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→Preaching in Patras and Zakynthos
===Preaching in Patras and Zakynthos===
Apostolos Makrakis was the most influential figure on the development of the Greek Church in the 19th and 20th centuries. As a preacher he was a new phenomenon in newly reborn Greece. To put this in the proper context, a doctoral study by doctoral student Anastassios Anastassiadis states that preaching during that period mostly was an activity of the marginal competitors of the Church, so that preaching, especially outside the temples by non-authorized figures, was violently repressed. He argues that this This was in line with the tradition of the Church of Late Antiquity, in that once Christian Churches were solidly established, clerics' activities were regulated and disciplined in order to avoid ecstatic innovations, something for which Makrakis was in fact criticized for.
Makrakis preached to large crowds in [[w:Patras|Patras]], who came out in awe to listen to his "nation-saving" teachings on [[June 18]], [[June 24|24]], [[June 27|27]], and [[July 16]], 1876. According to Traintaphyllu, while preaching in in Patras, Makrakis had as his most fervent followers Theodoros Kapetanon, Ioannis Arnellon, and Nikolaos Christogiannopoulos (1885). After this a number of publications such as ''Achaia'', ''Phoenix'', and ''Aratos'' strongly attacked his teachings, while others such as the ''Peloponnesus'' supported him. Defenders of Makrakis included a theologian of Patras named Ieronymos, as well as the spiritual father of Patras, Fr. Athanasios Georgiou, recommending he be exiled for two years lest he be judged by the Synod (''Triantaphyllu''). For a period of thirty years Makrakis visited Patras, in 1876 remaining there for forty-days teaching the people.
