Часть 3

The life and exploits of our holy father Leontius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, who shone in the 12th century The birthplace of our reverend and God-bearing father Leonty was a city called by everyone Strumnitsa (previously it was called Tiberiupol). He was born to rich and pious parents and, reborn in Divine Baptism, was named Leo. When the monk grew up, he was sent to school to study sacred literacy. Reading the lives of the saints, he strongly desired to renounce the world and become a monk in order to work for the Lord. When his father died, he left his homeland and, coming to a small village, found there a pious priest, a friend of his father. Knowing Leo well and loving the young man for his virtue, he accepted him into his home. Seeing holy icons in the priest’s house, Leo approached them and began to talk with them as if they were alive, asking them to arrange his path and lead him to salvation. Then he went to bed to rest from the labors of the journey. Waking up at night, Leo took a small icon on which the Lord was depicted in the form of a baby, and, unnoticed by anyone, went to the mountain. Having placed the icon in front of him, he knelt down and began to pray: “Show me, O Lord, the path along which I should go, for to You I lift up my soul” (Ps 142:8). Plant me in Your holy mountain, in Your ready dwelling. Cover me with the shelter of Your wings, for I have gone away, running, and do not know where I will dwell, but I have trusted in You from my mother’s womb, do not leave me to the end.” Praying these and other words and talking with the holy icon, as if with a living one, he stood there until the evening, not tasting anything. When it got dark and he wanted to sleep, he gathered a lot of thorns and lay naked on top of them. The thorns dug into the tender body, which began to bleed, causing him severe pain. Suffering without food, and while sleeping, lying naked on thorns and shedding warm tears, Leo spent three days like this. Then he went down the mountain and came to the priest's house. Having said goodbye to him, he went to Constantinople without a single obol or piece of bread. Approaching Constantinople, Leo entered the monastery of the Mother of God, called Ptelidian, and there he became a monk. And so, being a monk both externally and internally, the monk came to the capital, unknown to anyone and a stranger both to the city and to the inhabitants. He did not want to greet anyone, he did not want to get acquainted with anyone, neither small nor great, but he immediately began to struggle against the powers of darkness. Pretending to be a holy fool, he appeared before the inhabitants of the city. And some hit him on the cheeks, others with their fists, and still others mocked him. Wanting to check whether he had gained any benefit from his foolishness, he took burning coals in his hands and, running through the bazaars, burned incense to everyone he met on the road, especially the holy icons of Christ and the Mother of God that were at the crossroads. And a miracle happened, because these coals did not burn his hands at all. Wanting to test whether this was the devil’s machinations to seduce people, he repeated the same thing when he was left alone. But even then the coals did not harm him. He decided to try again and, picking up the hem of his cassock, put a lot of burning coals there with his bare hands. But neither his clothes were burned, nor did he burn his hands. On the coals lay incense, which, when burned, gave a fragrance. The monk was very surprised by this and thought that he had probably already achieved a great measure of holiness. But Leo immediately drove away these thoughts, calling himself earth and ashes, pulling himself by the hair, shedding many tears, sprinkling earth on his head and calling on God for help. But the monk did not stop at this test and, while in the bathhouse, took off the cape from his shoulders and threw it into the bathhouse stove, but the same miracle happened: the clothes did not suffer at all from the fire. Then, thinking that the demon of pride was mocking him, he began to cry even more and beat his head against the wall, fearing that he would become proud and lose everything that he had acquired from his foolishness. The monk continued to act like a fool the entire time he was in Constantinople. He caused amazement in some, and they testified that he was a servant of God, and some beat him, considering him crazy. Later, the Bishop of Tiberias, famous for his virtues, came to Constantinople, and the divine Leontius immediately clung to him, submitting in everything. And he also pleased his spiritual father, who rejoiced and blessed Leontius for his prudence and obedience, for at such a young age he lifted the yoke of Christ onto his shoulders with all his soul. His obedience was demonstrated in the following miracle. It must be said that his elder did not live in Constantinople, but in one mountainous place, in a harsh and convenient place for silence, where he taught his students everything that serves the benefit of the soul. One day, the elder sent Leontius on an errand to the capital, ordering him to return back on the same day to avoid the temptations that happened in the cities. The bishop also added to this the saying that it is harmful even for fish to stay on land for a long time. After listening to this instruction, Leontius went to Constantinople. There he tried to complete the work entrusted to him as quickly as possible. Having finished everything, while it was still day, the young man went down to the shore, but discovered that the ship that was supposed to take him to where the old man lived was not there. He ran along the shore for a long time, as if someone was chasing him, looking for a suitable ship. But, since the sun had already set, there was no one on the shore who could transport him to the old man. Having met one priest, a friend of the elder, he asked him to quickly take him to him, because he did not have the blessing to spend the night outside his cell. The priest answered that it was already late, everyone had gone home, and persuaded him to come to his house, have dinner and sleep. But blessed Leonty, having learned that the priest had two beautiful daughters, and thinking about the danger to which his soul could be exposed, preferred to fulfill the elder’s blessing and drown in the sea rather than violate the blessing and fall into temptation. Fully trusting in God and the prayers of his elder, he threw himself into the sea. And - lo and behold! - God, who once helped Peter to walk on the waters, now helped his servant, saving him from the sea current, for, being in the water, the monk began to walk as if on dry land. Realizing that he could walk on water, he went forward, but did not understand how this was happening, for the waters completely covered him and some were even one inch higher than his head. So he walked until he reached the opposite bank. What words can convey the great faith in God that the young man had, or the miracle that God performed on him? If anyone asks why God did not allow the monk to walk on the sea, as on dry land, or on the seabed, as Israel did in ancient times, but plunged him into the water, we will answer this way. Since the monk was still young and unestablished in virtue, this happened to him so that he would not become exalted, that he had achieved perfection in holiness, and so that he would understand that only one who has shed a lot of sweat and struggled a lot in virtue can walk on the sea as if on dry land. The monk came to the elder late at night, all wet. Seeing him and learning about the miracle created by God, his spiritual father rejoiced, marveling at the disciple, and glorified him for his love and faith in God, and perfect obedience to his teacher. And the student, in turn, was pleased that he had such a teacher who could save students from death. Having decided to return to the diocese, the teacher took Leonty with him. But due to a storm that happened at sea, they ended up on the island of Patmos. Having gone up to the monastery of St. John the Theologian, they rested there for several days, and then again boarded the ship and arrived in Cyprus to spend the winter, and in the spring to go to Jerusalem and Tiberias, their father’s diocese. But God, who knew in advance about Leontius’s future exploits on Patmos, did not allow him to go to Jerusalem from Cyprus. Knowing that it would not be beneficial for him to remain in Cyprus, the young man asked the elder to allow him to return back to Patmos to the monastery of St. John the Theologian, because he really liked that place and the life of the fathers there. God, who moved the student to do this, also moved the soul of the teacher, who gave him permission. So the monk returned to Patmos with all zeal, having nothing with him except the old clothes that he was wearing. Arriving at the monastery, he was received by the then abbot named Theoktist, who was truly a spiritual man and a servant of God, capable of recognizing what lies inside a person, judging by the external and apparent. Having received Leonty, the abbot ordered the monk not to communicate with his brothers, not to attend general church services, but to remain silent in his cell and follow the rule that he himself had assigned to him, because Leonty was still a beardless youth and could cause temptation. While in the cell, the young man went through his monastic life with all the rigor: he prayed incessantly, read the Holy Scriptures, chanted psalms, had a zeal for virtues, tears flowed from his eyes in a stream, and when the other brothers were sleeping, and it was difficult for him to extract tears, he took the belt prepared for this and beat himself on his naked body. The monk cried from severe pain and without wanting to. There were many nails attached to the belt, so when he beat himself, the nails, piercing deeply into the body, tore off the flesh, blood flowed from the wounds, and severe pain caused profuse hot tears. Because of his wounds, lying on the ground was even more painful for the monk. To those who saw him, he seemed dry and thin from beatings and wounds, but no one knew the true reason for this. In order to always have mortal memory, very often at dawn Leonty secretly left his cell and went to the brotherly cemetery. There he took off his clothes and, without any fear, boldly entered some tomb where the remains of the dead were. He fell to the ground as if dead, of his own free will, and lay there all day, crying and sobbing so much that he wet the bodies of the deceased with his tears, and no one knew that he was there. Leonty did this not once, not twice, not ten, but for many years, as the brothers later realized, who later learned about it. The abbot appointed the monk to help the ecclesiarch, and he, fulfilling his obedience, did not stop the secret labors of incessant prayer, meditation, contrition of heart, tears, vigils and standing, so that his body weakened from many oppressions, and he began to be subjected to blameless bodily passions, especially sleep. Seeing that Leonty was dozing during the service and leaning his head against the wall of the church, the abbot approached him and pushed him in the chest, the monk hit his head against the wall, woke up, and the other brothers became more attentive. This is what the abbot did until he learned about the monk’s secret work, and then he stopped touching him. Having learned about Leonty’s ascetic life, the abbot decided to test him in other ways in order to find out whether this adamant could be defeated by something. Sometimes he elevated him to the dignity of abbot and ecclesiarch, sometimes he demoted him from this dignity, making him a humble servant, but the blessed one did not think at all about these changes, never a word of discontent came out of his mouth, as if he was completely soulless. And although the monk was always humble and considered himself worse than a dog, he never stopped beating himself, sometimes doing it at night when the other brothers were sleeping, and sometimes during the day, going far from the monastery, to a quiet place so that no one would see him. When he beat himself, he said: “Open the eyes of my heart, O Lord, and enlighten them with the light of Your knowledge, “for with You is the source of life; in Your light we see light” (Ps. 35:10). Saying this, he begged God with warm tears and one night he saw a hand up to the elbow that was holding bread, and heard a voice: “Take this bread and eat it.” And this bread resembled pita, which is made from flour with spices and honey. As soon as the monk ate that bread, he came to his senses, and from then on he began to easily understand the meaning of the Holy Scriptures. There was not a single spiritual book that did not seem sweet and pleasant to him, or that he did not understand. His tongue became sharper than the tongue of rhetoricians, and he eloquently stated everything that the good Spirit of God spoke to him about. Leonty easily learned entire books by heart, and not only those containing the lives of saints and martyrs or the works of the divine fathers with moral teachings, but also those that set forth the highest dogmas of the faith and which few understood because of the theological concepts they contained. Leonty remembered them so well and quoted them when he spoke that some thought that he was reading from a book; Leontius completely studied the theological book called “Dogmatic Armor.” Thus enlightened in a high knowledge of theological dogmas, the monk became a beacon of knowledge and a most divinely inspired mind, but the more the gifts of the Holy Spirit abounded in him, the more the blessed one multiplied his labors. He decided to add even greater humility to the daily beatings and completely abstain from all food. But since he was in a communal monastery and went to meals with everyone, it was difficult to completely refuse food, and so that the brothers would not find out and be tempted, he planned the following. The monk sat down to a meal with everyone, took food, put it in his mouth, but did not swallow it, but secretly spat it into the sleeve of his clothes. There he kept it until the end of the meal, and then gave it to the birds. Thus, he left the meal hungry. Having thought about all this, the abbot considered Leontius worthy to accept the priesthood. But when he told him about this, at first he did not even want to listen, but then, strongly forced by the abbot and so as not to be disobedient, he reluctantly allowed himself to be persuaded and accepted the great and full monastic schema and priestly rank. And although through the Sacrament of the Priesthood the monk became a teacher and educator to others, he did not behave like a teacher and despise the lesser brothers, but was for everyone an example of humility, working together with the working people, comforting the grieving, correcting those who fell and healing those who were tempted. After this, under pressure from the abbot and by the decision of all the brethren, Leontius became the steward of the monastery. Being bound by worries and labors beyond his strength, he, nevertheless, did not abandon his secret work and his usual beatings, which he bravely endured in his cell. The monk spent the whole night reading the word of God, prayers, psalmody, and cleansing tears, and only slept for the last hour of the night, at dawn. Therefore, the Lord visited him with His grace, which is clearly seen from the subsequent story. On the feast of St. John the Theologian, after the vigil, the monk went to his cell to rest for a while. There he picked up the book, and... a miracle happened! Under the guise of an abbot, the Apostle of Christ John the Theologian appeared to him and said: “Child Leonty, go quickly and begin serving earlier than usual, because I want to go to Ephesus.” Unable to contradict the abbot’s command, he went to his cell, thinking along the way why he didn’t tell him in advance that he wanted to go to Ephesus, and why he didn’t take him with him. Having bowed as usual, the monk asked for a blessing for the beginning of the Divine Liturgy. The abbot asked him: - What's wrong with you, brother? Do you want to serve now? “Father, didn’t you yourself command me to celebrate the Divine Liturgy as soon as possible, because you want to go to Ephesus?” Hearing this, the abbot realized that it was John the Theologian, so he said: “Go, child, and do what you were told, for beloved John will invisibly celebrate both us and the Ephesians.” Thus the monk was honored to see John the Theologian and hear his voice. The Monastery of John the Theologian annually received royal allowances, which came from the island of Crete. At that time, in Crete, these funds were managed by John Stravoromanos. Being the second abbot of the monastery, the monk, together with other brothers, went to him for food and to acquire everything necessary for the brethren. When he was in Crete, one evening a certain Constantine Skanfis, who pretended to be crazy, although there was evidence that he foresaw and predicted the future and healed the mental and physical passions of some, began to loudly cry out: “Lord, have mercy!”, and did this repeatedly. Thinking that with such an unusual cry he was warning that great evil was coming to Crete, many ran to him to find out what was the matter. However, when asked why he was screaming and what happened, he did not answer anything, but only continued to cry out: “Lord, have mercy!” The divine Leonty also wanted to go to him to find out the reason for his screams. As soon as Leonty set off, Skanfis stopped saying: “Lord, have mercy!”, but began to shout even louder: “The road, the road, he’s coming, he’s coming! Woe to you, pious ones, at this hour. If he had not come, what would have happened to you? When the monk approached him, Skanfis said: “Welcome, welcome, my Chrysostom.” He fell at his feet, began to kiss them and shout even harder: “Welcome!” But no one found out why Skanfis said this and acted this way, and he himself did not tell anyone, except that by his actions and words he showed that Leontius was great with God and holy. Another time, the abbot fell ill with a terrible fatal disease and took to his bed. The monk was very saddened by the illness of his spiritual father. After the Liturgy, Leontius went with the brethren to a common meal and asked the minister what the abbot would eat and whether he had an appetite. Having learned that the elder not only had no appetite, but was suffering seriously from a terrible attack, the monk became greatly saddened and, sighing with all his heart, began to pray. Rising from the table, he went to the abbot’s cell. After making the usual bow and asking for blessings, he realized that his elder was suffering so much that he could not even speak. Then the monk found a small pumpkin with wine, filled a glass with it and wanted to give it to the sick man to drink. The patient refused and said in a barely audible voice that as soon as he drank this wine, he would die immediately. But the monk still persuaded him to drink, saying that it was blessed by Christ and as soon as he drank, he would immediately recover. At these words, the monk crossed the glass, secretly calling on the Lord for help. Seeing that the elder did not want to drink, Leonty called on the Lord aloud, saying these simple words: “Christ is my beloved, desired Lord. If You love Your Mother, my Lady, hear me, Your poor servant, and grant healing to my spiritual father.” Hearing this and moved by this simple prayer, the elder obeyed and drank the wine. And - lo and behold! - his illness passed at that very moment and so much bile came out of him that a whole vessel was filled with it. This confirms the unusual nature of the miracle, for there is no doubt that the abbot could not have lived with such an amount of destructive substance. Having learned what strong boldness Leonty had towards God, the elder from that time forced him to become abbot and himself joyfully obeyed the one who, through his prayer to God, gave him life. But the monk did not want to hear about this, but remained in his former obedience, submitting to his spiritual father. He continued to diligently heal the sick and kiss the rotten limbs of the maimed. Having once come to Constantinople on monastic business, the monk, being the second person after the abbot, completed everything that was entrusted to him, and then went up to the monastery of St. Daniel the Stylite. Seeing that this area was deserted and calm, he greatly desired to spend the rest of his life there in silence. Having shared these thoughts with the brothers who labored there and having received their consent, he promised to first go to Patmos to report on his affairs to the brethren, and then return here. But God, Who arranges everything, at that time took the abbot of the monastery on Patmos to the eternal settlements, ordering him to appoint Leontius as abbot, about which the abbot left a written order. Returning to the island and seeing that the monastery was in such a dire situation, the monk did not know what to do. He remembered the promise that he made to God and the Monk Daniel - to become the successor of his virtue and was more inclined to go to the monastery of the Stylite. However, the tears of the brethren, who were orphaned like sheep without a shepherd, and the written decision of the abbot, or, better said, not written, from God, defeated him and he reluctantly accepted the offer of the brethren to stay. Then he began to apply work to work, vigil to vigil, explaining to everyone that the vigil and care of superiors for their subordinates forces the subordinates to respect and obey their superiors: “If I am awake, it is not only for myself, but also for those who obey me, in order to force them to obey my commands.” Therefore, everyone who did not disobey the instructions of the monk received appropriate admonition, but not from people, but from cruel demons, as will become clear from the further story. Opposite Patmos is the small uninhabited island of Lipso, where the monks grazed animals. In the summer, the monks slaughtered excess animals, dried the meat in the sun and sold it, raising funds for the monastery. A monk named Prokhor, evil and inhuman, was sent to this obedience. Prokhor constantly bothered the monk with requests for new shoes. Having learned from the monastery shoemaker that the shoes were not yet ready, the monk meekly told Prokhor that he would receive the shoes when he returned from Lipso. But the obstinate Prokhor, not ashamed of the monk, behaved impudently and demanded the shoes right away. The monk meekly told him: “Go in peace and obey, so that what you do not want does not befall you. But he did not listen and still did not leave. Then the monk decided that he was worthy of admonition, like a disobedient ram, and said: “Go, and let your path be darkness and stumbling, and let the Angel of the Lord pursue you.” Before the saint had time to utter these words, God sealed his words with holy deeds. As soon as the rebellious Prokhor got into the boat to go to Lipso, stones suddenly rained down on him, as thickly as if it was hail. But the most amazing thing was that the stones fell only on Prokhor, without touching anyone else floating, while everyone heard voices: “For stubbornness, for stubbornness.” It was then that the unfortunate man realized that these were demonic forces sent to punish him and teach him what evil disobedience and disregard for the requests of his spiritual father represent. In sadness, leaving the boat and freeing himself a little from the stones, he came to his senses and began to ponder why such evil had happened to him. If the stones continued to fall, he would become completely exhausted or go crazy. When Prokhor got ready to dine, stones fell on him again, the bowl broke, the food spilled, the vessel with wine also broke, and the demons throwing stones at him called him by name and said: “For stubbornness, for stubbornness.” The unfortunate Prokhor was distraught because of the extraordinary misfortune that had happened to him and did not know what to do. He forgot about food and drink and returned with Lipso with wounds on his body from stones. Showing them to the monk, he spoke about the misfortune that had befallen him. One of the monks, having listened to his story, plucked up courage and proudly said to the brothers: “This monk suffered because he does not know how to read and write in order to drive away demons. But I always rely on God and my knowledge of literacy, so I do not tolerate any disturbance from demons.” Taking the Psalter, he made the usual bow to the monk and went to Lipso. However, the same thing happened to him: out of nowhere, stones began to fall on him, and the one who had previously considered himself brave and hoped for knowledge of literacy suddenly turned out to be cowardly and ran back to the monastery. Then, judging that these two monks had been sufficiently punished by righteous admonition, the great Leontius took with him several pious brothers and went to Lipso. There he prayed to God and drove away the demons, and those who were righteously punished, one for disobedience, and the other for arrogance, ceased to be afraid. One day pirates came to the monastery, whom the monk received with all friendliness. But since they were barbarians, they asked for the food that was usual for them: bread, wine, sheep meat and other things. The monk ordered to give them everything that was in the monastery, but the pirates demanded even more. The monk at first calmly persuaded the pirates to take what was offered, because the monastery had nothing else. However, they did not want to take Lenten food, but, insulting the abbot and frightening the brethren, they went down to the shore and burned the monastery ship, which the monks who saw this reported to the monk. Saddened with all his heart, the monk took in his hands the icon of John the Theologian and said loudly to all the brethren: “Oh, beloved Theologian, if you do not take revenge on these villains for the damage that they inflicted on us, your slaves, then know that I will no longer stay here and will not be abbot if you do not hear me.” As soon as the monk said this, his words immediately became deeds. When the pirates left Patmos, the sea was calm. But as soon as they dropped anchor in Ikaria, a strong wind blew in and raised huge waves that sank the ship along with the pirates. Those who were able to get to land half alive were killed by the Icarians. Only one woman was saved, and she told people about the miracle. Having learned about this incident, other pirates since then began to honor and respect the great Leontius. And the fact that the monk also knew the secrets of his heart will be clear from the following story. The monk took a disciple from Crete named Anthony, who was ordered every evening to confess the thoughts that had come to him during the day. He did just that. But one day a thought came to him, which he did not reveal to the saint, considering it insignificant. Having bowed, Anthony wanted to leave the monk’s cell, but the blessing of his spiritual father forced him to confess this thought as well. A double feeling was struggling within him: on the one hand, he wanted to confess his thoughts, and on the other hand, he wanted to go to his cell. Then the monk said to him: “Speak, child, and this thought that has come to you, and do not neglect it, considering it insignificant and harmless. He who despises the small, as we know, will then despise the great.” Hearing these words unexpectedly for himself, Anthony came into fear because the monk revealed to him both what this thought was and its power. Falling at the feet of the monk and accusing himself of neglect, the disciple asked for forgiveness, which he received. The monk was also aware of those affairs that took place far from the monastery, as evidenced by the further story. The monk Athanasius, originally from Constantinople, lived in Crete. Wanting to repent to God for his sins, he came to the monastery on Patmos and accepted the great schema, making large donations to the monastery. However, the envy of the hater of goodness did not allow him to work peacefully in the monastery, but forced him to go to Crete again and stay there. When Leonty came to Crete, Athanasius promised him that if next year he sent Anthony here, then he would return with him to the monastery. Returning to the monastery, one day, when Anthony came to his cell, the monk said to him: - Know, child, that Athanasius died in Crete. - How do you know about this, holy father? “Today a ship arrived from Crete, and those on it told some of the island’s residents this news, and they passed it on to me. There was no doubt that Athanasius had died, but as it turned out after questioning, no ship from Crete, either then or later, touched the island. Only Anthony heard this news from the monk and told others. One day, Anthony began to fight the demon of blasphemy, and the abuse was terrible, for the blasphemy was directed against the Lady Theotokos. Anthony was very embarrassed and confessed his blasphemy to the monk, asking him for help, and in response he heard: - Dare, child, and don’t be afraid, let the dog bark, and you tell him: “Shut up, damned one, and don’t make noise.” Because it is impossible to scold and blaspheme the One in Whom is the only hope of my salvation, and Whom I cannot help but glorify and honor with dignity - my Lady and Mistress. This is the weapon that the Monk Anthony armed against the demon of blasphemy, but the wicked demon began to bother him even more. When Anthony went to work with his brothers, he received a respite and relief from warfare, but as soon as he entered the cell, he was again subjected to severe attacks from the enemy. And he had no other refuge except the monk and his advice. Since this battle continued for many years and the enemy did not retreat, Anthony was finally overcome by fear and one day, leaving the church, he did not dare to enter his cell, afraid of the battle from blasphemous thoughts. Having run to the monk’s cell, he again told him about temptation, and he again told him not to worry about these thoughts, but to drive them away with words of contempt. Antony, overcome with fear, said: “Father, I will not leave your cell unless you deliver me from this enemy temptation.” How can I go to my cell? After all, she is a refuge of temptation for me. After this, the monk rose from the bench on which he was sitting, and, standing in front of the lectern, asked God and the Lady Theotokos, Whom the demon had blasphemed, to help his brother. Then, taking Anthony's hand, he placed it on his neck and said: - Let this sin, brother, be on me, on my neck. If the enemy fights you again, then you tell him: “Through the prayers of the humble and sinful Leontius, I consider you, the enemy of truth, a black and unclean dog.” Thus taught by the monk and armed by him for battle, Anthony bowed and left his cell. After these words, the abuse immediately stopped, and blasphemous thoughts completely disappeared, as if they had never existed. That same night, Anthony heard some voices that scolded the monk and frightened him: “You were lucky that you turned to Leontius and relied on him, and if you had not done this, you would have found out what was about to happen to you.” Next we will tell you how the great Leonty conquered the passion of anger. In the Patmos monastery there were many monks from different nations and different character. Due to human weakness, they sometimes became angry with each other, did not obey, and were negligent about monastic obediences. Therefore, the monk often sternly admonished them and scolded them for neglecting duty, but he said and acted this way only outwardly, but in his heart he was not at all embarrassed, but remained unperturbed. When the time came, he freely proceeded to the Divine Mysteries, as if nothing had happened, calmly entered the holy altar and performed the Divine Liturgy. Once, when Anthony asked him whether he was not embarrassed by discord with his brothers, and whether it was possible to serve the liturgy after this, the monk answered in such a way that to ordinary people it might seem supernatural and difficult to accept: “Believe me, child, that my anger is feigned and is all only in words, for how can you correct those who sin if you do not show that you are angry with them?” One day the saint went to Constantinople, but there was a storm at sea, and his ship landed on some island where a rich man named Moor lived. Having learned that the divine Leontius was on the ship, the Moor was very happy (for he had already heard about him), wanting to talk with this amazing man. Therefore, the Moor asked the monk to come to the city and bless his house. Taking with him two disciples - Anthony and Andronicus, the monk came to the house of the Maurus. Having prayed for him and his wife, he blessed their home and instructed them with