Every year they celebrated the Feast of Saint Phanourius with deep gratitude for their miraculous deliverance. The saint’s name sounds similar to the Greek verb “phanerono,” which means “to reveal” or “to disclose.” For this reason, people pray to Saint Phanourius to help them find lost objects.
O Lord, you have made me to differ from my fellow men; you have not made me after the likeness of the animals. I thank you for this favor, O Lord. You have made me in a way that makes me different from those who are about me. You have been gracious to me to make me unlike them and unlike the animals that are about me. Therefore, I beseech you, O Lord, to grant me grace always to remember my own weakness and the weakness of others. Forgive us our sins, O God, as we forgive those who sin against us.
Keep us from every evil thing and from all forms of harm. Grant us victory over all our enemies and spiritual protection in every moment of our lives. Save us through your mercy and loving kindness for all eternity; make us worthy to enter into your eternal kingdom; lead us on the path which is pleasing to you; help us to do good works worthy of praise so that we may be found worthy of praise before you at our end; cause us always to do what is pleasing unto thee and never let anything be done without thy will.
Greek Orthodox Saint for Finding Lost Items
St Phanourios, also known as St Fanourios, is a revered Greek Orthodox saint who is believed to have the power to help people find lost things. In Greek, the name “Phanourios” means “the one who makes visible” or “the one who reveals.” This saint is known for his miraculous abilities to assist individuals in locating valuable possessions that have been misplaced or lost.
Believers pray to St. Phanourios for his help and guidance in recovering lost items, and many have reported success in finding what they had lost after seeking his intercession.
Prayers to St. Phanourios:
| Verse | Quote |
|---|---|
| Proverbs 3:6 | “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” |
Fanourios miracles
Not much is known about St. Phanourios. Apart from the fact that an icon representing his life and martyrdom was discovered after being lost for many years, we would know nothing about him. And for that reason, or for some other reason, people started coming to St. Phanourios seeking for his assistance in locating misplaced items.
And a custom built for reasons no one knows. It was customary to offer prayers for St. Phanourios’ mother if you approached him for assistance. You were to bake a rich, delicious bread and give it to the impoverished as an offering of thanks if you got what you were seeking for.
Compared to him, we know less about St. Phanourios’s mother. The icons don’t contain her. Some speculate that she was a harlot. She was probably a miser. Regardless, we pray to God on behalf of St. Phanourios’s mother as well as for us when we ask St. Phanourios to pray for us.
An Unexpected Reaction
But as I’ve already mentioned, I was raised a Presbyterian. I now know how to beg for the prayers of the saints and to love them. However, the travel has been lengthy and interrupted.
I felt a little foolish for asking St. Phanourios for assistance on Thursday as a result. I didn’t think he would assist me. I anticipated needing to purchase a new phone.
I hung my handbag and computer case on the hall closet doorknob, put my umbrella in the umbrella bin and requested my youngest to call me just in case when I got home. She did, too.
And the stand for the umbrella began to ring.
My phone was inside my folded umbrella.
A Hail Mary of St. Phanourios
Give peace to the soul of your departed servant, the mother of Saint Phanourios, in a bright, refreshed, and restful region where all illness, grief, and lamentation have vanished. Please forgive her for all of her transgressions, whether they were verbal, physical, or mental. Because you are a loving God, you are good.
Greek ladies usually prepare a Fanouropita, or Saint Fanourios Pie, in honour of St. Fanourios on August 27th, when they celebrate his birthday and pray to find everything they may have misplaced.
Martyrs are renowned for their ability to assist the faithful in recovering misplaced belongings, both tangible and intangible, like hope.
In order to discover the name of their future husband, a remedy for their ills, or a way out of a difficult situation, single ladies and people who are ill or in despair create the pie.
While baking the pie, a prayer is made asking St. Fanourios to guide the baker to the object they are searching for.
Fanouropita
Credit: Greek reporter/A. Makrides
After being blessed during vespers, or evening prayers, the pie is then transported to a Greek Orthodox church and distributed to the congregation. It is customary for a minimum of nine individuals to consume a portion of the pie.
Grecian Delight backs Greece.
Fanouropita Fanouropita. Greek Reporter is credited.
Greece’s fanouropita recipes differ from place to place.
There are regional variations in fanouropita recipes, and many ladies have devised their own proprietary recipes for the tastiest pie. The family then uses these recipes to pass them down.
Sesame seeds, raisins, crushed almonds, and spices like clove and cinnamon are frequently used ingredients. Recipes, however, might differ greatly. It’s vegan because, being a fasting pie, it never contains any butter, eggs, or other animal ingredients.
Irrespective of the variations among the pies, they are consistently composed of seven or nine ingredients. Since ancient times, both numbers have been revered and regarded as potent. They have religious importance as well.
The flavour of a fanouropita can vary greatly depending on the recipe. Women used to keep their fanouropita recipes a secret, but these days, a lot of them are available online.
St Phanourios Prayer for Lost Things
St Phanourios, God of Lost Things,
We pray to you for our lost things.
Please help us find our keys,
our wallets, our cell phones and other gadgets.
Guide us through the word-swamps and maze-like streets of our lives.
Help us find the path to peace and happiness again.
St Phanourios, the Holy Martyr of Lost Things.
We call upon you to guide our hands and help us find what we have lost.
