For everything from troubled hearts to lost keys, Greeks bake cakes for a wish-granting saint

By THEODORA TONGAS and DEREK GATOPOULOS

ILION, Greece (AP) — For the careless and despairing alike, there’s a special day on the Orthodox Christian calendar to provide relief — with the help of some orange-flavored cake.

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Thousands of pilgrims gathered late Wednesday and Thursday at the Church of St. Fanourios, 10 kilometers (6 miles) northwest of Athens, with their baked offerings. They were seeking solace for different forms of loss: misplaced keys, an estranged partner, courage still needed to face an ordeal and more.

Priests blessed the cakes of supplicants, who then shared them with their fellow churchgoers for the feast of St. Fanourios, which culminates on Thursday.

The saint of lost-and-found

Among those arriving was Maria Chanioti, 66. She has attended services dedicated to the patron saint of lost-and-found since her youth.

“People go to him for help with pain in their hearts. But St. Fanourios is generous. He helps people,” Chanioti said in her godparents’ kitchen a few blocks from the Church of St. Fanourios, while she beat the cake’s ingredients with a whisk.

She prepared her cake as her family always has: with fresh-squeezed orange juice and a pinch of nutmeg, in front of an icon of the saint and a simple vigil candle.

Wishes conveyed to Fanourios go beyond mere custom: Each year’s petition is held in earnest and usually not shared even with loved ones.

Chanioti said her friends in the past have asked for a grandchild or for young relatives to finish school with good grades. Loss is understood broadly, including things lacking from one’s life.

“The important things in life are love, understanding, to have optimism and to be free of sadness,” she said. “That’s more important than money.”

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Orthodox saints are regarded as spiritual companions — models of bravery and faith who channel prayer and provide protection. Saint Nicholas traditionally watches over sailors and fishermen; worshippers offer prayers to Saint Paraskevi for eye ailments.

Fanourios (pronounced fa‑NOO‑ree‑os) is known as “The Revealer.” He is also the patron saint of the main town in Rhodes, the Greek island where an icon depicting his suffering as a Christian martyr was discovered more than 500 years ago. Celebrations honoring him are held mostly in Greece and Cyprus.

A cake fit for a saint

Every Greek family may have its own recipe for the cake — called Fanouropita — and priests bless all versions. But the Church of St. Fanourios offers some culinary counsel:

1. 4 cups self-rising flour or equivalent.

2. 1 tsp. cinnamon.

3. 1 cup vegetable oil.

4. 1 cup, plus 2 tbsp sugar.

5. 12 tbsp. orange juice

6. 1/2 cup water.

7. Add lemon zest to taste.

8. 1/2 cup golden raisins, plus 1/2 cup black raisins.

9. 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts.

Mix the flour and cinnamon together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the oil, sugar, orange juice, water and lemon zest for a few minutes. Add the flour mix, raisins and walnuts to the liquid mixture and stir well. Grease a 12½ inch wide baking tin with oil and dust lightly with flour, shaking off any excess. Pour the batter into a pan and bake at 170-180 Celsius (about 350 Fahrenheit) for 45 minutes. Once cooled, dust with powdered sugar if preferred and slice into squares. The cake is best enjoyed after 24 hours.

Faith built on ‘moments of revelation’

Father Nikolaos Vlavianos greeted parishioners and blessed their cakes at the Church of St. Fanourios on Wednesday night, where thousands gathered around outdoor tables set up for the ceremony and attended a church fair where vendors sold toys, clothes and grilled meat.

Most keep their wishes private, though Father Nikolaos has heard everything from illness and bankruptcy to parking woes and soccer slumps. He says that confronting loss in the church gives worshippers moral clarity and steadfast faith.

“If someone prayed to win the lottery, that would have no spiritual benefit and would not go anywhere,” he said.

“Moments of revelation – everyday ones and extraordinary ones – are often rationalized or dismissed as coincidence. But they still speak to us. The real question is: What experience will we have? How open and receptive are we to living a miracle, to seizing an opportunity to come a little closer to Christ.”

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Associated Press videojournalist Lefteris Pitarakis contributed to this report.