soul-searching teachings. When he was about to leave, the couple fell at his feet and asked him to pray that the Lord would give them a child, for they were childless, which is why they grieved greatly. The monk replied: “I am a sinner and, like you, I need God’s help. But according to your faith, so be it unto you. May the Lord give you a child next year, which is what happened, according to the saint’s prediction. The next year, the Moor's wife gave birth to a daughter, who was named Leonto in honor of the monk. Another time the monk again prepared to go to the capital on monastery business. However, strong winds forced the ship to return to port. While waiting on the ship for the storm to subside, Leonty became very ill and, heavily suffering, he was transferred to the monastery on his bed. During the fourteen days of his illness, he could neither eat, nor drink, nor speak. Only light breathing showed that the monk was still alive. His bodily strength was exhausted, he was approaching death, and therefore everything had already been prepared for burial. However, the Healing and Crushing Lord granted him another thirteen and a half years of life, that is, according to the number of days of his illness, and at the end of the fourteenth day he had a revelation from God about extending his life. After this, Leonty began to come to his senses and gradually eat food. During this time, the storm at sea subsided, and the sailors decided to sail. Going up to the monastery, they asked the monk whom he would send in his place. In a weak voice he replied that he was appointing Anthony. But he took these words like an arrow to his heart, saying: “What have I sinned against you, father, that I will lose your last prayers, for you will soon die and leave us orphans. Separation from you is unbearable for me, just as I cannot remain without your last prayers, therefore I do not want to listen or think about it.” When the dejected Anthony expressed all this to the monk, he called him to him and said: “Did you really think, Anthony, that the time of my life was over?.. No, my Christ extended it out of His ineffable love for mankind, as He usually does with me, and added fourteen and a half years to my life. Go with joy and remember that I will talk with you for another fourteen and a half years.” As the reverend said, this is what happened. And during the time that was given to him by God, he did other wonderful things and became the Patriarch of Jerusalem, which we will talk about later. The next year, the Lord deigned that Saint Leontius and Anthony would again sail to Crete for the usual allowance for the monastery. But the tax collector in Crete did not give them the appointed allowance, and the monk returned to Patmos with nothing. Feeling the need, the brothers began to ask the monk to go to the capital and report this matter to the king in order to receive the usual allowance. The monk did not answer anything, hoping that the Holy Spirit would inform him whether he needed to go to Constantinople. Since the brothers insisted, as if with irritation, so that everyone could hear, he said: “Leave me and don’t force me, for if I go to the capital, then I will only be passing through Patmos.” But no one understood what he meant until the saint’s prophecy came true. Having prepared for the trip, the monk went to Constantinople. There he met and talked with one man, wise not only in Divine affairs, but also in human ones, who was a close friend of the king and held the position of drungaria. This man respected the monk as a father and honored him as a man of God. He introduced him to King Manuel Komnenos in this way: “King, here is a man of God who can be a prayer book for your kingdom; I believe that, whenever he wishes, he can plead with the Humane-loving God.” Believing that the divine Leonty was exactly as the drungarius spoke about him, for this was evidenced by the dryness and yellowness of his face, simplicity of speech, readiness to answer questions and resolve the perplexities of the Holy Scriptures, the king realized that he had found a great treasure, therefore he planned to make him a bishop and shepherd of the people. At that time, the Russian patriarch died, and the Tsar decided to appoint him patriarch of the Russians in place of the deceased. He conveyed this news to the monk through the drungaria, but Leonty did not want to become a shepherd of the Russians. Later, the island of Cyprus became a widower, and again the king tried to find out through the drungaria whether the monk would like to become the bishop of Cyprus. But he again refused, because, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, he knew that he had to become a bishop. The disciples persuaded him to agree, and especially Anthony, saying: “It seems to us, Father, that you do not want to do a favor for yourself, nor for us, who after God and the Mother of God rely only on you, nor for your monastery. Will the king listen to your request for a monastery if you yourself have twice refused his request? If you became the Bishop of Cyprus, you would be our assistant throughout your life, and our monastery would exalt and flourish.” After listening, the monk replied: “Child, why are you forcing me to reveal to you what God wanted to reveal to me, the humble one?” Neither the king nor you know this. – If the Heavenly King wants me to be a patriarch, then how can an earthly king make me a bishop? - On what throne, holy father, will God place you as patriarch? “I learned exactly from the Lord that I would become a patriarch, but on what throne I would sit as patriarch, He did not reveal to me. After some time, according to this prophecy, the divine Leontius became Patriarch of Jerusalem. Moved by the Holy Spirit, he appointed Anthony as steward of the monastery on Patmos, telling him that he would become abbot after the one he now appointed, which then happened. Having become Patriarch of Jerusalem, the great Leontius stopped at Patmos on his way to Jerusalem. The monk went up to the monastery and, having blessed the abbot he had appointed, set sail two days later. Then the brothers remembered the saint’s prophecy, which he uttered when they were trying to persuade them to go to the capital, and he said that after that Patmos would only be a transit. Arriving in Rhodes at the beginning of winter, the monk decided to stay there until spring. He sent a man to the monastery to tell Anthony the steward that he had run out of the necessary food supplies, and there was nowhere to get them from unless Anthony took care of him and sent food. Remaining obedient to the elder, Anthony purchased everything he needed and prepared to sail to Rhodes, but a strong headwind blew and carried the ship to another place. Everyone, together with Anthony, asked God for help for the prayers of the Monk Leonty - and a miracle happened. The wind stopped, and after some time the ship entered the port of Rhodes. Enlightened by the grace of the Holy Spirit, the monk at that time ordered his companions to go down to the shore, saying that the steward of the monastery had arrived with supplies of provisions. Believing him, he and the Patriarch went to the port, and were very surprised to find Anthony and those with him with supplies of food; such was the saint’s insight. When spring came, the monk sailed to Cyprus, where there was a monastery under the jurisdiction of the Jerusalem Patriarchate and where he could stop for a short rest. However, this monastery was in great desolation, since there were only two monks of non-monastic behavior in it. These monks cohabited with their wives and did nothing but indulge in debauchery. Greatly saddened, the monk advised them to abstain from sins in the future, and now to repent, so that sudden death would not fall on them and they would not go to hell. But the monks continued to remain in sin, justifying themselves by the fact that habit had overcome both the law and the canons in them. Groaning from the depths of his heart, Saint Leonty said: “Children, I fulfilled my duty and advised you good, but since you despised both me and my words, then God will judge you.” A day later, these unfortunates were punished by God's judgment and, being completely healthy, both of them suddenly died. This is how He punishes unrepentant sinners with His judgment. One Cypriot monk named John decided to become a disciple of the saint, but fell into fornication, and, thinking that the saint did not know about it, remained unrepentant. His spiritual father revealed this sin to him and, giving him penance, inclined him to repentance and correction, but he did not want to repent, which is why he accepted double punishment from God. When the saint raised his hand in the air to cross the sinner, the unfortunate monk immediately became blind, and not even six days passed before he died. Such an unfortunate death befell him physically and spiritually. From the time the former Patriarch of Jerusalem passed away, the royal tax collector named Kyriakos, assigned to Cyprus, appropriated for himself all the income, including the farmsteads of the Jerusalem Patriarchate, so the monk did not find anything to support himself and his people. Such a great bishop, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, being in the center of the country of the Romans, did not have not only a surplus of food, but also the most necessary things for life. However, Saint Leontius bravely endured all the adversity. The devil, wanting to test the monk to see if he would lose heart in the temptations that came upon him, set up a servant of the tax collector named Triandafilos against him. Arriving at the patriarch’s house, he angrily demanded to give up all the income from the real estate of the Jerusalem Patriarchate in Cyprus, threatening that if he did not receive it right away, he would throw the patriarch and his people into prison. The saint asked him to wait a little, but he got up angrily and left. However, he was overtaken by Divine wrath; his mind darkened, he began to hit his head against the walls. Deciding that this was an accident, he ordered his servants to take the patriarch’s mule, and he himself rode behind on horseback. Suddenly his horse reared up, he fell from it and, hitting the ground, became blind. Only then did he realize that he had committed a sin, and ordered his people to take him to the saint. Falling at his feet, he confessed his sins and asked for forgiveness. The compassionate monk crossed him and kissed him with a holy kiss. At that moment, the unfortunate man regained his sight and began to see better than before. One day Leonty went to the courtyard of the Holy Sepulcher to visit the brothers who were there. And since he was famous in those places, many Christians came there to worship the saint and receive his blessing. A certain monk also came there, living contrary to his vows and possessed by a prodigal demon. Although the unfortunate man knew his passion and grieved, he was constantly overcome by a bad habit. Looking him in the face, the monk said in front of everyone: “Brother, you are suffering from a mental illness that will lead you to death.” Struck by the words of the monk, the monk fell at his feet, asking for healing. The monk prayed to God, laid his hands on him and blessed him, after which the monk was healed and began to abstain from sin. Answering questions from his compatriots, who were interested in what the patriarch had accused him of, the monk boldly admitted that he suffered from fornication and that he had fallen into sin the night before. Both this monk and all those who confessed their sins and sincerely repented received healing. The steward, who was responsible for the property of the Holy Sepulcher in Cyprus, reported to the patriarch that the Bishop of Amathunta had branded sheep, bulls, horses and almost all the animals that belonged to the courtyard of the Holy Sepulcher with his seal, and appropriated them. Saint Leontius called this bishop to him, but the proud bishop did not want to obey. Only after the patriarch called him for the third time did he come by force. The monk accepted him and asked him not to brand the animals that belonged to the farmsteads of the Jerusalem Church with his seal, so as not to experience the wrath of God. Without paying any attention to the patriarch’s words, the bishop stood up in anger and left without returning the appropriated animals. But a few days later God took revenge on him for his lie. When the bishop was crossing a small river on horseback, he fell from his horse, crashed and died, presenting a spectacle worthy of crying. His Beatitude Archbishop Barnabas of Cyprus, greatly revering the great Leontius, once came to him with a request to serve the Liturgy with him and his bishops, saying: “We want to be sanctified by your presence, holy Master.” Leonty responded to Barnabas' request. When the Divine Liturgy was being celebrated, and the entire priestly rite was in order (O great purity of Thy servants, Lord!) Saint Leontius noticed that the faces of the Archbishop of Cyprus and the Bishop of Trimifunts shone more than the sun, from the abundance of the Divine grace that dwelt in them; the faces of other bishops were a little darker, others were even darker, and some were both light and black at the same time. Among these latter was the Bishop of Lapith, the cousin of Anthony, a disciple of Saint Leontius, to whom the patriarch told about the vision when, having met him in the capital, Anthony asked about his cousin. Then the monk left Cyprus and arrived in Acre. Having learned about his arrival, many people came to him. He blessed some, sprinkled others with holy water, and through the prayers of the saint, many were healed of illnesses. The fame of Saint Leontius spread throughout Syria and Phenicia. And each tried to get ahead of the other in order to bow to the monk and receive his blessing. Since the Latins were then in charge in Palestine, they did not allow the monk to go to Jerusalem and he stayed in Acre. A certain deacon, having been married for three years, could not know his wife because he was bound by a demon. Coming to the monk, he told him about his misfortune and asked him to help him. Having prayed and blessed the water in the name of the Holy Trinity, the monk gave it to both spouses to drink, after which the deacon was freed from demonic bonds. One day, passing through Nazareth, at noon, the saint ordered a short stop to take a break from the heat and labor of the road and taste bread in the garden that they met on the way. When they began to look for the gardener to give them fruit from the garden, a woman came out. When asked by the saint whether she had a husband, she answered bitterly that her husband had been bedridden for many years, and his bed had become a coffin for both him and her, the unfortunate one who was suffering with him. After listening to her story, the saint took pity on her and sighed from the depths of his soul. Before leaving, he went to the sick man and, turning to the east, called upon the Physician of souls and bodies to help the suffering man. Then, touching the sick man’s head, he blessed him and left. And - lo and behold! - After some time, the patient got out of bed in perfect health, as if he had never been sick. When the monk returned to Acre, they brought him a lot of vegetables and various fruits from this garden as a small thank you for the invaluable help he provided. One day, the monk secretly came to Jerusalem at night and entered the Church of the Holy Resurrection to venerate the Life-giving Sepulcher of the Lord. And although he did everything in secret, the miracles that happened from his presence revealed his presence. At that time there was a terrible drought in Jerusalem, and Christians called on the prophet Elijah to resolve this attack, and God sent them the great Leontius. Through his prayers, heavy rain fell, which filled all the wells with water, watered the fields, and those who shortly before experienced extreme thirst received water in abundance and gained hope that the harvest would be saved and they would receive an abundance of bread and fruits. Everyone was talking only about the wondrous Leontius: “By his coming and prayers, the great holy bishop of God delivered us from the danger of dying of thirst. Let’s go, let’s fall to him so that he can continue to be our helper.” Having learned that Leontius was in Jerusalem and was being glorified by the people, the Latins, and especially their bishop, out of envy, planned to kill the saint, who had not done them any harm. The Latin bishop sent armed men to the house where Leontius was at night, but God saved him from the murderers, punishing them with blindness. They saw that the light had been turned on in the monk’s house, and, running up to the house, they wanted to go inside, but did not find the door. They searched for the door all night, thinking that they could enter the house by the light they saw, but the wicked were put to shame. Returning with nothing to the one who sent them, they said: “God protects the righteous Leontius and no one can harm him.” This miracle became known everywhere, and many were surprised. Rumors of this incident even reached the capital, and King Manuel Komnenos, having learned about it, invited the saint to come to him. The ruler of Damascus also heard about this miracle, who, although he was a Hagarene, revered the virtue of the saint. He sent him a letter in which he invited him to his place, promising that he would give him Chrisovullah, provide sufficient food for him and his people, and hand over to the Christians the Church of the Mother of God, which was under the rule of the Hagarians. The saint sent him a reply letter thanking him for his good disposition and explained that he would not be able to come to Damascus, since the king had invited him to Constantinople. The monk only asked the ruler to send him a letter in which he would command the pirates sailing the sea on his ships not to harm either him or his companions. The ruler immediately sent a letter of safe conduct, considering that the monk had done him a favor. Leontius brought this letter to Constantinople and showed it to the king as a denunciation of the Latins, who, calling themselves Christians, did not show him the same favor as the wicked ruler of Damascus showed. The Divine Leonty made many efforts to obtain permission to serve at the Life-Giving Sepulcher of the Lord, but he could not achieve anything. He was only allowed to go inside and worship like any of the pilgrims, so the monk decided to leave Jerusalem. On the way back to Rhodes, a severe storm arose at sea, so that the ship was in danger of sinking. All the passengers screamed and sobbed in anticipation of death, and when the rope on which the lifeboat was attached broke and the boat fell into the sea along with the people, they began to cry even more. Seeing such grief, the saint took pity on them, and, locking himself in a cabin at the bow of the ship, began to pray to God for help. The Lord heard his prayers and granted salvation to both him and the people who were on the ship and in the boat. When Saint Leonty, tired from prolonged prayer, dozed off, God revealed His blessing to him. Immediately shaking off his sleep, the monk said to the crying people: “Be brave and do not be afraid, none of us will drown, but by the grace of God we will all be saved, even the people in the boat whom you think are dead. Tomorrow we will find it with all the people who were in it.” All those who knew Leonty as a holy man believed his words, but many did not believe him, among them was the captain. The monk consoled him, saying: “Don’t be afraid, man, by the grace of God we will all be saved, ship and boat.” However, thinking that the words of the monk were only a consolation, the captain continued to lament his misfortune, for, judging by the strength of the wind and the distance of two miles that separated them from land, shipwreck could not be avoided. And yet the ship, driven by a strong wind, approached land, where everything that the monk had predicted happened. The storm stopped, calm came, the ship was freed from danger, the boat was unharmed on the shore; everyone was surprised and glorified God and the patriarch, calling him a holy and perspicacious man, and considering themselves lucky, since they were honored to travel with such a holy man. After this incident, they began to perceive Leonty as an Angel of God. When the travelers arrived in Constantinople, the king, having learned about what had happened, pleased the saint in every possible way, kissed his hands, laid them on his eyes, and greatly rejoiced at the mercy that the King of all, the Lord, had bestowed upon him the joy of communicating with such a great saint. But a little time passed, and King Manuel departed to the Lord. Just at this time, the steward of the Patmos monastery, Anthony, having come to the capital, asked the patriarch to petition the king so that he would be given the chrisovulla, and the monastery would not pay the tax for owning the ship. The Patriarch answered Anthony sternly: -What are you talking about, Anthony? What I gained from childhood until old age, I must lose in one minute, despise God and His commandment for the sake of your monastery? Get away from me, man, I will never prefer a corruptible king to my Immortal. Hearing this, Anthony was very sad, but the monk, encouraging him, said: “Why are you sad, Anthony, and your face darkened?” Know that after my death and the death of the current king, which will soon follow, you will receive what you ask for now. “When you die, this won’t happen.” – Don’t you believe me, Anthony? By the grace of the Holy Spirit, I assure you that you will solve this issue with your own means by simply paying for the chrisovulla. All this happened, as the monk predicted, during the reign of Isaac the Angel. Saint Leontius healed this same Anthony from a tongue disease, for a growth the size of a pea had formed on his tongue, because of which Anthony could not speak normally and had difficulty eating. After consulting with doctors, Anthony learned that he could only be healed by removing the growth. The Patriarch said to Anthony: - Come on, be my canonarch, and I will sing to my God, and after that I will look at your growth. Taking the book, Anthony, overcoming the pain, began to speak in a lisping voice, and the monk sang. When the service ended, the saint, turning to him with a smile and a cheerful face, said: “Now show me what kind of illness you have. Opening his mouth to show the growth, Anthony - lo and behold! - discovered that there was no trace left of the disease, and it seemed that someone had cut out the growth while the saint was singing. The monk predicted to this Anthony much of what was to happen in the future. Among other things, he told about two monks who stayed in the Patmos monastery. Outwardly, it seemed that they led a life like all other monks, but in fact, by their sins they plunged themselves into destruction. Groaning from the depths of his soul and crying, Anthony asked the monk who they were, whether they would recognize their sins and whether they would repent. The saint named the monks and said: “If only they would repent, otherwise woe to them.” Hearing this, Anthony cried a lot, and I, the author of these lines, cry with him, because behavior is truly worthy of crying when someone sins all his life and does not repent. The great Leontius had the power from God to forbid the Angels, which will be discussed later, so the Apostle Paul truly wrote to the Corinthians: “Do you not know that we will judge the angels?” (1 Cor. 6:3) Patriarch Kirill of Antioch fell extremely seriously ill. He was bedridden, and there was no longer any trace of life left in his face. Many bishops and archons came to visit him and say goodbye to him, among whom were Patriarch Theodosius of Constantinople, a man full of virtues, breathing more goodness than air, and the great Leontius. Everyone stood around Kirill's bed, but they could not help him, they could not even talk to him, because, being on his last breath, he was unconscious. What then did the two patriarchs decide to do? They decided to hasten his death in order to protect him from suffering due to the slow separation of his soul from his body. One persuaded the other to command the Angel to take Cyril’s soul as quickly as possible. The Divine Leontius told the Patriarch of Constantinople that he must order the Angel, because his rank, according to the canons, is higher than that of the Patriarch of Jerusalem. The Patriarch of Constantinople replied that greatness is inferior to virtue, for the Lord values ​​virtue more. Finally, in order not to waste time and not torment the patient, the great Leonty obeyed, read a prayer, raised his hands, created the sign of the Life-giving Cross in the air and said to the Angel: “In the terrible name of the Consubstantial and Life-Giving Trinity, I command you, Angel of the Lord, just like us, humble, slave, without delay, to separate the soul of our brother from the body and present it to the Lord God, and not carry out no other commands until you finish this.” And the Angel of God, obeying the command that came from a man great in both dignity and virtues, immediately separated the soul of the Patriarch of Antioch from the body and carried it to the place intended for it. One day the divine Leonty, having fallen ill, decided to visit the bathhouse. After the bath he felt better, and sitting on a bench, he jokingly said to his servant Eulogius: “Well, Eulogius, shouldn’t we go to Cyprus to check the property of the Holy Sepulchre’s courtyard?” Eulogius did not answer, but thought to himself: “However, Eulogius, this elderly and half-dead man also wanted to go to Cyprus.” And at that very moment the monk said: “Evlogy, do you think that I, a sick and half-dead old man, cannot go to Cyprus? No, Eulogius, do not hope that the thoughts of your heart are hidden from me.” After these words, Eulogius was stupefied and remained silent for a long time, wondering how Leonty knew about his thoughts, and said nothing more and drove away bad thoughts, so that the saint would not denounce him again. We will not talk about many other similar incidents that happened to the great Leonty, so as not to tire the listeners, and we will move on to a description of the death of the monk. When the thirteen and a half years given by God to the saint were completed, he fell ill and took to his bed. Knowing that the time of his death had come, he hastily said goodbye to everyone, as if he was in a hurry to go to the Desired Lord. Those around him mourned his departure, because they were no longer destined to see him. On the fourteenth day of the month of May, he gave up his blessed soul into the hands of God, leaving no instructions about the funeral. Those who were with him placed the sacred remains in a wooden shrine and left them in the Church of the Archangel Michael until instructions were received from the king. The entire priesthood of Constantinople sang funeral hymns, and the saint’s disciples, especially Eulogius, commissioned a skilled painter to paint an image of the saint on the board. Standing opposite the bed where the sacred remains lay, the artist peered with curiosity at the divine face in order to capture it. He came both from the right and from the left, he moved further away and closer, but he worked in vain because he could not write anything. Even after his death, the saint did not want an icon to be painted from him. Therefore, his divine face seemed different to the painter - lo and behold! – and was constantly changing. Even after death, the monk strictly preserved his humility in order to teach us how we must strive to avoid the snares of the envious devil. But what happened after the saint’s burial is truly a miracle of miracles. A lot of crushed tiles were placed under the shrine with the relics of the monk in order to absorb the cadaveric fluid if it flowed from the shrine. After four days, those who approached the shrine smelled an indescribable fragrance emanating from the holy relics. But the most amazing and terrible thing was that blood flowed from the holy relics, as if from a fresh cut with a knife. There was blood on the marble slabs that covered the floor, and it seemed to sparkle on the whiteness of the marble. It is also surprising that the wooden shrine with the relics of the monk was placed in another shrine, but there was so much blood that it overflowed both and flowed onto the floor. From this miracle we can conclude that the saint was, as it were, alive among the dead, numbered among the martyrs for his free suffering, which he endured when he beat himself with a belt riddled with nails. Having learned about the unusual miracle, Tsar Andronik built a majestic shrine and with honor placed the venerable relics of the monk in it. Thus the righteous venerated the righteous, the venerable the venerable, the free martyr to the martyrs, the great bishop to the bishops. Now he resides where God is, and receives worthy rewards for his labors for the glory of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the one Godhead and Kingdom, to which belongs all glory, honor and worship, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. (Written by monk Theodosius of Constantinople) The life and exploits of our venerable fathers Simeon and Savva, the ever-memorable ktitors of the sacred Hilandar monastery, who shone in the 12th century These saints were from Serbia. Simeon was Sava's father and the king of Serbia, and his wife, Sava's mother, was called Anna. Both of them were Orthodox and pious Christians of the royal family. They had two children: a son and a daughter, then the queen fell ill, and they had no more children. Being the rulers of the kingdom and possessing many riches, they prayed with tears to God to give them another child. Hearing their prayers, the Lord gave them a third child - the ever-memorable Savva, whom his parents sent from an early age to study sacred literacy. He soon studied all the church books in the Serbian language, and showed such intelligence, humility, decency and meek disposition that everyone who interacted with him loved and respected him. The more he grew physically, the more his love for God kindled in him. Having completely surrendered to this Divine love, Savva no longer thought about anything else but to please the Creator and Maker of his God. Being seventeen years old, he incessantly, day and night, prayed, labored in fasts, vigils and other sufferings, asking God to make him worthy of life according to Christ, for he greatly loved virginity. And the humane God gave him what he asked in the following way. Having learned about the virtues of Simeon, Sava's father, who was very merciful to the poor, some fathers from the Holy Mountain came to Serbia for alms. Among them was one Russian from a Russian monastery, a man of holy life. Talking with him, Blessed Savva asked him about the Svyatogorsk monasteries, about the order in them, about how the fathers lived in them, and about everything that was useful in achieving his goal. Having learned everything he wanted, Savva burst into tears, and then said: “I see that God, who knows the depths of my heart and my goal, sent you to me, a sinner, so that you would guide me on the path of God. My soul rejoiced greatly at your Divine words, and I can no longer remain in this deceptive world and see its false glory and splendor. I ask you, teach me how to avoid worldly vanity and become worthy of the life that your shrine lives? My parents want to get me married as soon as possible, so I decided to go to the Holy Mountain and ask for your advice.” The elder answered him: “I see, child, that your intention is pleasing to God, and that God’s love possesses your soul. Therefore, do what you have in mind as soon as possible. I will be your companion and guide until I bring you to the Mountain.” After this, Blessed Savva came up with a way for him to escape. He sent the elder ahead to wait for him at the appointed place, and he himself went to his father and said: “I heard that there is good hunting near this mountain, and therefore I ask you to bless me to hunt a little and take a walk. If I am delayed, then I ask you not to be angry with me.” The father gave him permission, provided him with as many slaves as he wanted, and blessed him. Leaving with great joy, Savva came to where the elder was waiting for him and ordered the slaves to wait for him there. He himself, together with the elder, went to the nearest village and, having exchanged the royal clothes for the clothes of the poor man, whose house they entered, went to the Holy Mountain to the Russian monastery. There Savva began to learn from the elder the monastic life, which he pursued with great zeal and obedience, unusually revering his elder. Savva’s parents cried inconsolably and sent people everywhere to diligently search for him, because they could not calmly endure the disappearance of