The miracle has just occurred again (August, 2021): Holy Snakes of the Theotokos - ΤΟ ΘΑΥΜΑ ΜΕ ΤΑ ΦΙΔΑΚΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΠΑΝΑΓΙΑΣ ΣΤΗ ΚΕΦΑΛΛΟΝΙΑ.
At the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos August 5-15 on the island of Kefalonia, Greece, small black snakes appear at the monastery church of Panagia of Langouvarda.
The miracle of the Holy Snakes of the Theotokos dates to 1705, when the nuns of the monastery petitioned the Holy Virgin to save them.
When the pirates broke the Abbey, they panicked and retreated upon finding it full of snakes.
A myth has developed that the nuns themselves were transformed into snakes and some choose to focus on this myth in order to dismiss this miracle.
The miracle has occurred yearly with the exceptions of 1940 and 1953, when the island was hit by major earthquakes. People have taken the absence of snakes to be a sign of impending trouble for the nation.
The snakes have a small cross on their head and their tongues are also in the shape of a cross and show no fear during the feast.
However, after the Liturgy on August 15, they become hostile and aggressive, disappear back into the wilderness, and can't be found until the following year.
READ MORE: August 13th, 1944: German troops began the pillage and razing of Anogeia in Crete.