St. Joachim of Ithaca

Saint Joachim of Ithaca
Orthodox icon hand-painted by monks at the Monastery of Osios Nikodemos, Kilkis, Greece.
Papoulakis
Born	1786 Ithaca, Republic of Venice
Died	1868 Ithaca, Greece
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church
Canonized	1998 by Ecumenical Patriarchate
Major shrine	Church of Agia Varvara, Ithaca, Greece
Feast	2 March
Patronage	patron of Ithaca, Greece

Saint Joachim of Ithaca (Greek: Άγιος Ιωακείμ εξ Ιθάκης) also known as Saint Joachim of Vatopaedi or Saint Papoulakis was born in 1786 as Ioannis Patrikios near Polyktoria, a region in the island of Ithaca, Greece, where his father, Angelos Patrikios, was based as a Captain. Agne, his mother, was a devout Orthodox Christian but she died when he was still a child. From her Joachim learned the daily prayers and the importance of regular church attendance.

Angelos married to another woman after Agne died. She detested Joachim and was particularly irritated by the hours he spent in church every day and the vigils that he kept. She made his life a misery and finally persuaded Angelos that he be sent away to learn a trade. From that time on, Joachim made a living helping the sailors on the ships. He traveled across the Mediterranean but was not interested in anything other than the churches and shrines of the ports that he visited.

At the age of 17 he found himself on a ship bound for Athos. On arrival there Joachim took the opportunity to visit and speak to the Abbot of the Monastery of Vatopaedi. The latter was impressed by the young sailor and, after long discussions, agreed that he could stay on as a novice. Giorgis, the Captain of the ship, did not like the idea of losing one of his crew but Joachim assured him that this was what he had always wanted. Captain Giorgis finally agreed to speak to Joachim's father about the matter and left.

The hard working and ascetic young novice had few difficulties in adapting to the monastic life and was soon made steward of Vatopaedi. In later years, Joachim was sent to preach around Greece and he came to be considered one of the most notable elders of Vatopaedi. His mission, particularly to the Peloponnese, was comparable in scope to the work of Cosmas of Aetolia in Northern Greece. Known as "Papoulakis" (an affectionate term literally meaning 'little father'), Joachim re-founded monasteries, helped organize schools and distributed Bibles.

During the Greek War of Independence Joachim devoted himself to raising funds for the refugees and traveled around the liberated areas to preach and raise the morale of the beleaguered Greeks. Joachim had earlier founded a monastery at Tripotamos of Elia, with the outbreak of hostilities this became the supply center for the free lands and as such was often the target of Turkish raids. Joachim repeatedly supervised the defense of the monastery but it was finally sacked by Ibrahim Pasha, the leader of the Egyptian troops until 1825. All those who had resisted were massacred or sent as slaves to Egypt but Joachim and a famed eldress were taken prisoner.