such a beautiful and prudent son, whom his father wanted to make heir to the kingdom. Those sent by the king searched everywhere, even three archons came to the Holy Mountain. Having thoroughly searched everything, they found Savva in a Russian monastery and wanted to take him with them. But Savva secretly climbed the monastery tower at night and forced his elder to clothe him in an angelic monastic image. Then, having written a letter about the vanity of the world, about the end of the century, about the bliss of saints and the endless torment of sinners, he sent it to his parents. The parents were so moved by Savva’s letter that they both decided to become monks. Having gone to a nunnery, his mother put on an angelic image and, in a godly feat, went to the Lord. And the father, having renounced everything in the world, and leaving his son Stephen as heir to the kingdom, came to the Holy Mountain. Having met his beloved son Savva and rejoicing in spirit, he remained there, asking to be clothed with an angelic image so that he could live with his son, which is what happened. After the usual trial, the son became the successor of his father in the Divine and angelic schema and, a son in the flesh, Savva became a father in spirit to his carnal father Simeon. Both of them lived for a long time in the Vatopedi monastery (for his father discovered Savva there, since the prot (representative of the first monastery in order) of Mount Athos sent him there in advance so that his father would not find him), fighting a good deed in daily fasting, all-night standing and prayers. Soon they reached the highest level of virtue, completely freed from carnal passions and became worthy vessels of the Holy Spirit. Since the rumor about their virtue inspired many other Serbs to come to them, who then accepted monasticism, the ascetics were forced to begin building their monastery, because there were more and more people coming to them every day. Having imposed on themselves many days of fasting and performing vigils, they fervently prayed to the Lady Theotokos to indicate a place pleasing to Her for the future monastery. Inspired by a revelation and vision from God and moved by Him, father and son, using their own funds, built a most beautiful monastery in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos, called Hilandarskaya, in honor of the Entry of the Mother of God into the church. Having served reverendly and godly in this monastery, Simeon rested in the Lord on February 13th. After some time, when the day of commemoration of his death approached, Blessed Savva called the archpriest and pious fathers to perform a vigil for the repose of the blessed soul of his father. During the doxology, an indescribable fragrance spread from the saint’s tomb, filling the entire monastery. Approaching the tomb, everyone saw that myrrh was flowing from there, and they glorified God, who glorifies those who glorify Him. Convinced of the blessed repose of his father’s soul and the sanctity of his relics, blessed Savva greatly rejoiced in his soul. From that time on, he intensified his fasting, vigil and other feats that cannot be described. It was impossible to hide the virtue of Saint Sava; everyone knew about it, and numerous pilgrims began to come to him every day in search of teaching and spiritual guidance. Even for the archpriest himself, a virtuous and spirit-bearing man, Blessed Savva was the first adviser, and other abbots of the monasteries did not begin any work without his blessing, because the grace of the Holy Spirit that dwelt in him enlightened him, and he uttered amazing soul-helping and saving words. Father and his brothers loved him very much and persuaded him to accept the priesthood. But the humble Savva said that he was not worthy of the rank and therefore, when they continued to persuade him, he often went into hiding. Finally, in order not to be disobedient and seeing that it was the will of the Holy God, he said: “The will of the Lord be done,” after which he was ordained by the then bishop of Ierissos, Nicholas, as a deacon, and then as a priest. Having learned about the virtues of the saint, Metropolitan Constantine of Thessaloniki, after much persuasion, was able to bring Savva to his city. Constantine talked for a long time with the Monk Sava, and the bishops with the clergy and the whole people received great benefit from his soulful instructions, and on one Sunday the Metropolitan, in agreement with the bishops and all the clergy, suddenly, against the will of Sava, elevated him to the rank of archimandrite. Due to the excessive honors bestowed upon him, the saint secretly withdrew from Thessaloniki and returned to his monastery. During the time of Tsar Theodore Laskaris, Blessed Savva, together with the abbots of other monasteries, was sent to the Tsar on the affairs of the Holy Mountain. The king with his synclite and the patriarch with his priesthood were then in Nicaea, because the Latins had taken Constantinople from the Romans. In this city, Saint Sava met the king, to whom he was also a relative, for the saint’s nephew married the king’s daughter. The king had long wanted to see the saint, not so much because of family ties, but because of his virtue. Finally seeing him, the ruler was very happy and received him with great courtesy. After talking with him, the king was amazed by his virtue and from then on felt great respect for the saint. Savva told the king about his homeland, Serbia, that there was no bishop there, and asked the king to convince the patriarch to appoint someone as bishop of Serbia. Having called the patriarch, the king spoke with him for a long time about Saint Sava and Serbia, and then the patriarch questioned Sava for a long time. Convinced of his virtuous life, the patriarch decided that Savva was worthy to accept the apostolic title of bishop. After a corresponding meeting and conversation between the patriarch and the king, it was decided to ordain Saint Sava against his will as Archbishop of Peć and all Serbia. For many days in a row, they both persuaded him to accept the rank, until finally the patriarch ordained him; That day the king rejoiced with great joy. After his consecration, the saint devoted himself to even greater deeds and went to his diocese, where every day he taught his flock the word of the Gospel and living according to Christ. He strengthened the Orthodox in piety and virtue, and converted heretics to Christ with the grace and sweetness of his teaching. After a short time, he made all the infidels and heretics who were in his diocese Orthodox. For everyone, he was not only a shepherd and teacher, but a deliverer and savior. Having put the affairs of his diocese in order, the saint again arrived at the Holy Mountain, where he enjoyed communication with the fathers of his monastery. A few days after arriving there, he gathered all the brothers and revealed to them his long-standing desire to go to venerate the Holy Sepulcher. Having asked for the prayers of the brothers, he sailed to Jerusalem, where he was received by Patriarch Athanasius of Jerusalem, who served the liturgy with the saint on Sunday. The Patriarch asked him to bless the people and deliver a sermon. The patriarch, clergy and all the people loved Saint Sava so much that they did not want to be separated from him, but came every day to listen to his soul-helping teachings. Having bowed to the holy places with great reverence and tenderness and shed rivers of tears at the Holy Sepulchre, Savva left the city and a few days later arrived to King John Vatatjis, who was his relative. He received him with great respect and honor, glorifying God for deigning him to receive the blessing of the saint. The queen treated him in the same way, so that they both chose him as their spiritual father. Having stayed there for many days, the saint decided to go to the Holy Mountain again. Since he was a relative and confessor of the king, he gave him a piece of the Tree of the Holy Cross, pieces of the relics of saints and precious vessels, after which he sent him on the royal ship to the monastery. Arriving there with God's help, the saint donated all the king's gifts to his monastery. Having stayed there for a long time and properly instructed the fathers, he appointed a virtuous man as their abbot, and then returned to his diocese again. Godlyly caring for his flock, he enlightened all of Serbia, thanks to his virtue and knowledge of divine teachings and, keeping it unharmed from mental wolves, wisely brought it to the Heavenly fold. Since many heresies arose in those parts at that time, the saint went to visit other dioceses. Traveling around different places, he, in imitation of the apostles, continued to teach his flock the Divine laws and led many heretics and the wicked to piety. Later he went to venerate the Holy Sepulcher for the second time. On the holy land, he again walked around the cities, taught and performed many miracles, which, for the sake of brevity, we will not expand on. Let's just say that one day, together with three of his companions, he came to Velikoye Tarnovo, where he was received with honors by the then king Asan, who was his relative. When the saint served on the feast of the Epiphany, a miracle occurred during the consecration of water. As soon as the saint plunged the Holy Cross into the water, it split in two and became a wall. Those who saw this glorified God. The Tsar, greatly respecting the saint, asked him to stay in Tarnovo until Easter, because he needed to be away on business. The saint stayed and a few days later fell ill. Having foreseen by Divine revelation about his death, he called his disciples and began to teach them how to save their souls, and then gave them particles of holy relics and all the church shrines that he had. Hearing about the saint’s illness, the Bishop of Tarnovo came to visit him. Seeing that Savva was very sick, he decided to inform the king about his illness. The saint, with his characteristic humility, said: “Brother, I ask you, do not inform the king, and let your shrine no longer take the trouble to come here. Go in peace and pray for me, and the Merciful God will meet us in Jerusalem on High.” On Saturday evening, before the resurrection, the saint received communion of the Most Pure Mysteries. His face lit up, he was filled with joy and gladness, and saying three times: “Glory to Thee, O God,” he gave up his holy soul into the hands of God. After his repose, the bishop with the clergy and all the people came to bury his holy remains, from which an indescribable fragrance emanated. Everyone was surprised and did not know where to bury the saint. They were sent to tell the king about this and he ordered the saint to be buried in the Monastery of the Forty Martyrs, which was done with honor. A few days later, the king came to the saint’s grave and with tears asked him to forgive him for not being with him at the time of his death. The king ordered to cover the grave with marble and lit an unquenchable lamp over it. Since then, every sick person who came here with reverence received healing. The saint had two nephews: Rostislav, the son-in-law of Tsar Theodore Laskaris, and Vladislav, who then ruled Serbia and was the son-in-law of the Bulgarian Tsar. Vladislav and Archbishop Areseniy of Serbia, whom the saint had previously ordained as his successor, upon learning of the death of the saint, were greatly saddened. Having heard about the miracles taking place at the tomb of Saint Sava, they decided to ask for his holy relics to Serbia. The Serbian king Vladislav wrote to his father-in-law and sent several nobles to him, asking him to give up the holy relics. But the Bulgarian Tsar refused. Then his son-in-law wrote to him a second time, strenuously asking him to return the relics, and sent expensive gifts with the nobles. But even then the Bulgarian king did not give up the relics, answering like this: “Since God arranged that the saint reposed here, He gave us this treasure. Who am I to resist the will of the Lord? So the nobles again returned to Vladislav with nothing. Then Vladislav himself, with selected nobles, went to ask for the return of the saint’s relics. Arriving at the place of burial, he first approached the tomb of the saint and said with hot tears: “Holy Saint of God and our most honorable Father, why have you left us, sinners, and do not want to come to your homeland, for which you are not only a shepherd, but also a savior? You freed us from the flattery of the devil and led us to the truth, you delivered your sick flock from heresies, healed them, resurrected them who were in danger of spiritual death, adorned them with divine services, sacred rites, and soul-saving laws. Why now, saint, are you depriving us of the sanctification of your divine relics? Why are you depriving your homeland of an inexhaustible source of your divine grace and your miracles? Most merciful Father, have pity on me, look at the sins of me and my people, which we have sinned against you. Come to us, although we are unworthy sinners, but do not leave us without your presence and protection.” Vladislav prayed long and sadly, then went to his father-in-law. That same night, the father-in-law saw Saint Sava in a dream in the form of a shining angel, who ordered his relics to be given to his son-in-law so that he would deliver them to his homeland. Having gathered the people and clergy led by the metropolitan, the king told them everything, and then, with singing, candles and incense, both kings opened the tomb of the saint. Immediately - Christ the King, O Thy miracles! - the whole place was filled with an indescribable fragrance, the face of the saint shone like the sun, and everyone prayed in surprise: “Lord, have mercy!” After this, with a great procession and procession of the cross, both kings (father-in-law and son-in-law) carried the holy relics out of Tarnovo on foot, and Tsar Vladislav with great joy carried them to their homeland. Who can describe the joy there was that day? Similar to this are the miracles that happened to the glory of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Most Holy Trinity, to whom befits power, honor and worship forever and ever. Amen. The life and exploits of our venerable father Gregory, who labored near the Gulf of Nicomedia in the 13th century This God-bearing father, our Gregory, came from the regions of Bithynia. His parents were pious and famous, noble in birth, and even more famous for their character and virtue. Having been raised by such parents, the monk did not pay attention to children's games, which youth so enjoys, but every hour he studied the words of Divine Scripture. Not stopping there, he wanted to study the Hellenic sciences, choosing from them those that were pure from sin. Thanks to his natural sharpness of mind, constant reading and exercise, he soon learned all the good and useful sciences, with the help of which he could avoid the snares and tricks of the opponents of Orthodoxy, fighting them either from afar, with his winged words, or striking them with the weapon of his wonderful tongue, if these people came to talk with him. Gradually, having studied all possible external sciences, the monk approached the knowledge of God. He began to look for teachers and mentors in the exploits of virtue, knowing that living virtuously oneself, without having an example before oneself, is dangerous, for such a person is in wait for many snares and slander of the enemy, and life with those experienced in virtue and their example inclines to the exploits of improvement, igniting the fire of jealousy inside a person, which increases the desire to know God and always raises from small to great and even greater, for this reason the monk came to one of the best monasteries. Having donned the monastic image, he devoted himself to spiritual exploits, learning to wage a secret, invisible battle with the devil, but in such a way as not to receive blows from him and accept wounds, but to inflict them himself. The ascetic studied the reasons for evil thoughts that war against the unfortunate human race. This is how he learned what a peaceful mind is, keeping thoughts, which thoughts belong to the person himself, and which come from the enemy, which excite and confuse strong thoughts, and which thoughts must be constantly fought, and which must be ignored, which must be despised, and which must be responded to with external feigned friendship. In the monastery he learned to reject the sensual along with feelings, beautiful colors, bodily tenderness and all pleasures through which the ruling mind is overthrown, seduced and poisoned. The monk learned chanting, prayer, guarding the mind, fasting and abstinence, which are only in proper proportion when there is humility between them. Having accepted all this, the divine Gregory bore fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundred times greater (Mark 4:20). No one else could compete with him in these deeds, which he performed with meekness and humility, without any compulsion. His non-covetousness, humility, meekness, not washing, lying on the bare ground are worthy of all praise. What kind of deeds did this saint not perform with all the appropriate zeal, which of the virtues did he not acquire, and who could defeat him in these deeds? But even what he acquired, the saint revered for nothing, and what he had not yet acquired, he tried to acquire. Thus the apostolic saying was fulfilled on him: “I do not count myself to have attained, but rather, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13-14). Since envy always follows those who possess virtue, the devil, unable to see such a young saint, adorned with knowledge, chastity, courage, invulnerable to his intrigues, and in general serving as a model and useful example for everyone, planned the following: having found several corrupt, worthless and deceitful people, he forced them to declare that this divine Gregory had stolen the sacred vessels, which in fact disappeared at that time. These people slandered the man of God; wandering around and swearing, they assured that they could confirm their false testimony. The simpletons and madmen thought that the demon had already defeated the monk, but the sensible and sensible considered this game worthy of laughter. However, foreseeing the intentions and tricks of the devil, the divine Gregory left from there to another monastery, so as not to become the cause of greater punishment for the slanderers. A few days later, the real thief was discovered, and the demon, who tried to laugh at the saint, himself became a laughing stock. Trying to deceive others, he himself was deceived, and sin thus became obvious to everyone. How could a monk teach others not to steal and not to commit sacrilege if he himself was a blasphemer? This is simply impossible. But let's return to our topic. Arriving at another monastery, where his brother was in obedience and asceticism, Gregory again began his exploits. Submitting to the abbot, respecting the brothers who labored with him, he continued fasting, vigils, chanting psalms, prayed on his knees, served and humbled himself before everyone. All the brethren fell in love with the monk, for humility, simplicity of character, undemanding food give rise to love for those who possess these qualities, while pride and obstinate disposition are the cause of anger and hatred. Having lived in this monastery for quite a long time, the monk was clothed in a great angelic image, becoming a great schema-monk. After this, the abbot and all the brethren persistently persuaded him to accept the priesthood, but the monk did not agree, because he knew what a pure and highly moral life a priest should have. However, when they began to persuade him again and again, he reasoned that humility and obedience are the basis of all virtues and agreed to accept the rank, which he considered not as something befitting him, for he always crushed this vain thought in himself, but as service to people and God. Three years later, the monk left the monastery, deciding to spend his life in silence, because he knew that those who remain in silence and devote themselves to prayer can, through the nakedness of their senses, enter into contemplation of the mental world, and through this contemplation, love for God abides in a person, he is imbued with it and through the love of God enjoys and rejoices in the glory and beauty of God. He grows in love for God and through love beholds the glory of God. So the love and glory of God are like mother and daughter to each other. Leaving the monastery and his brother, Gregory went to one village, which was convenient for silence. Having lived there for enough time and freed his senses a little from the confusion and excitement of the world, the monk decided to seek even greater silence, since the mind, by nature, has the habit, having freed itself from external things, to return within itself and seek greater silence and freedom. Through this freedom, he more purely understands the desired benefits of the future age and the more he frees himself from earthly things, the more he ascends to God along the ladder that this freedom and silence become for him. Conversely, confusion and worry are a distance from God. For this, the monk ascended a mountain that was located near a village called Ilyinsky, where he found a place very suitable for silence. Gregory said loudly: “This is My rest forever: here I will dwell, for I have desired it...” (Ps. 131:14). He placed his poor kaliva on the mountain and settled there. Freeing his mind from external feelings, and his senses from wandering about earthly objects, the monk strove to unite more closely with God, from Whom he had never been separated. Having cleansed himself of all external thoughts, he became a friend of God, a second Moses, forgetting what is “behind” and stretching forward to the honor of the great calling of God, learning what is “behind” and what one can ask for and what one cannot (Phil. 3:13-15). Anyone who has been cleansed or is still being cleansed is allowed to seek the secrets of God, that is, to learn about Divine Providence, how the world is governed, about the wisdom and goodness of God, about His power and limitlessness. For it is permissible for those who are purified or being purified to investigate this. But they are not allowed to explore the Essence of God, since it is completely irresistible, incomprehensible and ineffable for man. Speaking about His essence, God therefore said to Moses: “man cannot see Me and live” (Ex. 33:20). Gregory united with God, became His friend, and God introduced His friend, the divine Gregory, to His secrets. So he became a contemplator of Divine mysteries, learning from dark and secret words, receiving revelations about the future as a gift worthy of both God, who gave it because of His goodness, and the monk, who received it for the purity of his mind and love for God. Gregory not only received the gift of foreseeing the future as a reward for his virtue, but also began to perform strange miracles. Just as kings and princes entrust their treasures to their faithful friends, appointing them as guardians and managers of their property, so does God’s Providence, inexplicably arranging everything. Because this saint loved God as he should, with all his strength, and he was loved by God, Who promises in the Gospel: “Whoever... keeps... My commandments, he loves Me; and whoever loves Me, him I will love” (John 14:21). Therefore, those who are worthy are entrusted with the spiritual secrets of God for abundant sweat and many deeds, and not for nothing and without labor. The monk, as if for a rich meal, set out the spiritual food that everyone needed, and wisely served it to those who needed advice. If there was a need for a prophetic word, he, with humility and restraint, revealed the future to those who needed it. He healed the sick and crippled, raising his eyes to heaven and laying his hands on them, with great humility. For this reason, the monk became widely known, he was called a predictor of the future and a teacher, a corrector of morals and a healer of diseases. For his love for God, he was honored to receive from Him great and rich gifts, some of which, in order to delight the readers, the time has come to tell. It is the custom of the evil devil to often fight and disturb people. If he succeeds in something, then he achieves his goal, but if not, then he causes laughter from those who have experienced his abuse. Wanting to take away the prophetic gift of the saint, the vile demon convinced some people, worthy only of pulling carts, plowing and digging the earth, that the saint foreknows the future not by the grace of the Holy Spirit, but by the action of the devil, with the help of magical art. Tempting the monk, they dragged thieves, blasphemers, and villains to him and asked about each one what kind of person he was. Knowing about their bad intentions, the monk did not remain silent, so as not to give them a reason to accuse himself and mock the divine gift, but told everyone who he was and with what intention he came to him. So, he told about one man who was shipwrecked, that he got ashore in the place where there was a vineyard, and as a result of the suffering he suffered and terrible hunger, he picked and ate someone else’s grapes. The saint told this not so that people would glorify him for the gift of foresight, but to expose their unbelief and shame those who accused him of magic. However, the malice of these people did not diminish and they hired a certain harlot so that she would persuade the monk to lust, and thereby defile him. This harlot came to the monk and began to tempt him, shamelessly bending over, laughing, flirting and saying prodigal words. The monk tried to lead her to chastity with instructions and advice, so that she would be ashamed of her behavior and words. However, the harlot did not heed the words of the saint: she was unexpectedly attacked by a demon, who threw her to the ground, drool flowed from her mouth, she began to grind her teeth and behave as those possessed by a demon usually behave. Seeing what happened to the woman, those who sent her repented and asked the monk to take pity on her and heal her. Immediately the saint, without waiting to be asked a second time, raised his hands to heaven and, having fervently prayed to God, healed the woman, ordering her to maintain chastity in the future, so as not to experience worse evil, for a person must purify the soul, created in the image of God, by fasting and prayer, striving for all kinds of virtues. Having set her on the path of repentance, the monk released the woman in peace. Thus, the harlot became chaste and, having repented of her previous wickedness, spent the rest of her life in purity and good repentance. But we will also tell about other intrigues created by the devil to the monk. Wanting to disturb the saint and cause him harm, the vile demon inclined some of the clergy to envy against the saint. They came to the Bishop of Nicomedia and brought many accusations and slander against the divine Gregory, using everything to provoke the bishop’s anger. Being of a simple character (for a gentle man believes every word), the bishop believed the words of the clergy and, being very angry, sent people to the saint so that they would bring him to the bishop as soon as possible. The monk guessed about the devil’s cunning and the slander he had erected. He invited the messengers to dine, and after that to quickly return to the bishop, assuring that he would be with the bishop before them. Being almost dead in body from numerous exploits and torments, the monk mounted his horse and headed straight across the sea to the bishop. And - lo and behold! - the water became as hard as dry land, and the monk was able to cross to the opposite bank, to where Nicomedia was located, without even getting his feet wet. Seeing that the monk on horseback was galloping through the sea as if on dry land, the bishop remembered the Apostle Peter walking on the waves, and, falling to the ground, he bowed to God, saying: “Blessed are you, O Lord, and glorified, for today you showed us another Peter. How wonderful are Your works, how many servants You have, of whom we do not know, but of whom You know before they were born.” As soon as the monk approached the bishop, he reverently fell at his feet. Having shown numerous honors to the monk, the bishop was almost grateful to the slanderers for seeing such a holy man, a miracle worker. Later, the bishop asked the monk to forgive these slanderers. Seeing this miracle, they themselves repented and with tears asked the monk for forgiveness. From that time on, they began to honor him as a Heavenly man, as a servant and friend of God. Still, those who heard about this unprecedented miracle were amazed and amazed, and the monk again returned to his cell and continued his usual work. Once upon a time, a married couple was sailing on a ship with a fair wind, but suddenly such a strong wind blew in that the ship was wrecked. Those good spouses, finding themselves in the water, called the monk for help. Quick to help, he appeared to them, stretching out his arms and saving them from death in the depths of the sea. The saved ones offered great thanks to God and His servant Gregory. The monk also showed blessings to the fishermen. Many times, when they cast their nets into the sea, they came up empty. Finally, remembering the monk, they called him with faith and again cast their nets. And - lo and behold! - There were so many fish in the net that the fishermen could not pull out the nets until their comrades came and helped them. Glorifying God and the saint, they talked everywhere about the miracles of this friend of God. Listen to another miracle. One noble and rich woman, very merciful and virtuous, I don’t know how, got a snake in her stomach. Days passed, and her belly grew larger and larger, apparently due to the fact that the snake was also increasing in size. Having lost all hope in the skill of doctors, she came to the monk and with tears fell at his feet, asking with faith to deliver her from the misfortune that had happened. Taking pity on her, the monk raised his hands to Heaven and with great humility and contrition of heart asked God, praying for a long time. And - lo and behold! - the snake died and came out, but the woman, having got rid of the danger, thanked God and the monk. At that time, a certain bear in the vicinity of the village, near which the monk labored, began to harm the villagers. Having forbidden her, the monk drove her out of those places. All those who violate the laws of God and harm their neighbors are similar to this bear. The monk admonished such people with instructions and forced them to abstain from lawlessness. Having completed his ascetic labors, the monk, according to the Holy Scriptures, “having achieved perfection in a short time... fulfilled long years” (Wis. 4:13). When he turned fifty years old, he desired to leave this world and go to Christ. Sick, lying on his bed, he commanded his disciples to constantly keep the covenants of faith, never to abandon the feat of crucifixion with mortification of the flesh, for they promised this to God in this life. Having taught them these and many other spiritual instructions and said goodbye to them, his soul left the body, which had already been dead before, and went to the desired Christ, to Him belongs all glory, honor and worship, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen. (Written by the most honest of the monks, Joseph Kalofet) The life, exploits and narrative of some miracles of our venerable father, confessor Meletius of Gallisiot, who lived in the 13th century This reverend father of ours, Meletius, came from the Black Sea regions, from the village of Theodotu. His parents' names were George and Maria. They were God-fearing people, virtuous and very merciful and hospitable. The more generously they distributed their wealth to the poor, the more God increased them, making them very famous in addition to their wealth. Thus, the saint’s father was a military leader of a considerable part of the royal troops, and his mother, very virtuous and pious, spent her entire life in prayer and praise to God. From their virtues they reaped good fruit, giving birth to this wondrous Meletius, whom they named Michael in Baptism. He was called Meletius later, in monasticism, when along with his name he changed his life, which was all spiritual training, so he, in justice, accepted such a name, consistent with life and deeds. After the baby's Baptism, the father saw a prophetic dream in which God foretold what the child would become in the future. In a dream, a certain sacred man, an envoy from the king, came to him and asked for a gold brooch. Waking up, George realized that the dream was about a son who would become a golden ornament, the chosen vessel of the Heavenly King, which is why he was asked from his father, for God loved his son more than his own father. But the father did everything