Saint Kalí

I recently learned of a saint I’d never before heard of, and want to share. The following is from her entry at saint.gr (in Greek).

Saint Kalí lived before the 15th century AD, and she came from the East, that is, Asia Minor. The saint’s family was wealthy and she gave away her property to charity and welfare works. She does not seem to have been a nun, because this is not mentioned anywhere in her service, and she hosted the homeless and poor in her house, being dedicated to serving her least and suffering brothers.

Kalí lived with sobriety, virginity, ascesis, fasting and unceasing prayer. A characteristic feature of her life is philanthropy. Her motivation was her desire to keep the commandments of Christ, to imitate the mercy and love of God, and to express in every way her love for her fellow human beings. The memory of Saint Kalí is also mentioned on May 15 and on Saturday of Bright Week.

Miracles of the Saint are also mentioned in her service. Once when she was kneading bread to distribute it to the poor, God made sure that the bread she had left did not decrease, just as in the Old Testament the flour of the widow in Zarephath did not decrease, even though the Prophet Elijah was fed with it, along with the widow and her children.

But even after she fell asleep, the saint continued to benefit people, giving healing to the sickest with her prayers to the Lord. The miracles of this healer are so many that the hymn writer speaks of an “ocean of miracles” and calls it a “miraculous body.” She heals various diseases of the mind and body, but especially chronic and painful diseases, rheumatism and arthritis, paralysis of the joints and deformities of the body parts.

Holy Kalí, pray to God for us!