Photo: @aleksandrovechkinofficial
Noted lover of celebration and goals Alex Ovechkin may be taking more stoic approach to offseason training this summer. On Saturday he checked into St. Panteleimon Monastery in northern Greece, posting on Instagram that he’ll be there for three days.
According to the internet, St. Panteleimon’s is an Eastern Orthodox monastery. Though it’s located in northern Greece, the monastery has “historical and liturgical” ties to the Russian Orthodox Church.
Perhaps Ovechkin will spend his time at the monastery studying some of its 1,320 Greek and 600 Slavonic manuscripts, or reading some of its 25,000 printed books.
Or maybe he’ll go a little bit more morbid and spend some time with the head of Saint Panteleimon, “one of the most popular saints in Russia.” According to the Orthodox Church in America, Panteleimon revived a child who had died from a snake bite, and after the miracle “dedicated his life to the suffering, the sick, the unfortunate and the needy.”
Check out the crazy story of his execution:
They led the saint to the place of execution and tied him to an olive tree. While the martyr prayed, one of the soldiers struck him with a sword, but the sword became soft like wax and inflicted no wound. The saint completed his prayer, and a Voice was heard from Heaven, calling the passion-bearer by his new name and summoning him to the heavenly Kingdom.
Hearing the Voice, the soldiers fell down on their knees before the holy martyr and begged forgiveness. They refused to continue with the execution, but St Panteleimon told them to fulfill the emperor’s command, because otherwise they would have no share with him in the future life. The soldiers tearfully took their leave of the saint with a kiss.
When the saint was beheaded, the olive tree to which the saint was tied became covered with fruit. Many who were present at the execution believed in Christ. The saint’s body was thrown into a fire, but remained unharmed, and was buried by Christians.
So, yeah.