necessary to ensure that the child received a good upbringing. He entrusted his education of a virtuous life to a teacher; the boy not only learned the sacred sciences, but also virtues, but since it is still the duty of parents to instruct their children, George himself instructed his son to do what was pleasing to God, and tried to take him to church twice a day: for Matins and for Vespers, so that he would listen to teachings from the Holy Scriptures and grow in the fear of God. The prudent and modest young man did more than what his father commanded him, and therefore surpassed all his peers in virtue and science. One day this young man, successful in good deeds, had a vision in which he, like Abraham of old, was commanded to leave his country and relatives and go where God would lead him. Without wasting time, Mikhail renounced everything: his homeland, relatives, peers, wealth and jealously followed God, who called him. Raising the cross of Christ on his shoulders, he went to Jerusalem to worship the holy places where the Son and Word of God and the Father dwelt, where He became man, endured the cross, death and burial, was resurrected on the third day and ascended into Heaven. When the monk set out on his journey, it was January, the very depths of winter. But good Michael went on foot, without a pack animal, without companions, without a cloak and other things necessary on the road. He bravely endured the rains, snow, mud, and river floods that he encountered along the way, and, burning with strong love for Christ, did not consider them a hindrance. Michael happened to pass through Lydia in the place where the Paktolos River flows. The stream, fast and difficult to overcome at any time of the year, overflowed even more in winter, raising waves like the sea. Seeing neither a ford nor people to ask how to cross the river, the man of God acted as follows. He turned for help to the One to whom all things are possible. Raising his hands and praying fervently to Him, the monk sighed from the depths of his soul and asked to send him help from above. And - lo and behold! – the young man was immediately lifted into the air and transported to the opposite bank. Glorifying God, who helped him in such a wonderful way, he continued on his way with even greater zeal. Arriving in Jerusalem and worshiping all the shrines with great reverence, Michael wanted to talk with the venerable fathers who labored in those deserts in order to learn from them the models and rules of ascetic life. Arriving at Mount Sinai, he saw wonderful reverend fathers, some of whom remained in the ascetic struggle for over eighty years, and others for their entire lives. Marveling at their supernatural habitation, he asked them with tears to accept him. Accepted by them, he immediately took off his worldly clothes, and with them his worldly name, becoming Meletius. Having donned monastic haircloth robes, the monk immediately began severe ascetic labor, practicing all sorts of virtues. During the day he served the brethren, and spent the night in prayer, praise and reading the Holy Scriptures. Sometimes he spent whole weeks completely without sleep, and sometimes, yielding to necessity, he slept a little while standing, holding the rope, or right on the bare ground, because he had neither a bed, nor a bedding, nor a second clothing. So it was during Holy Week of the Holy Saving Passion of the Lord and on other great feasts of the Lord. Having spent enough time with the divine fathers in deeds of virtue, the monk was honored with contemplation of the heavenly world and received spiritual gifts. Everyone who knew the saint was amazed by his spiritual exploits, his virtues became known in distant lands, and his name was on everyone’s lips. Saddened (for Meletius was afraid that, because of human praise, he would lose his reward from God for his labors), the monk wanted to leave Mount Sinai. Leaving the monastery at night, Meletius came to Jerusalem to stay for some time at the Holy Sepulcher and see for himself the miracle of the descent of the “Holy Fire.” Having been honored to see the fire, as he desired, he went to Misiri, to Alexandria, and from there, returning to Syria, he came to Damascus to, like a hardworking bee, collect the honey of virtue from various fathers. Having left Damascus (for he could not be there among the wicked (Muslims)), the monk came to Mount Latra. Having lived there for a sufficient time, he came to Mount Gallicia, which is in Asia Minor, a little further than old Ephesus, where there was a very large monastery. It was founded by the great Lazarus of Gallisiot, and God extraordinarily expanded and glorified the monastery, for from this monastery came venerable men who, shining like lamps, illuminated the entire universe. Arriving at this monastery and talking with the fathers who were there, the Monk Meletius marveled at the severity of their life and desired to settle with them. He was accepted into the ranks of the brethren and tonsured into the great schema, after which Meletius gave himself over to obedience to an elder named Mark (nicknamed Amisellis). Who can tell about his extreme patience, about his zeal in fulfilling obediences, who can describe his tireless disposition? Meletius spoke little, but did a lot, obeyed his spiritual father in everything and did not exceed his usual feat. He spent his nights vigil in prayer, and during the day he shed tears in repentance, and there was not a single minute when he did not think in his heart about Jesus Christ, and there was not a moment when he did not mention the name of Jesus Christ aloud, but he always prayed like this: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” All that long time while the monk lived with the elder and was in unquestioning obedience, both the elder himself and everyone who communicated with him praised Meletius and were amazed at his exploits. Talking about the virtues of the divine Meletius, the elder called on all the brothers who were there to take an example from him, for Meletius was a model of life according to God. I almost forgot to tell about the wondrous feat of the monk, the truth of which no one questions. The Divine Meletius used to lock himself in a cell and, imitating Moses and Elijah, and especially the example of our common Savior and Teacher Christ, spent forty days in fasting. The monastery servants placed a vessel with water and figs in his cell, but after forty days they found them untouched. The entire Gallician mountain marveled at him; crowds of people flocked from all over Asia to look at such a wondrous ascetic, which broke the silence and feat of Meletius. Because of this, the monk was greatly saddened and thought intensely about how to avoid human glory and praise. Day and night he prayed to God to show him a way to achieve what he wanted. And one day, when he was fervently praying to God in the middle of the night, his cell was suddenly illuminated by Heavenly light. Dressed in wondrous and shining robes, Christ Himself appeared to Him, surrounded by beautiful young men in white robes with scepters in their hands. Seeing this whole phenomenon, the monk froze in amazement and fell to the ground. One of the young men, taking him by the hand, lifted him up, and the Lord Christ said: “Meletius, why are you afraid, because you called Me, so I came.” The monk, still experiencing fear, not only did not answer anything, but also did not dare to look at the Lord. Then the Lord told him: “Go to Constantinople, you will help defend the truth against which the war has been raised.” With these words, Christ ascended to Heaven along with the young men. Filled with inexpressible joy, Meletius decided to fulfill God’s command, but decided that first he needed to consult with the elder. He revealed his desire to him, but did not tell him about the vision, and asked permission to leave. The elder, knowing what a wonderful husband he was losing, did not want to let him go and tried in various ways to dissuade him, remembering that in cities there is vanity and temptations that are contrary to the monastic title. What happened next? The Divine Meletius became sad and again began to fervently pray to God. His prayer was heard and the elder received a Divine voice: “Do not interfere, but let My servant go to Constantinople, for he will benefit many souls.” After Mark heard this Divine voice, he blessed Meletius and sent him to Constantinople. So the monk came to the capital, where he was most concerned about ensuring that no one knew about him in order to avoid human glory. However, he failed to do this, for he was a true lamp of virtue. Just as it is impossible for someone who walks with a lighted lamp in the middle of the night to hide, so it is impossible for someone who is a model of virtue to remain unrecognized, even if this person lives in the desert, in the mountains, in caves and abysses of the earth. So the divine Meletius, although he did everything possible to remain unknown and inglorious, could not hide from the top officials of the city and kings, archons, senators and everyone else knew about him. Numerous residents of Constantinople came to the monk every day to receive great benefit from his instructions. And indeed, it is difficult to enumerate all the virtues of the monk, for he was of a humble disposition, had thin clothes, his head was unwashed and unshorn, his feet were bare, his words were fruitful, his mind was attentive, but it is surprising that his behavior and even his movements brought great benefit to those who saw him. It is difficult to say how many people came to him every day, for the Constantinople people, among others, have one good virtue. They find out if there are any wise and virtuous men anywhere, and, having learned about such, they go to them, write down their words on the tablets of their hearts, and some of the listeners on paper, so that they can always benefit from them. So to this day, in memory of the monk, many have preserved his words written down. The divine Meletius was saddened by such fame more than before, for he loved to remain silent and not to be glorified by people. Only through silence does the purified human mind accept God; this Divine grace cannot be achieved in any other way. The monk left Constantinople for Mount Auxentius the Great and, having found a small natural cave there, settled in it and lived there for a long time, having no other shelter, clothing and no light. Then, having built a small kaliva in front of the entrance to the cave, he began to struggle with such zeal as if he had just begun his spiritual feat. He fasted for many days in a row, performed vigils, made many bows, and depressed his body so much that one monk, seeing how the saint labored in this way, told him that there was no need to so clearly kill himself with backbreaking labor. To this the saint answered: “Child, haven’t you heard that Abraham will repent of not struggling more when he sees the extraordinary gifts of God on the Day of Judgment?” Hearing these words, the monk was surprised and, having respectfully accepted the saint’s answer, fell silent. Leaving there, he began to proclaim to all the monks and laymen about the wondrous life of the saint. And again many people began to flock to the monk, breaking his desired silence. Saddened again, the monk cried out to God. After prayer, he opened the book of the prophet Isaiah to find out which path the Lord would lead him, and read the following saying: “I will make you... a light for the Gentiles” (Is. 42:6). The monk understood what these words meant and remained in the same place, receiving those who came to him, healing the sick, resolving the confusion of those who questioned him, offering soul-helping teachings and helping those in need in every possible way. Again the word of the saint acquired significant proportions, and there was not a single Christian who did not ask for his holy prayers. He was called upon equally by sailors and travelers, both the infirm and the healthy: the sick - to be healed of illnesses, and the healthy - to maintain health. The saint did not leave either soldiers or farmers without help, provided benefits to shepherds, and gave the hunters what they needed. And the fishermen testified to the good that the monk did to them, for as soon as they pronounced the name of Meletius, countless fish immediately fell into their nets. Even domestic animals and wild animals expressed gratitude to the monk for his good deeds, for he also had sympathy and compassion for them. However, the monk not only performed miracles, but was also a hospitable host. From the meager bread that he had, he fed everyone who came to him, and everything that was brought to him, he generously distributed to those in need, at the same time providing spiritual alms, for he generously fed their souls with his godly teaching. It is impossible to tell the rest of the story without tears. Like a cloud with hail that threatens to bring numerous disasters, so Latinism has taken up arms against the Orthodox Church of Christ. The leader of evil, the devil, after numerous wars raised by him against the flock of Christ, finally raised war against the Church. He changed the Creed and captured the first Church in the universe - the Church of ancient Rome, so all the other Churches cried and groaned that they had lost their first sister - Rome. The Guardian Angels of the Churches wept with them: “a voice was heard in Rama, weeping and weeping,” as Scripture says (Matthew 2:18), and the common enemy rejoiced and had fun, observing the Division of the Churches and the disunity of Christians. The Latins also taught other evil fabrications, for example, that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, and during the liturgy they proclaimed: “Glory to the Father and the Son, and from them both proceeding the Holy Spirit,” and in the Creed they added: “Who proceeds from the Father and the Son.” This new teaching began in ancient times and took hold of old Rome and Western countries. During the time of Tsar Michael, called the Unleavened Breadmaker (1261 - 1282), this heretical teaching reached the eastern lands and tormented the Eastern Church for a long time. But even then there were soldiers of Christ who fought for the truth, for other fathers and theologians also took up arms against this evil, whose shepherd and teacher was Joseph, the pillar of Orthodoxy. They strengthened the Church of Christ as much as possible, surrendering themselves even to death to the Latin persecutors and Latin wise men, and showed themselves to be strict guardians of the Divine teachings. One of these fathers was the great Meletius, who, leaving silence, preached throughout Bithynia, strengthening Christians in Orthodoxy and commanding them to keep the faith and carefully refrain from accepting new perverted teachings, meaning Latinism. Once, when the monk had spent the whole day on the road, the sun was already setting, and there was no place to stay for the night nearby, his companion said: “Father, it’s already evening, let’s stay here, since the village is still far away, and we won’t have time to reach it.” But the monk raised his eyes to Heaven and prayed to the Lord: “My Savior God, You who are the Light of the world, who stopped the sun in ancient times for the sake of the people of Israel, stop it today for our sake, so that we have time to reach the village.” And - innumerable Your miracles, O Christ the King! – the sun did not set beyond the horizon until Saint Meletius wanted it. Let no one doubt this, because if the word is spoken with faith, then it is capable of moving immovable and huge mountains (Matthew 17: 20). If we know that believers in Christ can perform great miracles, what is strange in the fact that the monk performed such a miracle, how can we doubt it? In this case, one should only be amazed at the boldness that the great Meletius had towards God, and glorify God, Who does not cease to perform ancient miracles in these last times. With this miracle, God showed that if someone with his life is like Moses or Joshua, he will be able, if necessary, to dry up the sea and stop the sun and perform all the miracles that they performed. But let's get back to our story. Not far from the mountain of the great Auxentius the Great there was the island of St. Andrew, small in size, but very beautiful. On this island, the Monk Meletios built a monastery with a beautiful church, around the monastery were the dwellings of hermits and other buildings. In this monastery, Meletius again devoted himself to fasting and excessive labors of all-night standing, vigil, prayer, fasting and tears, but God continued to show miracles here too. They were witnessed by many people who came here and experienced their effects. Due to numerous crowds of Christians, the saint’s peace was again disturbed, and he decided to go to Mount Auxentius the Great again. But after this decision, an amazing event happened! When the monk was already preparing to leave, in the afternoon Auxentius the Great appeared to him in person and, having greeted him and thanked him for the built church, told him that he would reward him for his labors with a great reward, similar to that received by the venerable martyr Stephen the New, who labored on the same mountain. What the saint predicted happened, for the divine Meletius received the crown of confessor, which will be described further. When Tsar Michael the Unleavened openly began to preach Latin teaching in the Universal Church and demanded to unite the Eastern and Western Churches, the then Orthodox Patriarch was expelled from the throne, and the defender of lies, John Becca, was installed on the throne. After this, the Orthodox began to be imprisoned in prison, violence was done to them, and they were tortured with various punishments. Then Saint Meletius, on the advice of the divine Galaktion, came with him to Constantinople. Asceticizing on Mount Gallicia together with the Monk Meletius, Hieromonk Galaktion greatly excelled in speech and virtue, for which he was revered. In the capital, both of them appeared before the Latin-wise Tsar Michael and boldly declared: “We are defenders of Orthodoxy and will not join the Latin heresy, which, even before it appeared, was exposed by the divine fathers of the Ecumenical Councils, who decreed in the Creed that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, and those who dare to add or subtract anything, even the smallest, should be betrayed anathema. So why did you, king, despise the words of Christ Himself, with which He addresses His Apostles in the Holy Gospel, and the testimonies of the divine fathers, and the sacred canons of the Catholic Church, indulging in this error? Not only that, do you want us to follow heresy and reject the traditions of the apostles? This will not happen, do not try to move what cannot be moved, because we would rather go crazy than lose our Orthodox faith.” Considering these words a personal insult, the king imprisoned them, where these courageous warriors of Christ joyfully endured many other sufferings. After a few days of imprisonment, the king ordered them to be brought out of prison, hoping that after the torture the saints would become more accommodating. However, the saints, who from torment did not become softer, like wax, but were hardened like iron, and with even more ardent faith and even more sharply began to denounce the king’s slander. Since they showed even greater boldness, they inflamed the king’s anger even more. He ordered their exile to Skyros, an island subordinate to the Metropolitanate of Athens. From Skyros, the divine Meletius was sent to Rome to talk about faith with the wise men of the Pope, where he was again imprisoned and kept in chains for seven years. Then, by order of the king, he was sent back to Skyros and placed in the same dungeon with Galaktion. Of course, imprisonment is fraught with many dangers and evils, which increase even more if the inhabitants of that place are of evil character. The prison in which the saints were kept was very harsh and gloomy, like the shadow of death; the hunger to which the saints were doomed lasted many days, for the ruler of Skyros decided to starve them to death. The monks, and especially the divine Meletius, remembered the ancient and habitual path of fasting for many days and replaced the forced torment of hunger with a voluntary act, considering it as a ladder to God, and remained without food for forty days. The jailer was so surprised that he repeated to his wife the words spoken in ancient times by Manoah: “We will surely die, for we have seen God” (Judges 13:22). The prisoners are so holy that it seems that they are not people, but much higher than people.” After this, he told his wife about their many-day fasting, about frequent prayers with kneeling, about all-night vigils, thereby bringing his wife into amazement. At dawn, a woman and her only daughter visited the saints in prison, and, falling at their feet, both received a blessing. Experiencing severe suffering, the saints rejoiced and constantly praised God, while the king made many efforts to spread Latinism, trying to attract some through intimidation and torture, others through ranks and titles, and others through other various means that made it possible to hide truth and truth. Many became his friends, having adopted Latin, and those Orthodox Christians whom the tsar did not persuade, he subjected to disgrace, confiscated their estates, exiled and put to death. By exterminating in such a tyrannical manner all those who disagreed with Latinism, the monarch was confident that he had already defeated all the Orthodox. Once, talking with his nobles, he said with a laugh: “It seems to me that great peace has now come in the Church, and the Patriarch owes this to me, since there are no longer those who outrage the people.” Many approved these words of the king, but one of the nobles remarked: – The exiles on the island of Skyros still continue to argue, claiming that they are the most knowledgeable of all, and thereby resist your authority. - Meletius and Galaktion of Gallisiota. These words wounded the king to the very heart, because these men were famous and famous for their virtue. A ship was immediately prepared for the royal messenger. The saints were brought to Constantinople and placed in a prison called Numbered. Many days passed, but the king, citing other urgent matters, still refused to consider the case of the saints. All this time, the bishops and especially the patriarch (oh the judgment and forbearance of God!) zealously slandered the saints before the king, and tried with all their might to force them to accept either Latinity or death. Finally, the courageous saints appeared before the king, but confessed their faith with even greater boldness and courage, for which they were subjected to greater punishment. They were beaten for many hours, until their lifeless bodies were left lying on the ground. As soon as they came to their senses a little, Galaktion was thrown into prison, and the divine Meletius was hung with ropes on a high pillar. And - lo and behold! - this dry pillar immediately came to life and became covered with leaves. Hearing about such a miracle, the king changed his thoughts and, through the mediation of others, began to talk with the monk again and again, persuading him to accept Latin. The saint, having despised the king's request, was like an eagle soaring in the clouds, as the parable puts it, elusive and invincible by any art or human means. Not knowing what to do next, since he could not convince them, the king decided to defeat their bodies through torture. He cruelly blinded Saint Galaktion, and tore out the tongue of Saint Meletius, so that Galaktion could no longer serve, and the divine Meletius could no longer theologize about the Holy Trinity. However, everything did not turn out the way the king wanted. For after Andronicus became king of the Romans, boldly preaching the Orthodox faith, the divine Meletius spoke clearly even without a tongue, and the good Galaktion continued to offer the Bloodless Sacrifice. As soon as the king was enthroned, he immediately strengthened Orthodoxy, because he believed that there was nothing more necessary. His first task was the restoration of Joseph, the unshakable pillar of Orthodoxy, to the Patriarchal throne, and the expulsion of the fornicator and usurper John of the Century, the corrupter of the verbal sheep of Christ. Then the king with great honor called the saints from prison. Then many of those who did not accept Latin received high titles. Neither the king, an ardent zealot of piety, nor the archons could convince the Monk Meletius to accept the priesthood, because he protected himself from human glory, believing that it brought harm. Already in old age, the monk fell ill; he was ill for three years, and all this time he ate only vegetables, and even then with extreme abstinence and severity. When the time came for him to depart to the Lord, he called all the brethren and for the last time told them words of consolation, and gave each one instructions regarding spiritual life. Then he, together with everyone, glorified God and, raising his hands to the sky and fixing his eyes upward, said: “Lord, in Your hands I commend my spirit.” And at that very hour he fell asleep in the sleep of a righteous man, going to his beloved Lord. The monk, whose name was Gerasim, was sleeping in his cell, and in a dream he saw the divine Meletius with his arms raised upward, who joyfully ascended to Heaven. When he came to the saint’s cell, the saint had already died, and his face shone with heavenly light. Another hieromonk Theoliptus, who greatly respected and loved the monk, served the Liturgy for forty days from the day of his death. This period ended on the Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy. After the service, Theoliptus began to ask God to reveal to him in what abodes the soul of the divine Meletius rested. Having fallen asleep after prayer, he saw in a dream that he was in a large and beautiful church, facing east and reaching to the sky. This church shone with an indescribable light. Inside it, the holy fathers sang a wondrous angelic song to God. There was also a preacher there who said that Meletius, during his lifetime, built this church in honor of the Holy Trinity. Theoliptus was very happy with what he heard and saw there. Then, in a dream, he approached the saint’s tomb and saw that it was open, and inside it stood two men dressed in white, holding censers of amazing beauty in their hands and censing them. Then Theoliptus noticed Meletius himself, who began to reproach: “You, dear Theoliptus, left my coffin without care, and God sent to me those whom you see.” And while Theoliptus was wondering how Saint Meletius could speak if he were dead, he suddenly heard a voice from Heaven: “He who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live” (John 11:25). That's all about it. And now I want to tell, for the glory of the saint, about some of the miracles he performed during his lifetime. One day, when the saint was walking along the shore, he met several fishermen who had spread their nets on the sand. Having asked if they had caught anything, they replied that they had been fishing all night, but had not caught anything. Having pity on them, the saint boldly said: “Children, cast your nets again in the name of our Savior God.” Having obeyed the monk, they entered the boat and, having sailed a little, read a prayer and cast their nets. O Thy indescribable mercy, my Christ! So many fish were caught in their net that the fishermen had great difficulty in getting them into the boat. Marveling at the boldness that the monk had towards God, they glorified God and thanked Meletius. After the saint built the Church of St. Andrew the First-Called on the island, as we have already said, the cellarer once told him that there was nothing to feed the builders. Then, taking his staff, the saint ordered him to follow him. They went down to the sea and the monk quietly tapped the water with his staff, saying: “In the name of the Lord Christ, give us today what we need!” And - lo and behold! - at the same hour a large fish jumped out of the water onto the ground. When the cellarer approached to take it, a second one jumped out of the water, no less than the first. Taking both of them, the cellarer prepared lunch and fed the workers. When the Orthodox Tsar Andronicus reigned, he once invited the great Meletius to his palace to consult with him on a church issue, and received the monk with great honor. One of the archons named Sirmurin, a protovestiary by office, began to mentally reproach the saint for loving temporary glory, and therefore said to one of those sitting next to him: “This monk, it seems, has abandoned the heavenly glory that he should have sought, is now seeking human glory and rejoices in it.” Returning home in the evening, Sirmurin lay down on his bed and had a dream. He found himself in the royal palace, where the formidable Tsar sat, dressed in both royal and bishop's robes, and countless troops stood around Him. Very angry with Sirmurin for insulting His servant, the King ordered His bodyguards to take revenge on him. They wanted to tie him hand and foot and throw him into a place where blasphemers were condemned, but the great Meletius interceded for him before the Tsar and spared the unfortunate nobleman from punishment. Frightened by this terrible dream, Sirmurin, as soon as he woke up, went to the saint. Falling at his feet, he confessed his condemnation, and then told about his dream. Having asked for forgiveness with warm tears, which he immediately received from the saint, he left with joy and henceforth spoke of the saint’s exploits with many praises. Such was, my beloved brethren, the life of the Monk Meletios, such was his extraordinary zeal for Orthodoxy, and such were the miracles he showed. Having lived seventy-seven years, he left all this, temporary, and went to God, where he prays for all of us to the Most Holy Trinity, to whom glory, honor and worship belong forever and ever. Amen. (Written by Macarius Chrysokephalos of Philadelphia) The life and exploits of our venerable and God-bearing father Cosmas, who labored in the venerable monastery of Zograf in the 13th century This reverend father of ours, Cosmas, was a Bulgarian, and was born according to a vow, from pious and noble parents. He received a good upbringing, and at school he studied Greek and Bulgarian letters. After school, his parents decided to marry him, but the young man, having a strong desire to become a monk, secretly left his homeland and came to the Holy Mountain. On the way to the Holy Mountain, he was tempted by the hater of good, the envious devil, who, wanting to prevent him from reaching the Holy Mountain, in a vision showed him the Holy Mountain as an island located in the middle of the ocean. Thinking about how the monks get to the Mountain, whether they use stairs or boats, Blessed Cosmas, having no one to ask, turned to God with the following prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, through the prayers of the All-Pure Mother, show me the path by which the monks come to the Holy Mountain.” Immediately the ghostly sea disappeared, and the young man, realizing that these were the machinations of the devil, thanked God and the Mother of God. Having entered the Holy Mountain without hindrance, Cosmas came to the honest monastery of Zograf. Joyfully received by the abbot and all the brothers, the young man spent a sufficient time there, after which he was clothed in the monastic image by the then abbot, who appointed him, along with others, to serve in the church. When the Feast of the Annunciation approached, the young man received permission from the abbot, and together with other brothers he went to the Vatopedi Monastery to venerate the Honorable Belt of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and the relics of the saints found there. Entering the church, Cosmas saw a certain wife who served in the church, at meals and participated in all monastic obediences. Not knowing that it was the Most Holy Virgin, the monk was very saddened that the monks allowed women into the monastery, for it was dangerous. When he returned to the Zograf monastery again, the abbot, seeing his sadness, asked what was the matter. The monk told him everything, and the abbot said: “Know, child, that the Woman whom you saw was the Most Holy Theotokos, the patroness of that monastery and this entire Mountain.” Having learned everything, Cosmas thanked the Most Holy Virgin, who deigned to appear to him. After some time, the monk was ordained a deacon, and then a presbyter, and from that time on he labored even more, uncomplainingly and with great zeal, fulfilling all monastic obediences. One day, when Cosmas was alone in the church, he turned to the Mother of God on the icon with the following words: “Most Holy Theotokos, pray to Your Son and our God to guide me on the path of salvation.” And