St. Cuv. Neofit and Meletie from Stânișoara Monastery; St. Holy Mc. Antimus, Bishop of Nicomedia; St. Cuv. Teoctist of Palestinetranslated

Orthodox calendar September 3 Saints Pious Neophytes and Meletius Saint Pious Neophyte In the mountains around the Cozia Monastery, located in the Olt valley, there were many hermits who loved God, both before the construction of the holy place by the happy and memorable ruler Mircea the Elder (the Great) of the Romanian Country, and after that.

Among the most famous hermits of the place were the six monks from Cozia who, around the year 1600, retired beyond Olt. Among them we know by name Venerable Daniil, the priest, and Misail, his apprentice, who settled at the foot of Mount Cozia and founded the Turnu Hermitage, as well as Venerable Neofitus and Meletie, whom we celebrate today. They lived as a hermit higher up, in the Mountain called Sălbaticul, and their disciples founded the Stânişoara Hermitage.

Saint Pious Neophyte was born in the 16th century to orthodox Christian parents, with fear of God and holy piety. As a young man he received the angelic image of the monk in the Cozia Monastery and, after several years of humble obedience in the community, desiring a perfect life, he received the blessing of his abbot to go into hermitage.

Thus, he dug a…