Elder Porphyrios His family

[Mary Naeem]

Elder Porphyrios (Bairaktaris), a Short Biography

On November 27, 2013, the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople accepted the resolution to canonize Elder Porphyrios (Bairaktaris) of Kafsokalivia. His commemoration date is December 2, on which OrthoChristian.com will post more on the elder’s teachings. Here we present a short biography from a book by Klitos Ioannidis.

His family

Elder Porphyrios was born on the 7th of February 1906, in the village of St. John Karystia, near Aliveri, in the province of Evia. His parents were poor but pious farmers. His father’s name was Leonidas Bairaktaris and his mother’s was Eleni, the daughter of Antonios Lambrou.

At baptism he was given the name Evangelos. He was the fourth of five children, and the third child of the four that survived. His oldest sister, Vassiliki, passed away when she was a year old. Today, only his youngest sister, who is a nun is still alive.

His father had a monastic calling but obviously did not become a monk. He was, however, the village cantor, and St. Nectarios called upon his services during his journeys through the area, but poverty forced him to emigrate to America to work on the construction of the Panama canal.