at the same moment he heard a voice from the icon: “My Son and My God, guide Your servant on the path of salvation.” Christ answered the Mother of God: “Let him leave the monastery and go into silence.” Coming out of the church, the monk told the abbot about everything he had heard, and he settled him in a quiet cell next to the monastery. Silent there for several years, the monk, with the help of God, achieved all the virtues, and was even honored to receive the gift of clairvoyance, so that many came to him for confession. One day, two hieromonks came to him from the Hilandar monastery, who hid a pumpkin with wine on the way, so that they could pick it up on the way back. Having received a blessing from the monk, they were about to leave, when the perspicacious elder told them: “Break the pumpkin that you hid near the road, because a snake crawled into it; and don’t drink this wine, otherwise you will be poisoned.” The hieromonks did just that: breaking the pumpkin, they found a snake inside and glorified God, who delivered them from death, and at the same time thanked the Monk Cosmas. There was a certain monk of virtuous life named Damian. He labored near the monastery of Esphigmen in a place called Samaria, and had the blessing of not spending the night in someone else’s cell. One day Damian came to see an acquaintance for some urgent matter, and since he was not at home, he was forced to wait until the evening. Having done his business, Damian was about to return to his cell, but his friend persuaded him to stay, because it was already very dark and it was raining. But Damian, because of the blessing he had, did not stay with his friend. Since it was very dark and raining heavily, he eventually got lost. Not knowing what to do, he cried out to the Lord: “Lord, save me, I am perishing.” After this request, he immediately found himself in his cell. Later, coming to the monk, he told him about what had happened to him in order to find out why it happened and whether he had unwittingly sinned before God. The saint answered him: “Brother, you fulfilled the commandment, and God preserved you from death.” Thus comforted, Damian returned to his cell, glorifying God. One day the monk fell ill and, like a simple person, wanted fish. At the same moment (lo and behold!) the eagle brought him a fish. And one spiritual elder, Christopher, labored nearby, who also fell ill and asked one person to send him fish. When Christopher was already washing this fish, an eagle flew in and snatched it from the old man’s hands. It was this fish that he placed in front of Cosmas. Having thanked God, Cosmas fried the fish and was already preparing to eat it when he heard a voice: “Leave some for Christopher so that he too can taste it.” Soon Christopher came to the monk and knocked on the door of his cell. The monk replied: “Come in, because I am waiting for you to eat your share of the fish.” Christopher asked the saint in surprise how he knew whose fish it was. And he told him everything in detail, after which both rejoiced, and Christopher returned to his cell. One day on Maundy Thursday the monk saw a soul in the air, tormented by demons. Having learned that it was the soul of the Hilandar abbot, he sent his disciple to the monastery to tell the brothers to pray to God for this soul. The disciple came and announced to the brothers about the vision of the monk, but they did not believe it and said: “The abbot has just left the church and went to his cell to bring everything necessary for the liturgy, and he, deceived, tells us to pray for him.” Nevertheless, they went to the abbot’s cell, where they discovered that the abbot had indeed died. Another time, the same Christopher came to the monk to talk about the word of God. Knocking on the door, he heard voices and thought that someone was confessing in the cell. He waited a long time until the conversation ended, and then knocked on the door. The monk met him, kissed him, they went inside, said a prayer and sat down. Since Christopher did not see anyone, he asked the saint with whom he was talking. The elder could not hide this and replied that he was talking with Christ: “He told me what demons would soon do to me, and that in a few days I would repose and move into His Kingdom. Go in peace, but on (such and such) day be sure to come here again.” Christopher left and on the appointed day again came to the monk, whom he found lying in bed and dying. Having asked about the reason, he heard in response: “The chief of the demons came this evening with many demons, cried and said: “O powerless and careless ones, none of you could kill this terrible enemy of mine, who saddened me so much that, in the end, he took my throne from me.” With these words, the evil demon took the rod and beat me severely, as you can see. Christopher stayed there and looked after the sick man. Two days later, the monk asked to receive communion of the Most Pure Mysteries and, having received them with reverence and thanking God, he gave up his spirit into His hands in the month of September, 22 days of the year 1233 from the Nativity of Christ. Having learned about his death, the priests and monks came to bury the sacred remains of the saint. God, who glorifies those who glorify Him, glorified this saint after death in the following way. When the brethren sang the Follow-up to the Burial, all the animals of the desert gathered and stood quietly until he was buried, after which each one screamed loudly in his own way, and everyone fled again. Forty days later, the brethren came to the saint’s cell and served the All-Night Vigil, after which they opened the tomb to take his venerable relics to the monastery, but (O Thy ineffable miracles, O Christ the King!) they did not find his body there, and to this day no one knows where it is, only God, to Whom belongs glory and power forever and ever. Amen. The life and exploits of our venerable and God-bearing father Gregory Sinaite, who labored in the 14th century This divine Gregory was from the Asia Minor village of Kukulos, near Klazomen, and came from parents who were rich and noble, and at the same time God-fearing and virtuous. Diligently educated by them, he was given to teachers, from whom he learned the divine and sacred sciences. At that time (then the great Andronikos Palaiologos reigned) the Hagaran clan attacked Asia, plundered it and enslaved almost all the Christians there. Together with them, the divine Gregory with his parents and brothers was enslaved. They were brought to Laodicea and by the Providence of God the barbarians allowed them to go to church. During the usual psalmody and praise, the local Christians, seeing that they stood with great reverence, sang beautifully and were trained in music, were surprised at their piety and singing; Immediately after the release, they came to the Hagarians and, giving them a lot of money, bought Gregory and his family from slavery. After this, the divine Gregory went to Cyprus. He lived there for a short time, but everyone fell in love with his virtue and natural gifts. His pleasant face indicated the inner state of his divine soul, and his modesty, piety and reverence for God surprised everyone, and the people greatly revered Gregory. While the venerable Gregory lived on the island, God, who knew about his strong love for virtue living in his heart, showed him one virtuous monk who labored in silence. Gregory immediately joyfully came to the monk, was dressed by him in monastic robes and became a novice. After spending some time with the elder, he repeatedly talked with him on spiritual topics, and then went to Mount Sinai, where he was tonsured a monk. Along with cutting his hair, Gregory cut off all desires and movements of the flesh and with great spiritual courage continued his ascetic labors. A little time passed, and the local fathers were amazed at his almost immaterial incorporeal life in fasting, vigil, all-night standing, incessant psalmody and prayer; a little more, and they would begin to think that he was indeed incorporeal. He was so skilled in obedience - the root and mother of virtues - and in elevating humility that it is difficult to describe them separately, otherwise it may seem to the lazy that I am talking about the incredible for the sake of exaggeration. At the same time, it is precisely because of sloths that I am not going to hush up the truth and will write about what I heard from his closest disciple, Saint Gerasim. This blessed one told me that the divine Gregory fulfilled with diligence and every zeal the obedience assigned to him by the abbot, as if the Most High God had seen him, and never omitted the usual fraternal rule. In the evening, having bowed to the abbot as usual and received a blessing from him, the monk entered his cell. Having closed the door, he raised his hands and mind to God and, completely withdrawing from this material world and trying to get closer to God, began the rule with extraordinary zeal. All night long he sang psalms to God and prayed with strong heartfelt desire and kneeling, until he finished all the psalms of David, the singing of which brought him joy. Then in the morning, when they knocked on the bell, the monk, according to custom, was the first to be at the church door. He was always so strict with himself that he never left the church until the end of the service. Thus, Gregory was the first to enter the church and the last to leave. His food was only bread and water, and even then in such quantities as to only maintain life in the body. Gregory served as a cook and baker for more than three years, and never even thought about serving people; on the contrary, he was sure that he served the ranks of Angels, and considered the place of his obedience to be the true altar of God and the altar. In addition, almost every day he climbed to the top of Mount Sinai to worship the place where famous great miracles were performed. The monk was very skilled in calligraphy, and he devoted himself to reading so much that day and night he diligently selected sayings from the Old and New Testaments and tried to remember them. I don’t know if there was another father who studied the Holy Scriptures as well as he did, and who would have surpassed all the fathers there in knowledge. However, the evil devil could not calmly observe the exploits of the monk. He secretly led the monks into a passion of envy and, being a sower of tares, sowed great confusion and excitement in them. Gregory, a disciple of the meek and peace-loving Jesus, realizing that the monks were jealous of him, secretly left the monastery, taking with him Gerasim, who was from the island of Euripus and was a relative of the ruler of the island, Riga. Disdaining wealth, fame and noble origin, renouncing the world and what is in the world, Gerasim came to Mount Sinai, where he met the divine Gregory. Amazed by his extreme virtue, Gerasim became one of his students and, with the help of God, reached a high level of activity and contemplation, becoming, after the great Gregory, an example for others. Having left Sinai, they came to Jerusalem to worship the Life-Giving Sepulcher. Having visited the holy places, the ascetics boarded a ship and sailed to Crete to a place called Good Landings, where the monk with great zeal began to look for a calm and quiet place to live. After a long search, they finally found quiet caves and happily settled there. Immediately that good worker began to apply labor to labor, exploits to exploits, somehow struggling with himself with even greater courage. His food was bread and water once a day, but there was nothing else, although there was a danger of dying from thirst. The monk’s face acquired a yellow tint from dry eating, the members of his body were dry and exhausted by many labors, weakened by physical stress and incapable of any other action. In addition, the blessed one tried to find a spiritual husband who could instruct him in what he himself could not understand in the Holy Scriptures and what was not taught by the spirit-bearing divine fathers. God, in response to his prayers, sent him such a husband. In divine revelation, He showed the divine Gregory and revealed his desire to one hermit named Arseny, who was silent in those parts and was adorned with pious deeds and Divine contemplation. Moved by the Spirit of God, Arseny came to the monk’s cell, knocked on the door and was received by him with great joy. After the usual prayer and greeting, Arseny began a conversation as if from some divine book, talking about keeping the mind, sobriety, prayer, mental prayer and how the mind is purified through fulfilling the commandments and becomes like light. Having said this and much more, the elder, turning to the monk, asked: “And you, child, what work are you doing?” Then the divine Gregory from the very beginning told him everything about himself: about his departure from the world, about his love for living in the desert, and about all his actions. The Divine Arseny, knowing perfectly well the path that elevates a person to the heights of virtue, remarked with a smile: “Child, everything that you told me about is called by the God-bearing fathers doing, but not seeing.” Hearing these words, Blessed Gregory immediately fell at his feet and began to fervently ask, conjuring by God, to teach him what mental prayer, silence and guarding the mind are. That divine father, accepting the monk’s request as a kind of find, without delay, taught him everything, omitting nothing of what he himself generously received with the help of Divine grace. In addition, the elder revealed to him what happens to those who strive in the feat of virtue, for they are attacked right and left by haters of good, demons, and envious people, whom the evil one uses as an instrument of his malice. Arseny told Gregory about all this in detail. After this conversation, Gregory immediately decided to sail to the Holy Mountain. Having visited all the monasteries, cells, monasteries, and even the hard-to-reach cells of hermits, he considered it fair to meet with all the fathers and pay them due veneration for the sake of prayer and blessing. And, as he himself said, on Athos Gregory met many ascetics, adorned with prudence, modesty and many other virtues. They all applied all their zeal to accomplishing the feat of virtue. When he asked whether they were engaged in mental prayer, whether they indulged in sobriety and guarding the mind, they answered that they did not even know what mental prayer, guarding the mind and sobriety were. Having walked around the entire Holy Mountain, the monk finally came to the monastery of Magula, opposite the venerable monastery of Philotheus. There he met three monks: Isaiah, Cornelius and Macarius, who were engaged not only in active virtues, but also a little in contemplative ones. Having worked a lot together with his disciples, he built cells there. At a short distance from them, he built a hesychastirium for himself in order to privately talk with the One God through mental prayer and propitiate Him with active virtues. It was then that the monk remembered the instructions of honest Arseny, and what he told him about guarding the mind, sobriety and mental prayer. Having subdued all his feelings, uniting his mind with his spirit and nailing himself to the Cross of Christ, he often and often repeated: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” Praying like this with tenderness and contrition of heart, with sighing from the depths of his soul, he constantly cried and tears flowed from his eyes like a river. For these tears, the Lord did not despise his prayer: “You will not despise a broken and humble heart, O God” (Ps. 50:19), for: “the righteous cry, and the Lord hears” (Ps. 33:18). Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, his soul and heart were inflamed and, having changed with a kind and wondrous change, enlightened by Divine grace, the monk saw that his cell was filled with light. Filled with joy and indescribable joy, shedding streams of tears again, he was stung by Divine love, for truly the words of the one who said were fulfilled on him: “Act is the path to contemplation.” After all, the monk left the flesh and this world, and was completely filled with Divine love. From that time on, the light continually illuminated the righteous, according to what was said: “There is always light for the righteous” (Proverbs 13:9). When I (Blessed Callistus) and other disciples asked the ever-memorable one about the meaning of these words, he answered: “He who, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, is exalted in God, sees, as in a mirror, all creation in the world, “whether in the body - I don’t know, whether outside the body - I don’t know,” as the Apostle Paul says (2 Cor. 12: 2), until someone prevents this, forcing him to come to yourself." Simply and completely without any curiosity, I asked him various questions when Gregory came out of his cell with a cheerful face and meekly looked at me. You, spiritual fathers, know how much more you love the last of your spiritual children in comparison with the first. Likewise, my ever-blessed spiritual father showed more love to me, as to his last spiritual child, and I whispered to him as a loving father. He answered me like this: – The soul that cleaves to God and is touched by His love will rise above every creature, will live above the entire visible world and will unite with the desire of God. She will not be able to hide, as the Lord Himself promised her, saying: “Your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly” (Matthew 6:4). And again: “So let your light shine before people, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). For the heart trembles and rejoices, the mind pours out, the face becomes cheerful and joyful, as the sage said: “A merry heart makes a cheerful face” (Proverbs 15:13). - Divine Father, teach me, for the love of the truth, what the soul is, and what the saints say about it. With his characteristic meekness he answered: “My beloved spiritual child, do not seek what is higher than you, and do not explore what is deeper, for in order to understand what you asked me about, you must cease to be an imperfect baby who cannot digest solid food. It is beyond your power to comprehend lofty concepts, just as the food of perfect men does not benefit tender babies who require only milk. Falling at his feet and holding them tightly, I fervently asked him to answer. Condescending to my strong request, Gregory said: “He who does not see the resurrection of his soul will not be able to know exactly what an intelligent soul is.” “Tell me, father, have you reached the measure of this ascent, that is, have you learned what an intelligent soul is?” Then I asked him, for the love of the Lord, to teach me something that could bring great benefit to my soul. The divine and all-honorable Gregory praised my zeal and taught me this teaching. – When the soul uses all its zeal and strives in active virtues with reason and reasoning, then, pushing aside all passions, it subjugates them to itself. And when she conquers the passions, she will be surrounded only by natural virtues, which follow her as a shadow follows the body. These virtues will not only follow her, but will also teach and instruct her in what is supernatural, like climbing the spiritual ladder. And when the mind, by the grace of Christ, ascends to a supernatural state, then, enlightened by the radiance of the Holy Spirit, it will lightly stretch into contemplation. Having risen above himself, according to the measure of grace given by God, he clearly and purely sees the nature of existence, its connections and order, but not as the external sages chatter, resorting only to the shadow of things and not trying to follow, as they should, the essential energy of nature, because, as the Scripture says, “their foolish heart was darkened; calling themselves wise, they became fools” (Rom. 1:21–22). Then that soul that has received the betrothal and grace of the Holy Spirit, little by little, due to the multitude of contemplations that it has, leaves the former and ascends into the highest and Divine, as the Apostle Paul says: “forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead” (Phil. 3:13). The soul, truly purified in this way, puts aside all fear and timidity and, clinging with love to the Bridegroom Christ, sees that its natural thoughts completely cease and fall away, as the holy fathers command. Having achieved unprecedented and indescribable beauty, she converses alone with the One God, brightly illuminated by the lightness and grace of the Holy Spirit. Enlightened in this way with infinite light, it moves only towards God Himself, and through this marvelous and new change no longer feels the low, earthly and material body, because the soul seems transparent and bright, without any additions and earthly attachments, a predominantly intelligent nature, as our ancestor Adam was before his crime. At first he was covered with the grace of that infinite light, and then for a hated crime (oh woe!) he was deprived of bright glory and sanctification. So this precious animal, man, turned out to be naked. The monk also told me that a person who had reached such a height through the tedious practice of mental prayer, and purely saw and knew his own state, into which he came by the grace of Christ, saw the resurrection of the soul before the general resurrection, for which we all hope. The soul, purified in this way, can say, together with the divine Paul: “Whether in the body, I don’t know; whether outside the body, I don’t know” (2 Cor. 12:2), but it itself is perplexed and amazed at this and cries out in surprise: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His destinies and unsearchable His ways!” (Rom. 11:33). This is what that divine father told me. About his disciples, who, under the guidance of the monk, ascended to the heights of virtue, I don’t know how to adequately tell or how to tell about their battles and exploits. The first of them was Saint Gerasim, who came from Euripus, as I have already said. Subsequently, he became a student of His Holiness Patriarch Isidore, brought great benefit and earned his praise, for from the very beginning he was well taught by the divine Gregory the virtues and life befitting a monk. This wondrous man imitated the Venerable Gerasim (of Jordan) in ancient times, and just as he walked the apostolic path and tamed the Jordanian desert, erecting honest monasteries in it, so this new Gerasim, filled with Divine grace and enlightened by God, came to Greece. Like the apostles, he went around it and saturated all those who hungered and thirsted for the word of God with the sweetest teaching of Virtue, enriching as much as possible with the riches of sanctification and piety. But Gerasim himself, thanks to his diligence and diligence, gathered around him many disciples and, with the help of God, founded a heavenly dwelling and monastic monastery, passing on to his brothers the rules of strict angelic life, teaching them, being an example of virtue, like the Monk Gerasim in ancient times. Likewise, this new Gerasim was honored to contemplate Divine visions in silence, and spent his life in spiritual exploits worthy of wonder, after which he reposed in the Lord. The second disciple of the monk was Joseph, a compatriot and comrade of Gerasim, who with courage fought for Orthodoxy, opposing the Latins, and rescued many from this wickedness, by the grace of Christ bringing them to Orthodoxy. Few of the famous and successful in external wisdom were able to do as much for Orthodoxy as Joseph did, for he had internal and true wisdom - the grace of the Holy Spirit, with the help of which those fishermen, the divine apostles, became famous and put the external wise men to shame. So the wondrous Joseph was glorified by God and put the Latins to shame. Who can properly tell about his other virtues and his famous and modest residence? I’ll keep silent about this too. You, O listener, think about another disciple of the saint - the wonderful Abba Nicholas, an old man of eighty years old, from Athens, who was worthy of veneration not only for his impressive age, but also for his prudence and modesty of morals. He courageously endured numerous persecutions for Orthodoxy from the Latin-speaking Michael Palaeologus: he was exiled, his estates were plundered, and he was imprisoned many times in dark dungeons. At a time when the divine Nicholas preached the word of God in his homeland and taught the people to preserve the Orthodox faith, not accepting the vicious teachings of the Latins, the tsar sent his cruel and inhuman Latinizing servants to punish him. Obeying the king's order, they tied Nicholas tightly with ropes and put chains on his neck and hands; to shame him, they shaved his beard and, brutally beating him with sticks and kicking him, drove him along the roads everywhere for show. The worldly ones did not know that by doing this they were only showing off their malice, and for Nicholas they were the reason for greater glory. But since, by the grace of God, at that time there was peace in the Church of Christ, and the persecution of the Orthodox stopped, the Ecumenical Patriarch, His Holiness Joseph, tried different ways to ordain the divine Nicholas as a bishop. The same, humble-wise, did not agree to become a bishop, and, wanting silence, came to the Holy Mountain. The then Archpriest of the Holy Mountain greatly loved Nicholas, adorned with all the virtues and piety, and appointed, against his will, ecclesiarch of the honest Kareev monastery. After some time, Nikolai met the wondrous Gregory and, having heard his sweetest teachings, with all his soul he wanted to become his student. Just as a magnet, with its enormous natural power, attracts the hardest iron to itself, so our divine teacher Gregory, with his soul-helping words (which every prudent person would rightly call the words of eternal life, and truly the Divine voice) attracted everyone who saw him or talked with him. Just as once Andrew, who saw Christ and immediately left John the Baptist, after which he inseparably followed Jesus, so the disciples of the divine Gregory constantly accompanied him, observing what extraordinary reverence he achieved, what equanimity and spiritual peace he came to, because his meek and joyful face pointed to the inner radiance and grace of his soul; many virtuous monks left their elders and, eager to hear his instructions and join his brotherhood, in order to benefit themselves, went to him in obedience. This is what Abba Nicholas did, who not only abandoned human honors and glory as a vain and unnecessary burden, but also despised his own old age, throwing himself at the feet of the saint. He joyfully accepted the feat and labor of obedience, as if he had acquired some great treasure. Listening to the sweet words of the monk, absorbing his instructions, he is skilled in every virtue, and especially in humility, surpassing all his brothers in this. One should also marvel at how the divine father acted with his novices. When he wanted to correct a student who had sinned, then, thinking with his discerning spiritual eyes about how to benefit the novice, he suddenly began to revile him, calling him evil and vicious, saying that he had grown old in evil, but had not done anything good. The monk called him a lazy person who was careless about the salvation of his soul and often ordered some monk to drive the sinner out of the refectory with a stern look. With all this, the monk took every possible care to save his brother’s soul. Hearing about all this, the ascetic of Christ, Abba Nicholas, fell with great humility at the feet of the saint and began to cry. Yes, and I myself, who is telling this, my heart clench and abundant tears flow from surprise when I imagine the venerable old man, prostrate at the feet of the teacher. You, listener, reflect and marvel at this story. Having thus scolded the student who had sinned, Gregory instructed him and, having forgiven him, released him with great spiritual benefit. What I have just talked about is only a tiny particle, since it is not possible to tell in detail about all the exploits of the monk. But you, beloved, look at another disciple of the divine Gregory, the venerable Mark, who was from Klazomen. Arriving in Thessaloniki, he was tonsured a monk in a monastery called the Monastery of Mr. Isaac. Once on the Holy Mountain, he labored with great zeal and diligence, acquiring mental prayer, sobriety, and was extremely fond of unceasing prayer. Although Mark became a precious repository of all virtues, he so loved humility and obedience that he wanted to zealously serve, as far as possible, not only the abbot, but also all the brethren in Christ. He was very dissatisfied if he could not serve, like a slave, all the monks who came there. Truly, by his deeds, he unhypocritically fulfilled the commandment of Christ: “Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave” (Matthew 20:27). There was no one who did not wonder and praise the divine Mark, and did not feel his spiritual fragrance. Having seen him just once, any person received sanctification from him into his soul and took from him an example of humility. This divine ascetic, having arrived in deep old age, with great joy wanted to perform the same feats as in his youth, without thinking at all about old age, or about powerlessness, or about anything else that could hinder him. He zealously performed his duties in the kitchen and never neglected his duties under any pretext. Therefore, God, who pleases the humble of heart, seeing such his humility, raised him to such glory that, shining from Divine grace, he became the brightest instrument of the Holy Spirit. Having reached a serene and quiet pier, he united his desire with God, conversing with Him alone and inexpressibly rejoicing at His Lordship, bringing spiritual benefit to many from his teachings and holiness. This is how I recognized him, and had the opportunity to experience him for a long time, because I began to live with him, having one thought and one desire in everything, by the grace of the Holy Spirit. From the very beginning, when I first met him, I fell in love with all my soul, having an unusually high regard for his friendship. And although he ordered me not to divulge the virtues that God had given him, since praise of the saints refers to God, I decided it was fair not to at all hush up his exploits, which they talk about and listen to with joy and gratitude, and which incline listeners to imitate the ascetic. Deciding to return to the honorable Lavra, our divine father Gregory so united us, one with the other, with his teachings and instructions that it seemed that we had one soul in two bodies. Commanding us to remain inseparable to the end, moved by the grace of the Holy Spirit, he told us about many good things, including the fact that if we remain in unity, we will be worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. We, having made the usual bow and accepted the blessing of prayer, remained together and were inseparable, thinking and doing everything the same. We didn’t know what “mine” and “yours” were, but we lived together for twenty-eight years. If someone called Callistus, then Mark was with him. If someone called Mark, then Callistus also came. All the fathers who lived with us in the monastery saw in us a commendable example because of the good agreement that existed between us, by the grace of Christ. And if sometimes, due to the devil’s envy, some brothers had disagreements and disputes, they often remembered our godly example. Then, I don’t know how, Mark suffered a physical illness. For this reason, we came to the sacred Lavra for healing. Having recognized his great virtue, the local fathers did not want to let him go, because for them it would be unbearable. I, moved by God, came to the honest Iveron Monastery, and although it seemed to some that we were separated from each other physically, being in different places, but in soul, by the grace of God, which unites and holds the good, we continued to be together. Wherever we were, we were always connected to each other, and each of us preserved the memory of the other with great love. Blessed Mark was glorified by God, receiving greater glory every day with the gifts and enlightenment that he received from Him. And now let’s talk about another disciple of the saint, the praiseworthy Jacob. With the help of the teachings and instructions of the divine Gregory, he ascended to such a height of virtues that he was honored to accept the episcopal dignity, becoming the Bishop of Servius. A little later, Aaron came to the Holy Mountain and was received by the Monk Gregory, who was very sorry for him because he was blind. The saint told him that, by His extreme goodness, God became Man in order to call upon our forefather Adam, who fell through disobedience, to free him from the tyranny of the devil, to bring him to the first initial state of nobility and to raise him from mortal aphids. Physical blindness