Saints be Praised!

Here they are not only praised, they are worshipped and celebrated.  Tourist publications list Saint Days and the festivals that mark them in villages and monasteries throughout the island.  Road signs direct you to chapels and monasteries ranging in size from the smallest of structures to large sprawling complexes.  What has struck us is the numbers of them we have found open - even in the most remote locations and no signs of vandalism. 

The small chapel for Saint Paul below is perched on a slight incline near the highway in the middle of grain fields at the southern tip of the island. 

We were the only ones there on Sunday morning and found the door to the chapel open and a candle already had been lit.

Today we walked the Stations of the Cross - something usually done in our town of Kirkland on the Friday before Easter - here it can be done as often as you want at Moni Agias Ypsenis (Monastery of Our Lady) just outside the town of Lardos on the eastern coast.

The Stations lead to a large cross on the hilltop that overlooks the Monastery complex; home to about 12 monks we were told.