Was St. Sophia of Kleisoura an Old Calendarist Nun who went by the name Myrtidiotissa?

By John Sanidopoulos

In 2011 the Ecumenical Patriarchate recognized Sophia of Kleisoura Monastery in Kastoria as a Saint of the Church. But is this the name she went by?

This Saint is a rare example of one who is recognized for her sanctity by both New Calendarists and Old Calendarists, and specifically to the region, by both the official Church of Greece (New Calendarists) and the Genuine Orthodox Christians (Old Calendarists), and both of these are in a schism from one another. The official Church of Greece says her name was Sophia and that she lived as an ascetic and was not a tonsured nun, while the Genuine Orthodox Christians believe she was herself an Old Calendarist who rejected the New Calendar, and that she was tonsured a nun by Metropolitan Cyprian of Oropos and Fili, the first hierarch of the Old Calendarist Synod of Resistance, who was then an Archimandrite, and given the name Myrtidiotissa.

Based on a study of the official texts and of books that have been written about her, the matter is a complicated one. Some say she should go by the name Venerable Sophia of Kleisoura, others say Venerable Eldress Myrtidiotissa, another says Venerable Sophia the Nun, and another is Venerable Sophia Hortokoridou. It should be noted, she is commonly depicted in photographs and icons as a simple ascetic without monastic dress.

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