not only cleanses the eyes of the soul, but also gives eternal light to those who endure it with thanksgiving and undoubtedly hope in God. When we, with the help of God and His grace, cleanse our hearts with fervent prayer and unceasing supplication, then our mind and thoughts, which are like two eyes of the soul, are enlightened. When our spiritual eyes are enlightened and opened, then a person who has become spiritual in God sees naturally, just as Adam saw before the crime. Having heard such instructions and knowing them with his mind, Aaron began to ask God with heartfelt contrition: “Lord my God, who raised me bowed to the earth, who healed the paralytic with a single word, who opened the eyes of the blind, look upon me with Your indescribable compassion and do not despise my unfortunate soul, bowed down by the mire of sin and lying on the earth with despair. As a Lover of Mankind, open the eyes of my heart, so that Your fear may dwell in it, so that I may understand Your commandments and do Your will.” Praying like this to God from the depths of his soul, Aaron was heard and the eyes of his soul were opened, so that not only did he no longer need a guide, but, sitting in his cell, he sometimes predicted what was going to happen, for example: “Let’s go out into the street, because (such and such) an elder or (such and such) brother is coming to us.” Surprisingly, exactly as he predicted happened. When the day of remembrance of some great saint or the Lord's holiday was supposed to come, he spoke about it for a long time, having not been taught by anyone and having not received such information from anyone. When asked how he knew about this, Aaron replied that before the holiday, great sanctification and glory descended into his soul from God, and all his knowledge came from God. So, one day, when they were walking with Jacob to a monk and were two miles from his cell, enlightened by God, Aaron said to Jacob: “The monk to whom we are going holds the Holy Four Gospels in his hands and is reading this verse from it.” Arriving at the cell and questioning the monk, they discovered that he had actually read the verse that Aaron had spoken about. We should also tell about the saint’s other disciples: Moses, Longinus, Cornelius, Isaiah and Clement. They began to live according to God with great zeal and labored a lot in sweat and labor in order to acquire all the virtues. Constantly practicing the saving practice of mental prayer and acquiring many disciples, they died peacefully, betraying their souls into the hands of God. Since I remembered the wonderful Clement, it would be fair to talk a little about what God gave him. This Clement was a sheep shepherd, originally from Bulgaria. One night, when he was guarding the sheep, he saw a strange strong light that illuminated the entire flock. Very happy, he began to wonder where such light could have come from: perhaps the sun suddenly dawned and rose while he dozed a little, leaning on his staff. While he was thinking this way, the light began to recede little by little and ascended to Heaven. And again it became night and darkness. Very surprised by this, Clement came to the Holy Mountain and, finding in the skete Morfin, a simple monk, but pious and virtuous, he became a novice with him, but learned from him only the prayer: “Lord, have mercy.” After some time, that light began to appear again little by little and filled Clement’s soul with Divine grace. Clement was a very simple and artless man and listened only to God. Since the elder ordered him to confess all his thoughts, he told about the vision that had happened to him, asking him to reveal what it meant. Unable to do this, the elder, together with Clement, went to the divine Gregory, to whom they told everything, fervently asking to accept them and enroll them in his brotherhood. Imitating Christ and desiring salvation for everyone, the monk received them with cheerfulness and, separating them from everyone else, taught them everything that was necessary for the salvation of the soul, commanding them to have patience, humility, constant hope in God, from Whom is every good for people, never to neglect the rule given to him and to constantly think about death. Having accepted with great humility what was commanded by the divine father, Clement promised to tirelessly fulfill everything. He began to strive in doing according to God with such zeal and diligence that his mind was soon enlightened by the light of Divine grace, and he ascended not only into the contemplation of things, but, ascending from contemplation to contemplation, he reached the state of the supernatural. If a soul, simple in nature, truly begins to work for God and zealously devotes itself to Him, it becomes godlike, receives rest and enters a supernatural state. Clement said that when the divine Gregory sent him to the Holy Lavra, every time the fathers who labored there reverently began to chant “Most Honorable Cherubim...”, a bright cloud descended from Heaven and miraculously covered the Lavra until the chanting ended, after which the cloud rose again into Heaven. Clement received great spiritual benefit from the teachings of the saint, and not only he, but also all those who heard his divine words and accepted them with love and reverence. Almost all the monks came to him, being completely unable to remain without his teachings, for the monk was honored to receive from God great spiritual wisdom and grace, which brought benefit to the listeners, as those who experienced it themselves told me about. That God-bearing father offered his disciples spiritual and God-loving conversations, which were accompanied by Divine grace. When he began to talk about the purification of the soul and that a person becomes a god by grace, then a wondrous and excessive Divine love came into our souls. Just as when the great Peter taught in the house of Cornelius the centurion, and the Holy Spirit descended on them, so it happened with those whom the divine Gregory taught, according to the testimony of his disciples themselves. The Ever-Blessed One made many efforts to persuade all the hermit and cenobitic fathers to engage in mental prayer and preserving the mind. However, the devil, a hater of good, did not calm down, but raised up the most educated monks against the monk, who, like ordinary people, were subjected to passion. They envied the divine Gregory and made it their goal to expel him from the Holy Mountain. Out of ignorance, others agreed with them, who, confusing stubbornness with pride and exaltation, said to the monk: “Don’t teach us this path about which we know nothing,” meaning mental prayer and guarding the mind. Seeing that envy was flaring up instead of peace, and good was giving way to anger, the monk, with one of his disciples and a certain ascetic named Isaiah, who was the first of all to build himself a cell in the skete of Magul, left from there to Protat. Let's say a few words about Isaiah. This blessed one suffered a lot from the Latin-wise Tsar Michael Palaeologus, because he did not want to communicate with the then Patriarch John Vekkos because of his innovations in Orthodox dogma. Driven by zeal for God, Isaiah struggled a lot for Orthodoxy, taught tirelessly, and applied all his diligence and zeal to unite everyone even more closely with the Orthodox Church of Christ. Together with this wondrous disciple, the monk came to Protat, but the then prot, although he received them with joy, began, supposedly in a friendly way, to be sarcastic to the divine Gregory. He did this not because he taught about sobriety and mental prayer, for how can one resist the truth and the monk, who was a spirit-bearing man and clearly preached about God for the common benefit, but because he taught without his permission. Having learned about the extraordinary virtue of this holy man and the height of his Divine teaching, he abandoned all his ridicule and, having reconciled with him, acquired great benefit for himself. Talking with Gregory and Isaiah, the priest said: “Today I am talking, as it were, with the supreme apostles Peter and Paul.” Seeing with what care the Father of the Holy Mountain received them, and also learning about his praises, the other fathers also knew the truth, and from that time on, everyone - both hermits and monasteries - accepted with great spiritual joy the divine Gregory as a common teacher. However, because of the many people who came to him, it was not easy for the monk to find peace. Therefore, loving silence, he changed his location many times. Sometimes he went to the honest monastery of St. Simon and remained silent in its surroundings, for the road there was difficult to pass, and sometimes he remained silent in a deep wooded gorge called Dzhegrey. And in these deserted places he built cells, away from the road, and in them he often hid from those who came to him, because he was very fond of hermitage and did not want to interrupt his spiritual contemplation even for one hour. But what happened next? One day, the barbarian tribe of the Hagarians suddenly attacked the Holy Mountain and, seizing all the monks who labored there, turned them into slavery. Reflecting, on the one hand, on the great evil that befell him when he was enslaved by these barbarians, which I already spoke about at the beginning, and on the other, that the noise made scattered his mind, and the barbarians disturbed his silence, the monk decided to go again to Sinai to remain silent there on the top of the mountain. Together with several disciples, we went to Thessaloniki, and then, two months later, secretly from everyone, only me and another monk, we boarded a ship and sailed to Chios. There we met a monk who was heading to Jerusalem. I don’t know what he said to the monk, but it prevented us from going to Sinai. We went to Mytilene, from where, after spending a short time on Mount Lebanon and unable to find silence, we came to Constantinople. Due to the harsh winter, we spent six months there, hiding like strangers. King Andronikos Palaiologos, a zealot and champion of Orthodoxy, having learned that Gregory was in Constantinople, graciously invited him to come to him. The king had long wanted to see the ascetic, for he knew about the great glory of the monk. Andronicus even promised to give him rich gifts, but the saint, avoiding human glory, did not agree to come to the king. Having left Constantinople, we went by sea to Sozopol, where we did not stay long, for a certain monk Amiralis, who lived in the deep Parorian desert, learned about us and invited St. Gregory to come to him. Having visited Amiralis, the monk thought that the place here was quiet and would contribute to the fulfillment of his godly goal, and decided to settle there. The monk and his disciples built small cells with their own hands, located at a distance of one mile both from the place where Amiralis, who also had his own disciples, labored, and from each other. Among them was one monk named Luke, who at the very beginning was a disciple of the divine Gregory on the Holy Mountain. Now he was attacked by a passion of envy, and he could not restrain himself at all, due to the anger hidden in him. One day, having greatly offended Saint Gregory, he rushed at him with great shamelessness with a knife. If Amiralis's other students had not interfered, the unfortunate man would have committed murder. The Monk Gregory, as a true disciple of the meek and peace-loving Christ, in this case also became a role model and not only was not imbued with hatred, but was not in the least embarrassed and did not plot any evil against Luke. He showed him great love and even thanked him. For the sake of Luke’s spiritual benefit, the monk wrote one hundred and fifty active and contemplative chapters on sobriety.. After some time, Amiralis himself, under the influence of an incipiently evil enemy, became jealous of the saint and, flaring up with anger, shouted at him unruly and frightened him that if he did not leave here as soon as possible, he would bribe many robbers who would come and kill everyone, which he then did. This was the reward given to the divine Gregory by pretending to be a monk, but the madman worked in vain, for God, through the prayers of the saint, kept us all unharmed. Having left there together with all the monks who had gathered for his sake, the divine father Gregory came to a mountain called Katakekrimeni. A few days later, that envious Amiralis sent robbers, who, attacking us like lions, grabbed everyone, and tied the monk (oh woe!) with a handkerchief and began to look for money from him, who from a young age did not want to have a single obol. Having found nothing, they let us go. Since envy had completely taken possession of Amiralis’s soul, and this passion does not go away easily, we left there and came again to Sozopol, from where we returned to Constantinople in December. Having stayed there until spring, we came with the monk to the Holy Mountain. The Lavra monks received him with great joy, considering his arrival a spiritual triumph. Near the Holy Lavra, in different places, the saint built several cells. He asked the Lavra for permission to occupy some kathismas suitable for silence, and, while asceticizing there, privately talked with the One God. By God's permission, the barbarian tribe again broke into the Holy Mountain. It became impossible to remain silent outside the monastery and the divine father entered the Lavra, but conversations with the monastery distracted him from silence. Greatly saddened by this and wanting solitude, ascension and contemplation, having absolutely no peace, he, without informing anyone, took a student and sailed by ship to Adrianople. Then he came by land to Paroria, where, having gathered many monks, he settled on Mount Katakekrimenskaya. Robbers also lived there. At the same time, any prudent person will immediately think that this was from the evil one, who was jealous of the good and was afraid that the monk would not make this desert an abode of monks for the unceasing chanting of God, which, as we see today, by the grace of Christ, happened. He not only founded the Great Lavra, but also contributed to the settlement of the desert by monks. Moreover, by the favor of the Holy God, glorifying the divine man, because of the multitude of monks assembled, three other Laurels were built in the cave of Mesomil and in a place called Pezuwa. The man of God, trusting in God, was not at all afraid of the temptation from the robbers, but planned good things. Through the monks who became his disciples, he informed the Bulgarian Tsar Alexander that he had left the Holy Mountain due to the frequent raids of the barbarian tribe of the Agarians and, having come to this desert for the sake of silence, he again found temptation in the form of robbers. Knowing that the king was God-loving, pious, merciful and helped those in need in everything, the monk asked him, with the help of the wisdom and strength given to him by God, to prevent the attacks of robbers. And that wondrous king, greatly respecting virtue and virtuous men, joyfully accepted the words of the monk, and immediately sent people who built a strong high tower, a church, cells and stalls for animals. The king also took care of everything else that was necessary for the monks, for this is confirmed by all those who go there for spiritual benefit and to worship. Alexander sent a lot of money and food for the monks who were there, donated villages, a lake with a fish tank, bulls, countless sheep and many mules to the monastery. Such were the amazing and generous gifts of the Bulgarian Tsar. The desired task for the divine Gregory was always to go around the universe in an apostolic manner and with his teaching to attract all Christians to ascend to God through active virtue and raising them to the height of contemplation by frequent repetition of mental prayer. One can say about the great Gregory in the words of Scripture: “Their sound goes throughout the whole earth, and their words to the ends of the universe” (Ps. 19:5), because with all his heart he wanted to enlighten everyone with the light of the Holy Spirit and left almost no place, not only among the Romans and Bulgarians, but even among the Serbs, and among others, wherever the good teaching about silence and mental prayer spread through him and his disciples. And just as on the Holy Mountain he led the fathers to strict and pure silence and mental prayer, so wherever he himself or his disciple went, they passed on this godly work of mental prayer to all Christians. Even from Paroria, the deep desert where the monk came, he made a spiritual workshop, changing those who came to him for the better. This is what happened, for example, to those wild robbers and murderers whose evil disposition he changed to meek by his mere appearance, making them shepherds of sheep. Those who were previously cruel and bloodthirsty completely changed through the prayers of the monk, and, falling at his feet, rolled on the ground in ardent contrition and repentance. Whatever they said or did, putting their past life on display, which testified to their spiritual correction. Most of them, having enlightened their minds with the help of the teachings of the divine father, truly worked for God and acquired salvation for their souls. These are just a few of the many exploits of St. Gregory. Such was his life and the exploits of his blessed soul according to God, in which he remained until his last breath. Having been a little ill, he gave up his blessed soul into the hands of God and ascended to Heaven to perfectly enjoy the Desired Christ, to Whom be glory, and honor, and worship with the Father and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen. (Written by Callistos, Most Holy Patriarch of Constantinople) The life, glorious deeds and miracles of our venerable and God-bearing father Maximus Kavsokalivit, who labored on Holy Mount Athos in the 14th century This venerable father Maximus came from Lampsacus, from noble, pious and virtuous parents. Being childless, they tearfully asked God to give them a child. God heard their prayer and gave them this blessed Maxim, whom they called Manuel in Holy Baptism. Having accepted him as a gift from God, as in reality it was, his parents raised him with great love and care, teaching him to read and write. When the child grew older, they brought him to the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos and dedicated him to God. While staying in the church of the Mother of God, Manuel sang hymns with love for God and always prayed with strong tenderness to the Mother of God for his salvation. As he grew older and advanced in grace, he was truly like Samuel. Everyone praised and loved him because he did not think like a child, but from the very beginning had the mind of an old man and often visited the reverend fathers, who were silent nearby, to listen to their soul-helping instructions. Communicating with them and serving them when there was such an opportunity (because he was still subordinate to his parents), Manuel was guided by them to live a godly life. His heart was kindled with divine love, which forced him to withdraw from the world into silence and put on the holy monastic schema. Therefore, the monk often took off his worldly clothes and put on the clothes of the poor, freezing and shivering from the cold. He secretly distributed bread to the hungry with generosity and, in order to hide his virtue, pretended to be crazy in front of his parents and others. However, his virtue did not escape them. Forgetting that they dedicated him to God, his parents began to prepare him for the wedding, in order to tie him with worldly ties and, while they were alive, to have their beloved son with them. But good Manuel, maintaining thoughts about God in his mind, at the age of seventeen left his parents, homeland and the world, and went to a mountain called Ganskaya. He put on monastic clothes, received the name Maxim, and went into obedience to a skillful and active elder named Mark in order to learn from him the monastic life. Since he himself was accustomed to monastic life, he turned out to be a successful and worthy monk in everything: fasting, vigil, prayer, lying on the bare ground, contempt for all vain things and his very body. Everyone loved him, and his own elder even reviled him for his excessive physical feat. But a little time passed and his elder, who had shone with his virtue throughout Macedonia, departed to the eternal abodes. The Divine Maximus then left there, walked through Macedonia and the nearby mountains in search of the same virtuous old man. God granted his wish. Arriving at the Papikian Mountain, he found holy men, like the ancients, who lived on the mountain, in caves, in desert places and had nothing except the old clothes that they were wearing. Being with them for a long time, he acquired all the superhuman virtues, just as wax takes the form of a seal. Then the monk came to Constantinople, visited its beautiful churches and venerated the saints who dwell in them as a valuable treasure, and then came to the church of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos, called the Guide. Having venerated the shrines of the church, the monk began to reflect on the glory that the Mother of God has in Heaven. In a frenzy, he stayed in the church overnight. And he had neither shoes nor headdress, but only old clothes. And because he was in a frenzy, he seemed crazy to everyone. Then he himself began to pretend to be insane, like that great Andrei, the holy fool for Christ’s sake. Therefore, everyone was surprised and considered him a fool for Christ’s sake, and not truly crazy. Having learned about Maxim, the great king Andronikos Palaiologos invited the monk to his palace for a conversation. The Divine Maxim answered the king with words from the works of Gregory the Theologian, as was his custom, and from the Holy Scriptures, so that all the rhetoricians wondered how he could know about the teachings of Gregory. Maximus sometimes pronounced words incorrectly, contrary to grammatical art, and the great logothete Kaniklios, once addressing those present, said: “the voice, the voice of Jacob; and the hands, the hands of Esau” (Gen. 27:22). Hearing these words, the monk immediately left, calling them foolish and foolish, and no longer went to the palace. He often came to the then patriarch, Saint Athanasius, and joyfully listened to his sweetest words, calling him the new Chrysostom. Knowing about his virtue, the patriarch tried to leave the saint in a cenobitic monastery in Constantinople, but he did not want to leave the Blachernae Church of the Mother of God, in the courtyard of which he spent all his nights, laboring in hunger, thirst, vigils, standing, prayer, tears and constant sighs. During the day he pretended to be mad, being truly wise, so that the wind of man-pleasing would not tear off the fruit of his virtue. Having spent enough time there, he came to Thessaloniki to venerate the great Demetrius the Myrrh-Streaming. Having fulfilled his desire, he went to Holy Mount Athos. Having visited all the monasteries and venerated their shrines, he finally came to the Lavra of St. Athanasius. Reflecting on the exploits of Saints Athanasius and Peter of Athos, marveling at the feat of the silence of Peter and the communal life of Athanasius, thinking a lot about the zeal and diligence of both in keeping the commandments of God, Maxim desired to stay on the Holy Mountain and imitate the lives of both of them. However, before the godly wise man began his feat, he asked the holy fathers who labored there for advice. He was advised to begin by submitting to the elder and, as he should, practice the feats of blessed patience. After he has laid a good foundation on the stone of Christ in the form of divine patience, which is the beginning and root of all virtues, he will be able to struggle alone in silence. Having listened to all the advice, the monk became a novice under the abbot and settled with the other brothers. First he was tested in the simplest obediences, as is customary, then he was appointed to sing in church to the glory of God, for in his youth he had been taught music. He sang intelligently, understanding the meaning of the words, at the same time he raised his mind to the Glorified God and shed copious tears of emotion. He experienced the same thing when reading verses of Holy Scripture. Praying in ecstasy, he marveled at the boundless love of God, who through the Holy Spirit gave us, while still in the body, the grace of understanding the Holy Scriptures. The saint’s heart shone with divine fire, and his insides burned from the Divine grace that dwelt in him, and although he was with everyone, it was as if he was alone in the desert, and nothing prevented him from performing the mental prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” He uttered it constantly, for it arose with his every thought, which is very rare and difficult to find among ascetics. But this blessed Maxim, for his virtue and reverence for the Most Holy Theotokos, was awarded the gift of prayer from childhood. Being in obedience to the monastic authorities and zealously fulfilling everything commanded to him, he spent his life in the same way as before, oppressing the body in the same way as in the Blachernae church. In the Lavra he had neither a cell nor any corner where he could rest physically, and at meals he took food with abstinence, so as not to die of hunger. Instead of a home, he had stasidi (special wooden chairs) in the vestibule of the church, where he always, according to his custom, labored in all-night standing and vigil. But just as Mount Sinai called to Moses, Mount Carmel to Elijah, and the desert to John the Baptist, so the flower of the mountains, Athos, called to St. Maximus, so that the righteous would blossom here and bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit. One day, on the feast of All Saints, the Mother of God appeared to him, with the Lord in her arms, and said: “Follow Me, faithful Maxim, and ascend to the top of Mount Athos to receive the grace of the Holy Spirit, as you yourself desire.” This vision was repeated three times, after which he left the Great Lavra and seven days later climbed to the top of the Mountain on Saturday, the eve of Pentecost. There he spent the night in vigil along with other monks, who left after the Divine Liturgy. Divine Maxim remained alone and for three days he incessantly prayed mental prayer to God and the Mother of God. Who can tell about the temptations that his enemy subjected him to in order to drive the saint out of there? It seemed to him that thunder was roaring, lightning was flashing, that the Great Mount Athos itself was shaking, that stones were raining down on him. All this happened that night as if ghostly, by demonic delusion, in order to frighten the saint. During the day, terrible voices were heard, a strong noise, as if from a multitude of people nearby, scary-looking people appeared, who climbed to the top from all sides of the Mountain. Rushing at the monk with spears and slings, they wanted to throw him off the top, because the damned did not want him to live there. Divine Maxim, having within himself the grace of the Holy Spirit, was not at all afraid and did not attach any significance to these phenomena, but indulged in mental prayer and glorified God and the Mother of God, his Receiver and Patroness. And then the Mother of God appeared to him in great glory, surrounded by many young archons, in the form of a queen, who again held in her arms the Son, the Creator of all creation. The saint recognized Her by the unbearable Divine light emanating from the Lady, which illuminated everything around. The monk realized that this was not demonic seduction, but a Divine vision and a genuine appearance of the Mother of God. Maxim joyfully said: “Rejoice, O Joyful One, the Lord is with You.” Then he fell and bowed to the Lord together with the Lady Theotokos, received a blessing from the Lord and heard the following words from the Mother of God: “Receive grace on demons, sacred conqueror, and settle at the foot of Mount Athos. This is the will of My Son, that you rise to the heights of virtue and become a teacher and guide for many whom you will save.” For bodily rest, he was given heavenly bread, for he had already been fasting for many days. As soon as the ascetic put the bread in his mouth, he was surrounded by Divine light sent from above, and he heard the Angel’s song, after which the Mother of God ascended to Heaven. The divine light and fragrance still continued to remain at the top, and the saint, being in a frenzy, did not want to go down to the foot, so as not to lose them. Three days later, Maximus came down from the Mountain, according to the command of the Mother of God, and came to Her church, called Panagia. Having stayed there for several days, he again ascended to the top of the Mountain and began to kiss the place where the Mother of God stood in glory. He asked with tears to repeat the vision, but he saw only the light and insatiably smelled the fragrance, completely filled with joy and indescribable joy. The monk climbed to the top three more times, but did not see the Mother of God again. Later he went to the church of the Prophet Elijah and, finding an old hermit there, told him about his vision on the top of the Mountain. However, the elder thought that the divine Maxim had fallen into delusion, and this vision was demonic. Therefore, he called the one who was a lamp and teacher of the lost deceived. From then on, everyone began to call Maxim seduced and, turning away, drove him away. But this, in fact, undeceived lamp with great joy accepted the name “deceived,” and not a saint, and always pretended to be seduced, and if he spoke, he pretended to be insane, in order to thereby destroy man-pleasing and exaltation, and bring the fruit of humility, which preserves the grace of the Holy Spirit in a person. Therefore, the monk did not remain in one place, like others, but moved from place to place. And wherever he came, everywhere he built a small kaliva from branches so that his ascetic body could be placed inside it, and after a while he burned the kaliva and went to another place, where he built another. Such was his superhuman non-covetousness, for he never had a hoe, a rake, a bag, a bench, a table, a pot, flour, salt, wine, bread, practically nothing of what a person needs for life. He lived almost like an insubstantial life in deserts and inaccessible places, building small pots, which he burned after a while. That is why the monk was called a “wanderer” and a kavsokalivite (one who burns kaliva), for people did not know that he was covered by Divine grace, given coolness by hope, and delighted by constant prayer. Who can describe the hunger and thirst that the monk endured, how he could endure nakedness, cold, winter cold and summer heat, having neither a roof over his head, nor second clothes, nor shoes? Very rarely did he yield to natural needs and come to some brother to eat a little bread and salt and drink a little wine. It can be argued that this is exactly what Jesus Christ spoke about in the Gospel: “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns; and your Father in heaven feeds them” (Matthew 6:26), for this saint was like a bird of heaven, or, better said, lived in that desert as an incorporeal one. Truly the ever-memorable Maxim, according to the words of the Apostle Paul, crucified “the flesh with its passions and lusts” (Gal. 5:24). Who will not marvel at this angelic life, who will not be amazed to hear about his supernatural deeds: his great patience, all-night standing, constant tears, unceasing prayer, repentance, beating his head on a stone, silence, meekness, humility? He became the abode of the Holy Spirit, another Peter of Athos, a new Athanasius the Great, whose life he tried with all his might to imitate. We can say that he took as an example the leaders of the monastics: Paul of Thebes and Anthony the Great, reaching the height of their virtues. Therefore, his mind, like those of those, was delighted with contemplation, and the monk saw the revelation of mysteries. When did others find out about all this? And then, when he met and began to communicate with other holy elders and great ascetics, who had previously admired the divine Maxim for his great exploits, but thought that he was deceived, for they had heard about him that way. Having communicated with him personally, they came to know the Divine grace that dwelt in him, and stopped calling him “deluded,” but “honest Maxim” and “blessed lamp.” At the same time, the Monk Gregory of Sinai came to the Holy Mountain and settled in the monastery of Magula. All the Holy Mountain residents loved him, and especially the hesychasts, for he was a wonderful teacher of silence and mental prayer and knew well the machinations of demons, which happens very rarely. All hesychasts were taught the secrets of mental prayer, as well as ways to recognize true grace