We ask that you help us find our keys, wallets and phones. We ask that you help us find our car keys when they’re lost in the couch cushions. We ask that you help us find our glasses when they are lost at the bottom of the pool or at the bottom of a pile of laundry. We ask that you help us find our friends who have wandered off from the group at a concert or party, or who have gotten separated from us while hiking or on vacation together.
Please watch over us as we go about our day-to-day lives and keep an eye out for all manner of lost objects so that we may be reunited with them once again!
St. Phanourios, ask God to send me a sign that my lost thing is with you in heaven. If it is not, please pray for me that I will find it again soon.
St. Phanourios, intercede on my behalf before the throne of God, asking that He may send me a sign of my lost item’s whereabouts so that I may be able to bring it home safely.
If my lost item is indeed with you in heaven and has been sent there by God as a blessing for me, please ask Him to allow me to find it again soon so that I can make use of it again.
St. Phanourios, who is celebrated on September 25th, is well-known for his miracles of finding lost things. If you are in need of help finding something that has gone missing, St. Phanourios has the power to help you find it.
This prayer was recorded by someone who had prayed this prayer before and had found what they’d lost. The prayer works!
O Saint Phanourios, God’s holy monk, who receiveth the prayer of those who seek for their lost things.
I pray thee to come to my aid, for I have lost the most precious thing in the whole world: my mother’s wedding ring.
I know that you, O Saint Phanourios, can help me find it again. Please give me this blessing and help me recover my mother’s wedding ring as soon as possible! Amen!
St Phanourios Prayer for Lost Things
St Phanourios Prayer for Lost Things
Saint Phanourios, the Wonder-worker and Saint of the Third Day, you have shown me a great miracle that I have never seen before. I lost my keys on Wednesday at noon and could not find them anywhere. On Thursday at midday I remembered that you are a wonder-worker who helps people to find lost things. So I said this prayer and went back to where I had lost my keys and they were there! Thank you very much for helping me find them again.
Have you lost something important to you? Perhaps it is a set of keys, a billfold, or even a child. If so, you can pray an Orthodox Christian prayer known as the St Phanourios Prayer for Lost Things.
Have you lost something important to you? Perhaps it is a set of keys, a billfold, or even a child. If so, you can pray an Orthodox Christian prayer known as the St Phanourios Prayer for Lost Things. This prayer is often used by Orthodox Christians when they have lost something precious and want God’s help to find it again.
- O Lord Jesus Christ our God, who didst send Thy most holy apostle Saint Phanourios on earth to reveal unto us the power of Thy love; do Thou now send down upon me this day thy grace through his prayers that I may know where my missing things are so that I can recover them soonest possible with all thanksgiving unto Thee.*
As with most prayers there are certain conditions which must be met before they will work; one such condition is called “proper preparation”:
St. Phanourios is the patron saint of finding lost things. He is often depicted holding a piece of parchment on which are written his name and the words “God-crowned and wonder worker.”
St. Phanourios is the patron saint of finding lost things. He is often depicted holding a piece of parchment on which are written his name and the words “God-crowned and wonder worker.”
The prayer is for finding lost things, not for finding things you have lost (like your keys). It’s also not intended to help you find lost people; it’s meant only for animals and inanimate objects (if they’re small enough to fit into a pocket).
If you want to find something you have lost, try praying this prayer.
If you want to find something you have lost, try praying this prayer.
- Pray to St Phanourios. You can pray the prayer below or say your own special one.
- How long should I pray it?
Pray for as long as you like, but at least once a day for three days in a row is recommended. If possible, do it at the same time every day – for example when first waking up in the morning and going to bed at night.
It is unclear how old this prayer is. However, it should be noted that the prayer does not appear in any of the official liturgical books for Orthodox Christians and thus has not been approved for liturgical use. Instead, it appears to have evolved into a popular devotional prayer over time, perhaps from an older formula.
St Fanourios miracles
St. Fanourios is the patron saint of horses, and his miracles are countless. It’s said that he was once on a fishing trip with his friends when he heard a voice from heaven telling him to return home to help a man who had been attacked by robbers. When he arrived at the scene, he discovered that another man had already come to aid the victim and prayed for his recovery. The injured man was later healed and told everyone about how St. Fanourios had saved his life.
Another time, St. Fanourios was walking down a busy street when he saw an old woman who was struggling with a heavy load of wood. He took some of it from her hands and carried it for her until they arrived at her house. There she offered him some food and drink as thanks for helping her carry the wood home safely!
These stories show us how kind and generous St. Fanourios was: always helping others in need with no expectation of reward or glory for himself.”
St. Fanourios is the patron saint of Greece, and he is considered to be a miracle worker.
He was born in a small village in Greece around the year 280 A.D., and his father died when he was very young. He left home to become a monk at an early age, but was captured by pirates who were taking him to Rome as a slave. Instead of being sold into slavery, he escaped from his captors and returned home.
When he became an adult, Saint Fanourios began traveling throughout Greece and healing those who came to him with various illnesses. He performed many miracles during his lifetime but only one is known for certain: he healed the daughter of a man named Leontius who had lost all hope when she became ill with leprosy. Saint Fanourios prayed over her until she was cured of her illness and then sent her back to her father with instructions that they should not tell anyone what had happened. However, word spread quickly through the village about how Saint Fanourios had healed their daughter, and soon people began coming from miles around to be healed by him as well.
Unfortunately, there are no surviving writings or records about Saint