The eldress Konstantia lived in
the first half of the 19th century and came from the land of Africa. She
served as a slave in the household of a Turk, who was a resident of the
old city of Zaverda. For some unknown reason till this day, she was
abandoned to her fate by the Turks who after the liberation of the Greek
nation left the area. She possibly could have escaped by her own means,
but found refuge in the Holy Monastery of Saint Demetrios of Zaverda
(now Paleros Aitoloakarnania) in which she received Holy Baptism and
later the Angelic Schema. She lived here for many decades, adorning her
life ascetically with the virtues and helping her neighbor in every
possible way.
She highlighted the Monastery as a spiritual oasis in
which all the downtrodden found refuge. Her physical and spiritual
asceticism reached the height of the great male ascetics. God graced her
with many gifts, such as that of clairvoyance and wonderworking. And
Saint Demetrios, the protector of the Holy Monastery, made her worthy to
see him visually and appeared to her and directed her in her spiritual
struggle and in the struggle for the correct functioning of the
Monastery through which many people were spiritually benefited. Her life
ended peacefully in the Monastery she so loved and was buried within
it.
The translation of her holy
relics took place in 2004 and were stored in a wooden coffin in the
Katholikon of the Monastery. On 2 February 2009 the holy relics of
Eldress Konstantia were stolen from the Monastery of Saint Demetrios,
but were later returned.
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