and enemy delusion. Some of the fathers also mentioned the Monk Maxim, talking about his supernatural life and feigned madness. Divine Gregory was surprised and wished to see Maxim and talk with him. He sent his disciples to Saint Maximus and invited them to come to him. But the messengers did not find him in the kaliva, and after searching for two days in the surrounding area, they did not find him either. It was winter time, and Maxim lived in caves, not in the forest. After spending a lot of time searching and exhausted from the cold, the messengers took refuge in the cell of Saint Mamant. And suddenly, completely unexpectedly, the divine Maxim, whom they had been looking for for so long, came to them, greeted everyone by name, and told them about the desire of the Monk Gregory to leave the Holy Mountain and go to Paroria. The messengers conveyed to Maxim the invitation of their elder, the monk immediately set off with them on the road, singing along the way: “I lift up my eyes to the mountains, from where my help will come” (Ps. 120:1). When they approached Gregory’s cell, the divine Maxim said: “The elder is now resting, because he worked a lot in prayer. You also go and have a little rest, and I’ll go to rest.” Maxim himself went into the forest and began to pray with tears, chanting: “Lord... I will watch over my ways... deliver me from all my iniquities” (Ps. 39: 2, 9). When he completed the psalm, the divine Gregory called him, and he immediately entered his cell. They kissed each other, after which Gregory asked everyone to go outside, leaving only God-bearing Maxim, wanting to learn from him what he had heard about him from others before. - Forgive me, father, I am a lost man. “Leave this, and tell me, for God’s sake, about your virtue, and enlighten me.” If not, let us at least instruct each other in virtue and receive mutual benefit. For I am not like others who ensnare their neighbors with their words, but I love everyone as myself. Then the divine Maxim told him everything about himself, from his youth: about zeal for God, about flight from the world, about being in obedience, about feigned madness, about ascetic labors, about the terrible vision of the Mother of God, about the light that surrounded him then and sometimes surrounds him now, about demonic temptations. Interrupting him in his speech, Gregory said: - I ask you, tell me, honest father, do you keep mental prayer? “I don’t want to hide from you, father, the miracle of the Mother of God that happened to me.” From my youth I had strong faith in my Lady Theotokos and with tears asked Her to grant me the grace of mental prayer. One day, as usual, having come to Her church, I began to ask Her with extraordinary fervor in my heart. And when I lovingly kissed Her holy icon, I immediately felt in my chest and heart a certain warmth and fire that entered me from the holy icon. This fire burned me and at the same time cooled me, gave me sweetness and evoked strong tenderness in my soul. Since then, Father, my heart says this prayer on its own, and my mind delights in the memory of the vision of my Jesus and the Mother of God, and is always united with this memory of Them. Since then, this prayer has not stopped in my heart for a second. I'm sorry. – Tell me, saint, did you experience a divine change after the prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” or perhaps went into a frenzy, or had any other fruit of the Holy Spirit? “Father, that’s why I went to desert places and always desired silence, so that I could even more enjoy the fruit of prayer, which is excessive love for God and admiration of the mind for the Lord. - I ask you, father, tell me, do you have the gift you are talking about? Smiling again, the divine Maxim answered him: “Give me something to eat and don’t question me about my error.” “Oh, if only I were as lost.” I ask you, tell me, when your mind admires in a vision, what do you see with your smart eyes? Can the mind and heart perform prayer? – No, it cannot, because when the grace of the Holy Spirit comes to a person through prayer, then the prayer stops, because the mind is already completely filled with grace. He can no longer exercise his powers, but remains idle, submitting to the Holy Spirit, who leads him wherever he wants. Either to the immaterial Divine light, or to another ineffable contemplation, and often to a conversation with God. In short, as the Holy Spirit wants, so He comforts His servants. Whatever grace anyone needs, that is what He gives to everyone. What I am talking about happened to the prophets and apostles, who were honored to see many visions, although people laughed at them, considering them deceived and drunk. The prophet Isaiah saw the Lord “on a high and exalted throne,” surrounded by Seraphim (Is. 6:1). The First Martyr Stephen saw “the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56). Likewise, now the servants of Christ are privileged to see various visions, which some do not believe and completely reject their truth, considering them delusion, and the contemplatives themselves deceived. I am very surprised at this and perplexed at how hardened these people are, blind in soul, not believing what God truly promised through the mouth of the prophet Joel: “And it shall come to pass after this that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; Your old men will dream dreams and your young men will see visions” (Joel 2:28). The Lord gave us this grace, will give it now, and will give it until the end of the age, according to His promise to all His faithful servants. When this grace comes to someone, he sees not ordinary things, not sensory objects of this world, but something that he has never seen or even imagined. Then the mind of that person learns from the Holy Spirit high mysteries, according to the words of the Apostle Paul: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9). And so that you understand how our mind sees it, think about what I tell you. When the candle is far from the fire, then it is solid and can be picked up, but when you light it, it melts, burns and becomes all light, and it is impossible for it not to melt and become like water. Likewise, the human mind, when it is without God, comprehends only what is within its power. But when he approaches the fire of the Divine and the Holy Spirit, then everything falls into the power of the Divine fire and becomes light, burns in the fire of the Holy Spirit and melts away from Divine meanings, and cannot in the fire of the Divine think only about his own, and about what he wants. - There is another thing similar to this, but it is a sign of charm. – The signs of charm are one, and signs of grace are different. The evil spirit of delusion, when it approaches a person, confuses his mind and embitters him, hardens and darkens his heart, causes cowardice, fear, pride, makes his whole body tremble, a light appears before his eyes, not shining and pure, but red. The mind goes into a frenzy and becomes like a demon, the lips utter shameful and blasphemous words, and the one who sees this spirit of delusion is filled with anger, completely knowing neither humility, nor true crying, nor tears. Such a person always boasts of his exploits, glorifies himself unrestrainedly and without the fear of God. In the end, he goes crazy and falls into complete destruction, from which may the Lord deliver us through your prayers. The signs of grace are as follows. When the grace of the Holy Spirit comes to a person, it concentrates his mind, he becomes attentive, humbles himself, grace brings him the memory of death, sins, future Judgment, eternal torment and easily brings the soul into tenderness, crying and sorrow. Day and night the eyes of such a person are filled with tears, and the more grace approaches a person, the more meek his soul becomes. Through the Holy Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ and His boundless love for mankind, grace brings consolation to man. Grace is the culprit of lofty true contemplations: about the incomprehensible power of God, about how God with a single word brought everything from non-existence into existence, about the limitless power that holds and controls everything and has care for everything, about the incomprehensible mystery of the Most Holy Trinity and the inscrutable sea of ​​the Divine Being, and more. When a person’s mind is delighted with the Divine light and enlightened by Divine knowledge, then his heart becomes extremely calm and meek and exudes the fruits of the Holy Spirit: joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, compassion, love, humility. The soul enjoys indescribable joy. Having heard this, Saint Gregory was amazed and marveled at everything that Maxim told him, and no longer called him a man, but an earthly angel. He asked him for a long time: “Please stop burning your cell from now on, and stay in one place, as the wise Isaac says, in order to bring greater fruit and benefit many others, as the most experienced in virtue, because you have reached old age, and death often comes at the wrong time. Pass on your talent and the gift that you have received, and the Divine seed of your teaching to the people of God, before your death befalls you, then you will receive a great reward in Heaven for having benefited others. After all, the Lord, Who gave the apostles the grace of the Holy Spirit, did not command them to spend their lives in the mountains, but sent them to people so that they too would touch their grace and from sinners, through their holiness, also become saints. That’s why He said to his apostles: “So let your light shine before men” (Matthew 5:16), and not “before the mountains.” So, let your light shine before people, “so that they may see” your “good deeds and glorify our Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Stop pretending to be a holy fool, because this serves as a temptation for those who know about your exploits. Listen to my advice and do as I, your best friend and brother, tell you, because, as the Holy Scripture says, a brother who receives help from a brother is “more impenetrable than a strong city” (Prov. 18:20).” Other great elders also learned about these advice of the divine Gregory, who also joined the requests and managed to convince the Monk Maxim to settle in one place. And so, the divine Maximus found a cave, which was located at a distance of three miles from the cave of Isaiah, made a partition in it the width and length of one orgy of branches and grass, as was his custom, using absolutely no stones, no wood, no boards, no nails, so that it turned out something like a cell. From now on he stopped burning his cells, and lived in this cave almost until the end of his life in his usual non-acquisitiveness and supernatural feat, like the ethereal. Then, next to the cell, the monk dug a grave for himself and constantly wept near it and sang exapostilaria (troparia) for the exodus of the soul: “The sky is adorned with stars, like God,” which he himself composed. When he labored like this, the demons gathered and waged daily warfare against the saint, trying to drive him out of that place. But the monk drove them away with mental prayer, and they, like smoke, dissipated. Moreover, the saint was covered and protected by the invincible and irresistible power of God, which appeared in the form of fire worthy of such a vision, which burned his enemies. As far as we know, St. Maxim healed many sick people, cast out demons from the possessed, and, sending those healed home, commanded them to always be healthy, to abstain from rancor, injustice, perjury, drunkenness, fornication, and meat, to give alms according to their strength, to cleanse themselves by repentance from all sin, and on major holidays to necessarily partake of the Most Pure Mysteries. One day the monk prompted a certain monk named Mercury to cast out a demon from a possessed person, and he, in the presence of the monk, rebuked the evil spirit in the name of Jesus Christ and miraculously healed the demoniac. Another time, having met on the road a novice of an elder who was cruelly tormented by a demon, the monk ordered him to remain in obedience to his elder, to abstain from cheese, wine, and all filth, and then, in the name of Jesus Christ, he would be healed. Immediately a miracle happened, and according to the word of the monk, the novice found healing. Once, monks from the Lavra came to the monk for a spiritual conversation, and with them was a layman. As soon as the monk saw him, still from afar, he did not let him approach him, saying that he was an unbeliever Akinditat, although none of his companions suspected this. The saint spoke a lot about this man, calling him “dangerous,” “like a demon,” “a participant in every heresy and a servant of the Antichrist.” The Monk Maxim drove out and anathematized such heretics in front of everyone. One day, some monks arrived on the Holy Mountain, but when the monk saw them, he shouted loudly: “First drive Massalian away from you (that was the name of one of them), and then come to me.” Hearing this, the monks were afraid and, driving away that Massalian, came to the saint. A certain monk wanted to sail on a ship from Thessaloniki on some business to Constantinople, but the monk did not let him go, predicting the death of the ship, and indeed, three days later the ship with all the passengers sank. There was a case when a ship moored to the Lavra pier and its passengers brought to the monk a demoniac possessed by the demon of gluttony. Every day this man ate enough food for five husbands and was not satisfied. Throwing themselves at the feet of the monk, they, together with the possessed man, asked the saint to deliver him from the demon. Taking the biscuit, the monk gave it to the sufferer with the words: “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, eat just enough, be satisfied and calm down.” That man got rid of the demon of gluttony and from then on ate no more than the biscuit that the monk gave him. Having renounced the world and what is in the world, he became a monk. Guided by the saint, this brother, with the help of Divine grace, excelled in virtue and became a most skilled monk. Once the monk scolded a monk named Varlaam for his disobedience to his spiritual father, and said that his sins would lead to a bad end for him, and he would die from cold and frost, which happened later, in fulfillment of the prophecy of the Monk Maxim. The Monk Athanasius predicted another monk's death from the Ishmaelites, and this also came true. This blessed one was so rich in the grace of the Holy Spirit that, as if up close, he saw what was happening at a distant distance, and predicted the future as if it were the present. The monk also predicted the coming of the kings, saying: “The kings of the Romans will come to me to listen to the prophecies and find out the future, and not for their own benefit.” A little time passed, and John Cantacuzene and John Palaiologos, who were reigning at that time, came to the saint, and he predicted what would happen to them, and all the troubles that would happen. Then, wanting to teach them, he said many things for the benefit of the soul and befitting of kings. When the kings were about to leave, the saint said to Cantacuzinus: “Behold, the abbot of the monastery,” and to another John: “Hold the uncontrollable and do not be seduced, for your reign will be long, but fragile, and will bring you a lot of unrest.” After this, the monk released them, saying: “Goodbye, go in peace.” A little time passed, and the saint sent Cantacuzenus breadcrumbs, onions and garlic to Constantinople, predicting that he would become a monk and eat such food. All this soon happened. Forced by John Palaiologos, he became a monk against his will, and when he was given a cracker to eat, he remembered the saint’s prophecy and was surprised. John Palaiologos was also amazed, remembering the saint’s prophecy when everything began to turn out according to his prediction. Heading with the clergy to Serbia for the sake of Church unity and peace and passing near the Holy Mountain, Patriarch Callistos came to visit the Monk Maximus in his kaliva. Coming out to meet him, the monk accepted the patriarch's blessing and, after greeting him, jokingly said to those present: “This old man has lost his old woman.” After talking for some time, the monk stood up and walked in front of the patriarch and his companions, chanting: “Blessed are the blameless in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord” (Ps. 119:1), thereby foreshadowing their death and burial. Arriving in Serbia, the patriarch and the clergy soon died, having been poisoned, as many said; they were buried in Serbia, in a church. Thus the prophecies of the saint about the kings and the patriarch were fulfilled. A certain ascetic Methodius, having once come to the monk, saw the Divine light shining in his kaliva. Methodius did not dare to approach Maxim until the monk himself called him. They also told extraordinary things about the monk, for example, that he ate heavenly bread. So, one winter, Lavra hospital worker Grigory and his other brother came to visit him. The place where the monk lived was covered with snow from heavy snowfalls, and human traces were nowhere to be seen. Having difficulty finding the way, they brought bread, wine and other foodstuffs that serve to console nature to the saint’s cell. However, having entered the ascetic’s kaliva, the brothers saw there hot and clean bread, from which such a wonderful and strong fragrance emanated that it filled the entire dwelling. Having carefully looked around and not finding any signs of fire in the kaliva, they fell at the feet of the saint and asked him to give them at least a particle of that bread. Taking pity on them, Maxim cut off half of it and handed it to them with the words: “Take it, eat it, but don’t tell anyone about it while I’m alive.” The monk also gave them water to drink, which was pleasant to the taste. These brothers told us about all this, bringing God as a witness, after the death of the saint. And other monks said that the monk turned salty sea water into fresh water and drank it himself, and then gave it to them to drink. One day, during the harvest, two monks came to the monk. After talking with them, Maxim gave them a biscuit and said: “Hurry up and go to the monastery of Dorotheus, so that you are not in danger from bad weather on the way.” I must say that the weather at that time was clear and there were no clouds at all. However, before they reached the monastery of Dorotheus, a strong wind blew, lightning flashed, thunder sounded, and such heavy rain and hail fell that they destroyed the entire harvest. All the unharvested grapes perished, because the harvest was “harvested” by the hail. Seeing this, those two monks exclaimed: “Lord, have mercy!” and told everyone about the saint’s prophecy. One day a learned scribe from Constantinople came to him. As soon as the monk saw him, he learned about his evil thoughts and began to admonish him: “Have you seen the exploits and struggles of the saints and the grace given to them by God, that you blaspheme them, saying that the saints labored little, and those who write their lives show them mercy and add many lies that they did not commit; and do you consider the grace of miracles given to them to be false? Stop from these satanic thoughts and do not anger God, lest He burn you with fire, for the saints, having devoted themselves completely to God, pleased Him through their thoughts and deeds. Tell me, who can describe the life of the saints as it was, who knows it in detail? That is why they write only about a small of the numerous testimonies of their holiness, and you should know that the grace of the Holy Spirit given to the saints is not only the one that people know about, but is much richer and incomprehensible. It surpasses every mind and thought. If you want to be truly wise, leave behind Hellenic foolishness and calm down, as David says, in order to know God. With the help of this knowledge and spiritual silence, you will become your own to God as much as possible, and then you will know the grace of the Holy Spirit, the incomprehensible miracles of God, and you will blame yourself, having learned in what darkness you were previously. Without light it is impossible to know darkness. Come out into the light of silence and prayer, and the first darkness will flee from you, you will see the grace and power of the saints, which you yourself desire.” Hearing this, the scribe was frightened, for the monk had revealed his secret thoughts, and, having received great benefit from these words, he abandoned his blasphemous thoughts, and from now on began to correct others with the wise teaching of the saint. “And I myself,” says the writer of this life, “God is my witness, I will not hide what I saw with the monk, for I was familiar with him and had communication. One day I left the Vatopedi monastery with a monk and went to the monk. Not finding it in the kaliva, I became sad and began to look around. Having walked around the kaliva from behind and risen a little higher, I looked at Ilya’s road. And suddenly I saw him in the Agelariu hollow, at a distance of about two miles. The path to this place was difficult and rocky; there was no level road at all. But - lo and behold! - I suddenly saw how the saint rose high above the ground and, like a light-winged eagle, flew over the forest and rocks, approaching me. Seeing him flying in this way, I was frightened and exclaimed: “Great art thou, Lord!” Out of fear, I leaned back a little and in the blink of an eye the saint, singing, sank where I had just stood. But because of a miracle, I don’t remember what he sang. Falling at his feet, I hugged him. He asked me how long I spent in this place, and then, taking me by the hand, he led me into the kaliva. After the monk taught and instructed me for a long time, he finally said: “See, don’t tell anyone about what you saw as long as I live. Know that you will become abbot, and then Metropolitan of Akhrid, and you will suffer a lot. However, you must endure, imitating Christ hanged on the tree, for He will be your Helper in the temptations that will happen as evidence of your feat.” All this, according to the saint’s prophecy, was fulfilled on me. But I cannot keep silent about something else that I myself saw. A certain monk from the Lavra named Jacob came to ask the saint to write him a letter with which he could collect alms to ransom his brother from slavery. After waiting a little, the monk answered him sternly: “Go, take out the sixty gold pieces that you hid in the wall of the tower, and give them to ransom your brother. Don’t be selfish and deceitful, lest you too fall into slavery.” Hearing this, Jacob told the truth and asked the monk for forgiveness for his insolence. Another time, a certain layman came to the monk and said to him with tears: “Help me, Saint of God, for I was excommunicated from Communion by a certain priest who died, now I, unhappy, do not know what to do.” Taking pity on him, the saint answered: “Go to Metropolitan Verria, who was the bishop of the deceased priest, and he will give you permission according to the law.” And then the monk said to one monk who was with him: “Go you too to Father John, so that he will give you permission while he is alive, for he excommunicated you from Communion from the time you cursed him and hit him.” Surprised that the monk told him about a sin that he himself did not know about, the monk and the layman went to Verria and received forgiveness. One day, the Metropolitan of Traianopolis and his deacon decided to test the monk to see if he was truly perspicacious. On the way, the bishop put on the deacon's cassock and gave the bishop's robe to the deacon. The bishop, disguised as a deacon, was the first to approach the saint and said: “Bless, father,” after which he remained standing in front of the pot, waiting for an invitation to come in. The saint answered: “You are the bishop, bless me, and do not deceive me, because I was at the top of the ravine when you changed clothes.” With these words, the saint bowed, and the bishop, surprised, blessed him and hugged him. The saint told about the venerable and God-bearing Niphon of Athos that there was a small cave above his kaliva. One day Niphon entered this cave and fell asleep. Waking up, he saw a woman dressed in beautiful clothes in front of the cave. Realizing that this was the trick of a crafty demon, he crossed himself three times, and she disappeared. The monk said about himself that one Monday a monk, whom he had never seen, came to him and sat down in front of his kaliva. “This monk has dried up from extreme abstinence. On Tuesday morning he came up to me and we talked. Since we both had no bread or anything else edible, he went out and sat above my kaliva, and on Thursday morning he came to me again and we talked. Then he went out again and sat in the same place until Saturday morning. When I left the pot to relieve myself, I never saw him again.” Having lived in this cave for fourteen years, the Monk Maxim came out of it and settled near the sacred Lavra in order to hear its bells. Here he built a small cell and remained in it until the end of his life. Much more can be said about the divine Maxim, about his insight, great miracles, and the godly instructions that he gave to laymen, monks, and people of any rank. However, due to the multitude of these stories, it is impossible to present them all in this book. And what we wrote about is like taking a glass of water from the whole sea. But this is quite enough for Christians to learn that God not only glorified His saints in ancient times, but glorifies now and always those who glorify Him with good deeds. God magnifies them with signs and wonders that testify to the eternal glory they will enjoy in the Kingdom of Heaven. Omitting much, I will tell you about the sacred death of the saint. A certain monk named Nicodemus came to the saint for advice, and Maxim said to him: “Brother Nicodemus, I will soon die.” He revealed to him the day of his dormition and named by name those who would be present at the funeral. It was on the predicted day that the Monk Maxim reposed; he was ninety-five years old. It happened on the thirteenth of January. They buried him in a grave that he himself dug next to the kaliva; only those whom he named were present at the burial, because he did not want his prediction to become known to many people. The monk ordered that his remains not be transferred to another place, and no one should take any part from them, but leave them intact. He did this so as not to be glorified by people. When all the fathers of the Holy Mountain learned about the death of the saint, they were greatly saddened and cried a lot, since they were orphaned and lost their godly teacher of monastic life and their brightest lamp. Always talking about his exploits and divine gifts, every year they reverently perform a service in memory of the saint with honor. Thus, people glorified and glorify the Monk Maxim on earth, and in Heaven, having received his purest and holy soul, the Holy Trinity installed him in the tabernacle of saints and glorified him with the ineffable and incomprehensible light of divinity. He now stands before Christ, Whom he desired from his youth, and rejoices along with the Angels and saints, and unceasingly prays for us. The continuous miracles at his grave showed that the grace of the Holy Spirit inseparably abides with his divine relics. A certain monk Dionysius, nicknamed Kondostefanos, suffered greatly from headaches. He came to the tomb of the saint, and with faith and tears asked God and the saint to give him health. Having dozed off a little, when he woke up, he felt that he was healthy. Having glorified God and the saint, the monk took earth from the grave, which turned out to be like a wondrous myrrh, filling everything around with an indescribable fragrance. “And I myself,” says the author of the life, “who saw the saint soaring in the air, when I became very ill and was approaching death, called on the saint with tears. He appeared to me in a dream, healed me, and I recovered, glorifying and thanking God and the saint for having already been dead, but resurrected.” A certain hieromonk of holy life named Niphon, together with another ascetic, came to the saint’s grave and, having dug up, took part of his holy relics. At the same time, such a fragrance spread that they could not bear it. Having wiped the piece of relics they had taken with a sponge dipped in water, they faithfully anointed themselves with this sponge, after which they again put the relics in place, fulfilling the commandment of the monk, who ordered that his relics be left intact. They again filled the grave with earth, as it had been before, and glorified God, who thus glorifies His saints. In great joy they visited the grave of Saint Maximus every day and smelled the fragrance emanating. All those who labored near the place of his burial did exactly the same, enjoying the fragrance for the glory of Christ our God, to Whom belongs all glory, honor and worship, together with His Beginning Father and His Most Holy and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. (Written by Theophan Peritheoriou, former abbot of Vatopedi Monastery) The life and exploits of our venerable and God-bearing father Niphon of Athos, who shone forth in the 14th century This reverend father of ours was from Argirokastro, from the village of Lukovi. His father was a priest, a very pious man who feared God. When the monk was ten years old, his uncle took him with him to the monastery of St. Nicholas, where he was ecclesiarch. This monastery was built by the ever-memorable Tsar Constantine Monomakh on a place that is still called Mesopotamia. First, his uncle taught him the sacred literacy, and then clothed him in the monastic schema. Since Niphon succeeded both in teaching and in monastic obedience, he was made a reader, and when he came of age and became even more successful spiritually, he was ordained a priest. Being very gifted and diligent, the monk read the Holy Scriptures and the lives of saints, thanks to which he became learned. Love for God stung him to the very heart, and the desire for silence flared up in him so much that it burned his mind and thoughts. Therefore, he left the monastery of St. Nicholas and came to one virtuous ascetic on Mount Geromerion, from whom he learned strict monastic life. Having enjoyed the honey of silence, he could no longer be in the world, but, despising his homeland, relatives, friends and all possessions, he zealously rushes to the Holy Mountain, and there, by the guidance of God, he comes to the region of the Great Lavra in the kathisma (a building near the monastery for one monk) of St. Peter of Athos. Having found there one ascetic of amazing life named Theognostus, he devoted himself to him in complete obedience. Three years later, having learned that Niphon was a priest, and seeing his many and great virtues, the elder no longer wanted Niphon to be his novice, but a brother equal to him. The monk, in turn, objected and said: “A monk cannot remain silent alone if he does not first humble himself by obedience,” and asked to continue to be left as a novice. But because of his extraordinary humility, Theognostus did not agree and the divine Niphon, enriched with the gift of tears, was forced to leave there. He moved to the nearby kathisma of Basil the Great, where he remained in extreme silence for fourteen years, eating all this time only a little dry bread, and only once a week. At this time, a plague epidemic occurred in the Great Lavra, from which many of the brethren died. Since there were few priests left in the monastery, the abbot called the saint, but out of love for silence he refused, telling him: “Forgive me, father, for I am unlearned and ignorant.” Then the abbot asked him to serve at least in kathismas outside the Lavra, and he, in his humility, obeyed, spending three years in this obedience. Since the desire for silence continued to burn in the heart of the monk, he left from there and came to Vulevtiria, where the monastery of St. Anna is now located. Eating only the grass of the earth, he spent many years there in silence, without any shelter over his head, not even kaliva. However, there were some brothers who could not look at such a lofty life of the monk. Moved to envy by the hater of goodness - the devil, they accused the ascetic of delusion before the abbot of the Lavra, allegedly eating grass because he abhors bread. The abbot summoned Niphon to the monastery and asked: “My brother and child, why are you striving for such a harsh and high life, from which exaltation and charm are born, and not following the middle and unpretentious path, which is easier and does not conceal abysses of charm? The ancient fathers ate grass in the deserts because they had no bread, but here there is bread and other food. You must eat all this with abstinence, and then you will