Christopher Papoulakos - Monk at the Panachrantos Monastery in Andros
He was born in 1770 in the village of Arbounas in the Kalavryta Province of the Achaea Prefecture as Christoforos Panagiotopoulos and initially worked as a butcher. He was completely illiterate when he decided to pursue the solitary life. Initially, he became a monk at the Great Cave Monastery, and later he practiced asceticism in a hut near his village. He remained in seclusion for about 20 years, during which he learned to read and write. At the age of 80, he decided to preach. His reputation quickly spread as he had his unique way of captivating the audience. He mainly preached against adultery and theft and advocated for prayer. Through his sermons, he denounced the policies of the Bavarian government in the country and the acquiescence to it by the Church Synod. He was summoned before the Bishop of Kalavryta, who reprimanded him and asked him to limit his preaching.
Six months later, Papoulakos began a tour in southern Peloponnese, gathering thousands of people wherever he went. Under pressure, King Otto signed a decree restricting Papoulakos to a monastery. Papoulakos fled to Mani to save himself. The government's response was to send General Gennaios Kolokotronis immediately with a team of officers to organize his arrest. The army arrived at night, but by morning, they found themselves surrounded by 2,000 Maniots. A Maniot uprising ensued, with many instances of the army engaging in direct conflict with Papoulakos' supporters. Finally, on June 21, 1852, he was captured by the army after betrayal and transferred to the Rion prison, where he spent two years in isolation. He was to be tried by the Athens criminal court as a rebel, but the events of the Crimean War compelled Otto to grant him amnesty. In 1854, he was exiled to the Panachrantos Monastery in Andros.
There he was led to a specially constructed solitary cell, guarded by a guard. During the day, he could participate in the monastery's services normally, while at night, he was confined. With his spirituality, he gained the esteem of the Abbot and the Monks of the Monastery, and his reputation attracted many people from all over Greece who came to the island to receive his blessing and hear him preach. He passed away on January 18, 1861, at the age of 91, and was buried there.
In recent years, his cell was located, and the monastery's brotherhood repaired it in the summer of 2011, with the help of anonymous donors. Inside the cell, after so many years and so much humidity, the miraculous icon of Panagia Vrefokratousa, which Papoulakos placed in front of him before each of his sermons, was found untouched.
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