a Golgotha. Many times she and her husband had to drink the cup of insults and humiliations, inflicted not only by pagans, but also by Western countries calling themselves Christian, as she and the emperor desperately tried to find a way to save the dying Empire.

Helena – Saint Ipomoni turned out to be an exceptional person, adorned with numerous and great virtues and possessing spiritual strength. She was fully aware of her position and life circumstances, as well as the role that was destined for her. The saint loved her people and became for them a great mother to whom everyone could turn.

She shared with her people all the excitement and anxiety associated with the impending national disasters, relying on constant prayer, meekness, kind words and consolation, with which she strengthened them. Her famous contemporary, the philosopher George Gemist Plephon, speaks eloquently and succinctly about the empress: «The empress treated both sides of her life with great humility and patience. In hours of trial she did not despair, in hours of prosperity she did not calm down, in every situation she did everything necessary. She possessed courage more than any other woman. She was distinguished by her prudence, by the most perfect justice. We do not know a single case when she caused anyone any harm - neither to a man nor to a woman. On the contrary, we know that she showed mercy to many people. "In what way can mercy be shown in action, except through the voluntary renunciation of causing evil and the performance of good deeds for many people?"

Elena Dragash became a worthy wife of her wise and Christ-loving husband – Manuel. She lived with him for 35 years in harmony, peace, unanimity and in the struggle for holiness in Christ. They honored virtue both in word and deed. «With words they taught how one should act, and in deed they set an example and were icons of true love».

To this blessed family God bestowed eight children: six of them boys, two of whom later ascended the imperial throne – John VIII and Constantine IX, the celebrated last emperor. Theodore, Demetrius and Thomas became despots of Mystras, and Andronicus – of Thessalonica.

Their daughters died at an early age. The mother, who had many children and loved children, nursed her children with the milk of faith and the wonderful teachings of the Orthodox Church. Together with them, she visited holy places and the revered monasteries of the capital, asking for the prayers of the holy ascetics and elders for her children. Elena raised her children “in the teaching and enlightenment of the Lord,” never ceasing to instruct each of them with tears of prayer and love. With patience and perseverance, with attention and prayer, she raised them, giving them not just life, but a virtuous life.

Thus she managed to put an end to the conflicts for power that had raged among the members of the imperial family for almost 90 years and had exhausted the Empire. Whatever differences of opinion and disputes arose after the death of Manuel, they all proceeded peacefully through the prayers and mediation of her mother. She had a great love for monasteries. Here Elena found rest and peace for her soul, drawing strength and courage for her further life. Her husband, having handed over the throne to their firstborn son, John, two months before his death (March 29, 1425), retired to the Pantokrator monastery and took monastic tonsure under the name Matthew. And Elena, after the death of her husband, became a nun (1425) in the monastery of Saint Martha and took the name Ipomoni.

Three of her children were also tonsured as monks: Theodore and Andronicus (monk Akakios) – in the Pantokrator monastery, Demetrius (monk David) – in Didymotica. Ipomoni, together with her father, built the monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos in Ponagovo. It was located in present-day Dimitrovgrad (Tsaribrod), in northeastern Serbia. The saint was closely connected with the Constantinople monastery of St. John the Baptist, where the relics of St. Patapios the Wonderworker were kept, to whom Ipomoni had special reverence. The monastery was founded by the companion of the venerable Patapios in Egypt – the venerable Vara, behind the doors of St. Romanos 450 years ago.

With the help of Saint Ipomoni, a home for old women was established in the monastery, called "Hope for the Despairing." The saint's love for the Venerable Patapios is also evidenced by the fact that the icon painter who painted the cave of Saint Patapios in the Cyrenean Mountains of Corinth considered it necessary to depict it near the relics of the venerable one.

A bright and enlightened person, Saint Ipomoni was endowed with many talents, which she used with wisdom and prudence, multiplying them. Thus, thanks to asceticism and patience, she was able to reach the heights of holiness.

Gennady Scholarius – the first Ecumenical Patriarch after the fall of Constantinople, a significant figure in those years, in his consoling speech to Emperor Constantine XI wrote the following: «Every wise man who visited this blessed empress left her amazed by her wisdom. When an ascetic met her, he left embarrassed by the poverty of his virtue, comparing it with the virtue of a saint. The prudent man was filled with even greater prudence, the legislator became more attentive, and the judge, conversing with her, was convinced that before him stood a true canon of justice. The bold man left her defeated, amazed at her patience, wisdom and strength of character. The philanthropist was filled with even more philanthropy next to her.

When a lover of a riotous life met her, he gained prudence and, seeing her humility, repented.

The zealous one for piety, upon becoming acquainted with her, was filled with even greater zeal. When a sick person came to her, his pain subsided. The lover of boasting began to reproach himself for his excessive self-love.

In other words, every person, getting to know Saint Ipomonia, became better.

The Lord protected her from experiencing the tragic events for the Empire. He called her to Himself on March 13, 1450. Thus, for 35 years of her life, Ipomonia was an empress and 25 years - a nun.

Deacon John Eugenics – her contemporary, brother of Mark Eugenics – Archbishop of Ephesus, in his consolation speech to Constantine Paleologue in connection with the death of Saint Hypomonia notes: “As for the ever-memorable lady, your mother, everything in her life was exceptional: faith, deeds, lineage, manners, life, words. All of them were modest and worthy of her holy glory. And, as she lived – a participant in Divine Providence, so she ended her earthly path.”

"The Holy Lady" - as George Frantzis calls her, embodied the meaning of her monastic name (in Greek "ipomonis" means "patience") in her attitude towards both the happy and the dishonorable, difficult moments of her life. Patience: in life, in deeds and in the monastic name. "Her soul was woven from patience."

From the 2006 calendar, published by the Holy Metropolis of Monemvasia and Sparta; city of Sparta; Greece

Modern Wonder of the World Ipomonia

In recent years, there have been numerous apparitions of Saint Hypomonia, both to pious people and to people who have no connection to Christianity. We will tell you about a case describing the miraculous appearance of the saint and the healing of a sick man.

«Saint Hypomonia appeared in the form of a nun to a resident of Athens who worked as a taxi driver.

He was suffering from skin cancer and was in deep despair. The signs of the disease were visible on his hands. On the way, the nun, on whose head was a cuculium (covering) with a red cross, asked him:

– Why are you sad?

The taxi driver, without hesitation, told her the whole truth about himself.

The nun then asked him if he would allow her to cross him to make him feel better. He soon became sleepy and asked the nun to stop for a while so that there would be no accident.

They soon reached a place where the nun could find another taxi.

The taxi driver pulled off the road and fell asleep. When he woke up, he saw that his hands were free of the disease, and the nun had disappeared. He began to ask the locals if they had seen any nuns around, but his search was in vain. Then he was amazed to learn that a saint had actually appeared to him and disappeared.

Later, the driver visited a doctor and told him about what had happened. Suddenly, his gaze fell on an icon hanging on the wall in the office. He jumped up from his chair and exclaimed: "That was her!" It turned out that it was an icon of Saint Hypomonia. Thus, the man learned who it was that had healed him and saved him from despair. The hood (head covering) with the red cross was a sign of her origin before she became a Byzantine empress. In this monastic robe, she completed her earthly path. Later, it became clear that this miracle occurred on March 13, the day when her holy memory is celebrated.

The memory of our venerable and God-bearing mother Ipomonia is celebrated on March 13/26 and on May 29/June 11.

Words are not enough to describe the life of this wonderful and wondrous servant of God, our quick helper and intercessor before our God Jesus Christ.

The translation is based on material published on the website solun.gr

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