Demetria: Name Day and Patron Saint

St Demetrios was the son of the Roman proconsul of Thessaloniki, secretly baptized and raised in the faith by his parents. When Emperor Galerius Maximian made him proconsul in his father’s place, charged with defending the city and stamping out Christianity, Demetrios instead preached Christ openly. Arrested and imprisoned, he made the sign of the Cross over his young disciple Nestor, who went out and overthrew the emperor’s champion wrestler Lyaeus. In fury the emperor had Nestor executed and sent soldiers to the prison, where they pierced Demetrios with spears in 306. His relics were later found incorrupt, and a fragrant myrrh has flowed from his tomb for centuries. Thessaloniki has called on him in every siege, and soldiers of Greece, Russia and Serbia carry his icon. Orthodox Christians pray to him for courage, for the protection of those who serve, and for the souls of the fallen.

What the faithful pray for

• courage in danger and in battle
• protection of soldiers and of one’s city and country
• healing from illness
• strengthening of faith
• the repose of departed parents and of soldiers who fell for faith and country (Dmitrievskaya Saturday)
• victory over a stronger enemy, as Nestor received through his prayers

Protection

• soldiers in battle
• the city from invaders and siege
• from enemies visible and invisible
• from illness

Miracles

• Signed with the Cross by Demetrios in prison, the young Christian Nestor defeated the emperor’s champion wrestler Lyaeus and hurled him onto the soldiers’ spears. (source)
• Since the seventh century a fragrant myrrh has flowed beneath his crypt in Thessaloniki, earning him the title Myrrh-streamer. (source)
• As the seventh-century Miracles of St Demetrius record, he defended Thessaloniki through repeated sieges. (source)

Read the life of St Demetrios of Thessaloniki