drive away demonic exaltation and delusion.” Out of his extreme humility, the monk obeyed the abbot, and, leaving Vulevtiria, he came to the kathisma of the Transfiguration, where he lived for many years in a row, performing the Divine Liturgy there. Having learned about him, many brothers gathered at the kathisma who wanted to become his novices and have the monk as their mentor and teacher of monastic life. But the multitude of people gave the ascetic great anxiety, and he left from there to the Monk Maxim Kavsokalivit, with whom he remained silent for many years. And they felt such love for each other that it seemed that they had one soul in two bodies. Saint Maxim gave his kaliva to Saint Niphon, and he built another one for himself, next to it. Since many came to Saint Maximus because of the miracles and prophecies he performed, after some time Saint Niphon, unable to bear this anxiety, went from there to a cave that was located opposite the kathisma of Saint Christopher, where he remained in silence. Later, a certain monk named Mark came from his homeland and asked to be taken as a novice in order to learn the monastic life. The monk accepted him, but ordered another one to be built next to his kaliva, for his brother. Amazed by the words of the saint, Mark answered: “Father, is it possible for my brother to come here, he is a layman and has a family?” Then, with his characteristic great humility, the saint said: “Brother, I’m out of my mind, so I don’t know what I’m saying, do as you want.” On the feast of St. Athanasius, the monk sent Mark, for some reason, to the Lavra, saying: “When returning from the feast, bring your brother with you, let’s look at him.” Mark, again surprised, answered him with the same words. However, when he arrived at the Lavra, he found his brother sitting at the door. Realizing the saint’s insight, he joyfully hugged his brother, although he felt remorse because he did not believe his elder. Calling his brother with him, Mark led him to the saint and, falling at his feet, asked forgiveness for his unbelief. After some time, Mark suffered severe paralysis; he could neither walk nor move his arm or leg. He asked the saint to take pity on him and heal him, but he, wanting Mark to recognize his sin of unbelief and disobedience, said: “Only holy miracle workers and unmercenaries can heal you, child, but God does not hear me, a sinner and unworthy.” Mark’s brother, out of compassion for him, begged the saint to forgive him. Niphon took oil from the lamp and anointed the sick man’s body, and - lo and behold! – Mark was immediately healed and got up from the bed on which he was lying. Then the saint said to him: “Behold, you have recovered; Sin no more, lest anything worse happen to you” (John 5:14). But Mark again fell into disobedience. He asked the elder’s blessing to go fishing, but not receiving it, he still went down to the shore to supposedly wash his clothes, but in fact began to fish. And while he was doing this, suddenly a huge shark jumped out of the water with its mouth open to swallow him. Frightened Mark called on the elder in prayers and, retreating slightly back, was barely able to get rid of the monster. He immediately ran to the saint, holding his catch in his hands. The saint, looking at him, said: “Do not be unfaithful, disobedient one, for the one who was transformed into a serpent before our ancestors and taught them disobedience, the same one turned into a shark for your disobedience, which he taught you before, wanting to plunge you into a pernicious ditch both spiritually and physically. But Christ, who came into the world so that we might have life, helped you today, expecting, out of His boundless goodness, your repentance. I will never eat the fish of disobedience.” Hearing this, Mark threw the fish far away and, falling at the feet of the saint, asked for forgiveness with hot tears. Out of his extraordinary compassion, the saint forgave him. From then on, Mark always remained in complete obedience to his mentor, until his earthly life ended and he passed into another world with good hopes of a thousand-fold reward for obedience. Mark named his nephew Gabriel, whose father’s name was Dositheos, as the successor of his obedience to serve the saint. This Dositheus once asked the saint to send Gabriel for some need to the Vatopedi monastery, and he sent him, however, setting the exact day of his return. The appointed day came, but Gabriel was not there. Dositheus began to cry, thinking that his son had fallen into slavery, for he had heard that those places were subject to pirate attacks by the Hagarians. The saint, having seen with his spiritual eyes, learned about what had happened and said: “Do not cry, Elder Dosifei, for your son, because he is free.” And indeed, Gabriel, to whom nothing bad happened, arrived before sunset. Knowing that in six months Saint Maximus would sleep his last sleep, the saint said to his companions: “Let’s go to Saint Maximus, let’s enjoy his company, for we will no longer see him in this life.” When they came to him and gave him their last kiss, Saint Maximus said: “Rejoice in Christ, beloved brethren. This is our last greeting, because we will not see each other again.” And this was the true prophecy of the saints. Прошло много лет, и на Святой Горе опять началась эпидемия чумы. This disease also struck Gabriel, who was in danger of death. His father cried inconsolably, and the saint consoled him like this: “Don’t cry, brother, for your son will not die now, because God wants it that way, for he served me. Turning to the east, the saint began to secretly pray for the sick man to the All-Merciful God, and this prayer lasted for quite a long time, after which a miracle happened and the sick man rose healthy, glorifying God. Then, turning to Gabriel, the saint said: “Behold, our brother, with the help of God, has found health, and I will die during Peter’s Fast.” Peter's fast has arrived. On the first Saturday of Lent, the saint stood up, prayed, received communion of the Most Pure Mysteries, and then said to the brethren: “My children, beloved in the Lord. Behold, the time has come for me to go to the Lord, Whom my soul has desired since my youth.” Seeing that everyone was embarrassed, he took pity on them and said: “Children, you should not feel sorry for me, for from now on I will be an intercessor for you to God, begging Him for your salvation. Just keep His commandments.” On Sunday, he ordered the brethren to first serve a meal, and then dig and prepare his grave, so that, as he said, he would return “to the land from which he was taken” (Gen. 3:19). After everything was done, the saint stood up, raised his eyes to Heaven, and prayed for a long time with his hands raised. Then, having blessed and forgiven the brothers, and having received forgiveness from them, he crossed his arms on his chest and surrendered his holy soul into the hands of God. При этом лицо его просияло как солнце, показав тем самым его дерзновение к Богу. This ever-memorable father reposed on the fourteenth of June, at the age of ninety-six, having performed many miracles during his lifetime, some of which we will tell you about. A certain spiritual and virtuous old man named Theodulus once wanted to go to the saint for the sake of spiritual benefit. On the road, near a cliff, he slipped and hit his foot on a large stone. He almost died from severe bleeding and pain. Seeing that the old man was in such a deplorable state, Niphon cried out from the depths of his soul: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, if Your servant Niphon has boldness towards You, then let the bleeding stop and the pain of Theodul stop, so that, through his prayers, I will come to my senses and I will not be devoured by wild animals here.” As soon as he said this prayer, a miracle happened: the blood stopped, the pain stopped, the previously half-dead old man stood up and walked along the road again, praising God. A certain Lavra monk, who treated Saint Niphon with great reverence, sent him and a friend a vessel of oil. The friend, walking along the road, stumbled and fell. Everything he gave broke, except for the vessel with oil, which remained intact, and when the brother gave it to the saint, he with a smile, ahead of him, said: “You see what power the faith of the brother who sent the oil has, it saved you from danger, and the vessel, unlike everything else, did not break.” The brother who brought the oil was surprised at the saint’s foresight and glorified God. Another monk, suffering from headaches for many years, spent a lot of money on doctors, but did not receive any healing. Having come to the saint and falling at his feet, he fervently prayed to heal him, saying: “I know, most holy father, that whatever you ask from God, He will give you, for for the sake of love for Him you have chosen this desert for yourself.” The saint, in his humility, answered: “Father, I am a sinner, but God does not listen to sinners.” The sick man did not stop falling to him in tears and asking for healing. Overcome by his natural kindness and compassion, blessed Niphon read a prayer over the head of the sick man, after which a noise was heard, as if from a strong wind, and - lo and behold! - the patient was healed, thanked the saint and glorified God. Another Kelliot monk relied on himself and his knowledge, and therefore did not reveal his thoughts to the more experienced spiritual father. So he lived, as his thoughts told him. As a result, the unfortunate man fell into delusion and mistook the angel of darkness for the angel of light. Taught by him many obscenities, the monk fell into pride and thought that he was superior to everyone with his virtues. One day he came to Saint Niphon. When asked why he came, he answered: - Look at you, who is famous for virtue. - How did you, so great and wondrous, condescend to come to me, insignificant and wretched? “God has shown me a favor, and the gift that I have is from God. - Brother, the gift of God is humility. The thought from God is to think about yourself that you are the least of all, the thought from God is to achieve great virtues and think that you are the worst of all. And what you think about yourself is a deception from Satan, who taught you everything. After such words from the saint, the monk seemed to come to his senses and said: “Father, if my pride is from the evil one, then drive it away, I ask you, with your prayer and deliver me from arrogance.” Raising his spiritual eyes to heaven, blessed Niphon said: - Lord Jesus Christ, who sought and found the lost sheep and numbered it among the other unlost ones, drove away the mental wolf that sought to destroy it, and showed us the path of salvation. You, Master, deliver this servant of Yours, who through his simplicity and the cunning of the deceiving devil fell into delusion, from the arrogance of demons - may He come to know You, the True God, who for our sake endured the cross and death, and may He glorify Your holy name forever. Amen. So the monk prayed, and immediately a veil fell from his brother’s eyes, and he clearly knew into what evil he, the unfortunate one, had fallen. Since then, having gotten rid of satanic arrogance, he began to lead a godly life with prudence and humility. A certain monk was expelled from the Holy Lavra for some sin, who came to Saint Niphon and complained that he had been expelled unfairly. This brother asked, if possible, to allow him to remain as a novice. However, the saint, foreseeing the future, ordered him to return to the monastery, fall at the feet of the abbot with repentance and humility, so that he would accept him again. “If you do not return,” said the saint, “then you will not be able to bear all the hardships here, and you will lose the good things that you could receive in the monastery. For if you return, then after a while you will become an ecclesiarch, and then an abbot. However, most of all you should have humility.” With a smile, the saint continued: “When, with the help of God, you become hegumen, remember us and give us funds from part of the community.” When the monk returned to the monastery, after some time, indeed, according to the prophecy of the monk, he became an ecclesiarch, and then an abbot, and sent the saint everything necessary for life. Three monks wanted to visit the monk, but since one of them was beardless, they left him on the road, far from the monk’s kathisma. When these two monks came to the saint, he asked them: “Why didn’t you bring with you that young man who will become the abode of the Holy Spirit?” Surprised by the words of the saint, they went and brought the young man. Having received great benefit from the conversation with the monk and having received his blessing, all three left, glorifying God. That young man, having succeeded in virtue, according to the word of the saint, shone in monastic life. Dosifei, Gabriel's father, whom we have already spoken about, asked the saint to allow Gabriel to go to the Iveron Monastery on some business. Foreseeing the danger revealed to him by Divine Providence that was about to happen to him, he objected. However, Dosifei claimed that there was no danger, and that the next day he would go to the Amalfin monastery, now called Morfinsky. Niphon objected: “And if Gabriel falls into slavery in the Amalfi monastery, what will happen then? Let him go, it won’t be my fault what happens to him.” Dosifei believed the words of the saint and no longer contradicted him. That same evening, a certain brother came to them and announced that a ship with pirates had departed from the Morfin monastery and captured three monks who happened to be on that road. One day, a Lavra monk came to the monk and announced that Hieromonk Ioannikios had been sent by the abbot along with other brothers to the island of Skirru, but at sea the monastery ship was attacked by pirates and everyone was taken prisoner. The Lavra fathers collected money for their ransom, and this monk gave one gold coin from himself. At this time, Niphon said to him: “It would be better for you, child, to give this gold to the poor, because Ioannikios and the others have already been freed, and everything is in order with them. Oh, if only we could share in the consolation that they have now.” Hearing these words, the monk remembered the day when Saint Niphon said this, and upon Ioannikis’s return to the Lavra, he told him about the prophecy of the monk. It should be noted that it was on that day that Ioannikis and his brothers caught a lot of fish, so they received great consolation for the glory of God, who glorifies those who glorify Him. Amen. The life and exploits of our holy father Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessaloniki, a wonderworker who shone forth in the 14th century This divine father, our Gregory, came from noble and virtuous parents. His father was such a worthy man that when Andronik II sat on the royal throne, he appointed him one of the members of the synclite (state council). But not only the earthly king showed him honors, but also the Heavenly King, who glorified him with miracles during his lifetime. Anticipating his death, he accepted the monastic schema and from Constantine became Constantius. Leaving everything earthly, he finally moved to the heavenly ones. After the death of his father, Gregory began to study external wisdom. He was still at a young age, it was difficult for him to memorize, so he decided that he would not begin to study until he made three prostrations with prayer in front of the icon of the Lady Theotokos. And so, with prayer, the teaching became easier for him. The Mother of God also helped him in that she inclined the king’s soul to him, and he generously gave Gregory everything he needed for life. A little time passed, and Gregory showed such success that everyone was surprised at his wisdom, which he showed in state affairs. For this reason, the king was very happy and planned to give him a significant position. However, the saint’s mind thought about something greater and higher: about the Heavenly King and His Kingdom, but Gregory did not care at all about earthly things. The monk constantly communicated with the monks of the Holy Mountain who came to Constantinople, and the ascetics advised him to leave the city and go to Athos. They also advised him to practice a little virtue before leaving the city, and the monk, to everyone's surprise, began to show such indifference to clothes, preferring the most wretched of them, and so changed life and morals that some thought he had gone mad. But the courageous Gregory did not think at all about dishonor and shame, and jealously indulged in abstinence and fasting, satisfying his bodily needs for food and drink only with bread and water, never eating his fill. He also strived beyond measure in other virtues. Gregory was twenty years old when he began to live like this, not succumbing either to the king’s persuasion or to promises of great honors. Having convinced his household, close relatives and some well-intentioned slaves to accept the angelic schema, he placed them in monasteries, and he and his brothers withdrew from Constantinople. Arriving at the Holy Mountain, he settled in the Vatopedi Lavra and became a novice of the divine Nicodemus, who was a wondrous silencer, shining both in feats of contemplation and in active deeds. From him the monk took on the angelic form. Now be careful and understand what success Gregory showed in the same feats, active and contemplative. Two years have passed since he devoted himself to God - through fasting, vigil, concentration of thoughts, unceasing prayer, having the Mother of God as his Guide, Intercessor and Intercessor, and every minute in prayer he turned to Her help. One day, when he was silent alone, and all his thoughts were turned inward and to God, a majestic man suddenly appeared to him (it was Saint John the Theologian) and, looking at him with meekness, said: “Child, the Most Holy Queen of all sent me to ask you why you always cry out to God with the words: “Enlighten my darkness, enlighten my darkness?” To this Gregory responded like this: – What else should I, passionate and full of sins, ask for, if not mercy and enlightenment in order to know and do His holy will. – The Lady of all, through me, Her slave, promises to be your Helper. – Where will the Mother of my Lord help me, here or in the future life? – Both in the present and in the future. Having said this and filling Gregory’s heart with inexpressible joy from the promises of the Mother of God, Saint John the Theologian disappeared. Three years have passed since the divine Gregory became the elder’s novice. When the elder departed to the Lord, the monk left from there and arrived at the Lavra of St. Athanasius. The local fathers received him with great honor, because they had heard about his virtues. He spent three years in the Lavra, and all this time the brethren marveled at his life and wisdom. The abbot blessed the monk, together with the other monks, to serve at the fraternal meal and to sing in the choir with other singers. With his zeal for obedience, Gregory amazed everyone; he extraordinarily strived to acquire all the virtues, and his soul was truly the abode of spiritual blessings. From now on, everyone saw in him an example of virtue, for this wondrous Gregory conquered not only unreasonable passions and lusts, but also natural needs. While in the body, he struggled to become incorporeal. Grigory conquered sleep, and for three whole months he did not sleep, like a disembodied person, allowing himself only a short rest after eating, so as not to be damaged by his mind. However, his love for silence did not allow him to remain in the Lavra for the rest of his life, and he left from there to his beloved desert along with ascetics who were unanimous in his opinion and possessed the same virtues. That monastery, where many other anchorites lived, was called Glossia. Their leader was another Gregory, also from Constantinople, a great and famous worker of silence, sobriety and contemplation at that time. From him the monk learned the highest secrets of mental action and vision of God. Silently alone, the saint was honored to receive from God many secret gifts that cannot be described in words. He always became so moved that tears constantly flowed from his eyes. The monk had this gift all his life. However, this kind silence in Glossia could not be enjoyed all the time due to the attacks of the Hagarians on the monks who labored outside the walls of the monasteries. Avoiding danger, Gregory and his brotherhood, numbering twelve people, were forced to move to Thessaloniki. After consulting among themselves, they decided to go to Jerusalem to venerate the holy places and remain there in silence for the rest of their lives. However, the divine Gregory, wanting to find out whether this pleased God, began to pray in private. Having dozed off a little, he immediately saw the following vision: “It seemed to me that my brothers and I found ourselves in front of a palace. There the king sat majestically on the throne, surrounded by bodyguards, nobles and other officials. A certain archon separated from them, came up to us and, hugging me, seemed to drag me along with him. Turning to my brothers, he said: “I will keep this one with me, for the king commanded so, and you go wherever you want, no one will stop you.” Enlightened by God, the great Gregory told his brothers about the vision he had had, and everyone thought that this nobleman who held the divine Gregory was the great Demetrius (Thessalonica, wonderworker), so they decided to stay in Thessaloniki, the homeland of the Great Martyr Demetrius. While in Thessaloniki, the brothers asked the divine Gregory to accept holy orders. But at first he did not agree until he knew that this was the will of God. After his ordination, they came to Beria, to one monastery, and built a small monastery, where the divine Gregory, truly filled with all good things, together with his companions again began to strive and practice perfection according to God. Five days a week he did not leave the monastery and did not receive anyone in his cell. Only on Saturdays and Sundays did he go out to perform the liturgy and conduct spiritual conversations with the brothers for their benefit. He was then thirty years old, his health and physical strength were in perfect order, so he began more severe exploits and life. The monk dried up his body with fasts and long vigils, refined and constantly cleansed the mental eyes of his soul through perfect abstinence and gathering of thoughts, a common source of tears, and always raised his mind to God in unceasing prayer, trying to completely subordinate the flesh to the spirit. From such godlike living were born the fruits of the Holy Spirit, as the apostle says. All his companions, the monks of that mountain, even the inhabitants of Veria, saw in him a model of virtue: surprise and amazement was caused not only by his angelic life, but also by his teachings and supernatural wisdom according to God. Sometimes he was all attention, clinging only to God and washing himself with wondrous tears, and sometimes his face was supernaturally bright, enlightened and glorified by the fire of the Most Holy Spirit, especially when he left the church at the end of the service, or from the cell where he was silent. At this time, Gregory’s mother, Callista, who possessed great virtues, went to the Lord. Her daughters and associates immediately sent a letter to the great Gregory informing her of the death of her mother, asking him to come to them for their spiritual guidance. He came to Constantinople to the sisters and, having sufficiently enlightened them, wanted to return to Veria. The sisters followed him. Having placed them in a nunnery, he ordered them to carry out the usual ascetic life, after which he returned to his cell on the mountain, which was located near Veria. There the monk met an elderly ascetic named Job, who had a very simple disposition. Once listening to the divine Gregory, who said that “not only ascetics, but also all ordinary Christians should constantly pray according to the apostle,” he did not agree, arguing that this was the duty of only monks, but not lay people. The saint was silent because he hated verbosity, but God Himself showed the truth of his words, because when Job returned to his cell and began to pray, he saw the bright Angel of God, who said to him: “Oh, elder, do not doubt what Saint Gregory has just told you. And you must think and confess this way.” For five years, the wise Gregory remained silent on that mountain, but due to the frequent raids of the most vile Albanian family, he was forced to return again to the Holy Mountain, to the Lavra of St. Athanasius, where with great joy he met with friends, fathers and brothers. He settled outside the walls of the monastery, in the hesychastery of St. Sava, and left it only on Saturdays and Sundays if he was asked to serve in the Lavra; he didn’t want to see anyone, talk to anyone, and didn’t want others to see him. The purpose of his life was contemplation according to God. One evening during Holy Week, according to ancient custom, a majestic All-Night Vigil was celebrated in the Lavra, at which the saint was also present. Since some of the singers indulged in vain conversations and did not want to stop them, the man of God was saddened, but he considered it unreasonable to reprimand them. Therefore, the monk turned his mind away from their chatter, as well as from the chants, and turned to himself and to God, as he was already accustomed to, and at that time the Divine light shone into his soul, with which his mental and physical eyes were illuminated, and he clearly saw what was to happen many years later. And he saw in the bishop’s vestments the abbot of the Lavra Macarius, who ten years later became the metropolitan of the city of Thessaloniki, where he ended his life. Another time, the saint prayed in his cell to the Mother of God for himself and his brotherhood, asking her to facilitate the ascent to God and make their spiritual life unhindered, so that they could easily and without difficulty find everything they needed for life, without wasting time searching and thereby being distracted from spiritual matters. And the Lady of all appeared to him in the light of day in the modest form of the Virgin, as we see Her depicted on the icons, and turned to those who accompanied Her (and there were many of them, and all in light clothes), with the words: “From now on you will take care of everything necessary, and give it to Gregory and his brotherhood.” Having given the command, the Mother of God became invisible. Saint Gregory said that from then on they always received what they needed without difficulty, wherever they were. In the third year of his stay in the hesychastery of Saint Sava, on one of the days, when the saint ascended his mind to God through sacred prayer, it seemed to him that he was in a subtle sleep and saw the following picture. It’s as if he was holding a vessel of milk in his hands and it suddenly began to overflow. Then suddenly it turned out that the milk turned into excellent wine with a wonderful smell, which flowed abundantly down his hands and wet his clothes, filling them with fragrance. And when he was enjoying this fragrance, it seemed to him that a certain man in military uniform, filled with light, suddenly appeared to him and said: “Gregory, why don’t you give others this wonderful drink, which is poured out so abundantly, and it is wasted in vain? Don’t you know that this is a gift from God and the flow will never stop?” Gregory replied that it is impossible to give this drink to others, since there are no those who really need it. But the one who appeared declared that although at the present time there were indeed no one who passionately sought him, he still had to do his duty and distribute it. And the Lord Jesus Christ will find those who want to get drunk. Then that bright warrior disappeared, and the saint, shaking off his sleep, was surrounded by Divine light for a long time. The transformation of milk into wine meant that from moral and simple teaching he must move to dogmatic and Heavenly teaching. Following the divine vision and led by the Holy Spirit who dwelt in him, Gregory began not only to give oral instructions to the brothers, but also to write wondrous works with a cane. Since it was unfair that such a great brother in virtues and words should be hidden, the following happened. He was appointed abbot of the Esphigmenu monastery, in which two hundred monks lived. How he ruled the monastery and the entire sacred brotherhood, there is no need to tell in words, for everything was shown by deeds. In that monastery lived a certain virtuous monk named Evdokim, whom the devil seduced with false visions and made him imagine that he was higher in virtue than Gregory. Having foreseen that Evdokim was subjected to a devilish attack, the monk, sometimes with a teaching word, sometimes with his own secret prayers with tears, and sometimes with common prayers of the entire brotherhood, put a barrier to this devilish action and by the grace of the Most Holy Spirit made him truly Evdokim (from the Greek εὐδόκιμος - glorious). Once the monastery ran out of oil, and since there was a great need for it, the saint and his brothers came to the pantry and, having prayed to God with faith, blessed the vessel, which was immediately filled with oil, and this oil was enough for the whole of that year, although it was consumed abundantly. Having learned that there was no oil because the monastery olive trees did not bear fruit, the monk came with his brothers to the trees. When he sanctified them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, they began to bear fruit. As proof of the miracle that had happened, any tree touched by the saint was immediately covered with many fruits. A little time passed, and the monk, leaving the abbess, returned to the Lavra again to his beloved silence. Just at this time, the all-bad Varlaam came from Kalavria, who tried with all his might to prove that he agreed with the Eastern Church and wanted to become a monk. To certify this, he composed speeches against his fellow Latins. However, after listening to his arguments, the divine Gregory realized that Barlaam’s denunciations of the Latins were feigned and deceptive, and were in fact directed against the truth. This was the reason that Varlaam became his enemy. Arriving in Constantinople, Varlaam began to communicate with some simple monks, practitioners of mental prayer and sobriety, pretending that he wanted to be their student and friend. Having learned from them what novice monks should be careful of during mental prayer, he vilely called them “heretics” and wrote articles directed against sacred prayer and thought of God. Before these blasphemies of his became known, he was put to shame before the Ecumenical Patriarch for his other shameful and wicked deeds and left Constantinople in disgrace, returning to Thessaloniki. But even there he continued to repeat his accusations against the monks and, even worse, was not content with only slandering the monks of his time, but tried to prove that the cause of monastic error was the God-bearing fathers and teachers of the Church. For this reason, the Solunsky monks wrote a letter to Saint Gregory, fervently asking him to come and defend the truth from Varlaam. The saint immediately went to Thessaloniki and tried various means to correct Varlaam. He convinced him many times in private, wanting to bring him into agreement with the Orthodox Church. Since he did not cease to shamelessly speak out against the Church both in conversations and in his writings and did not correct himself, the saint was forced to polemicize with him in his writings, defending the Orthodox faith from Barlaam’s lies. Varlaam, as soon as he learned that his writings were refuted by the wondrous writings of the saint about sacred silence and the truth of Orthodoxy, stopped writing treatises against the monks and attacked the divine Gregory. But he could not argue with him face to face, and again from Thessaloniki he returned to Constantinople. Saint Gregory stayed in Thessaloniki for three years and all this time he delivered teachings and wrote wonderful works about the true glory of God. He spent his free time in the usual crying, in complete solitude and silent prayers. Since there was no desert nearby that he loved, he built a small cell at the back of the house in which he lived, and whenever possible, he remained silent there. Once, on the day of the celebration of the memory of Anthony the Great, the disciples and associates of the saint, together with the wondrous Isidore, performed a vigil for the divine Anthony. And - lo and behold! – Anthony the Great appeared on this day to Saint Gregory. When the divine Gregory was praying, suddenly he was surrounded by Divine light, as had happened many times before, and along with the light Anthony the Great appeared and said: “Prayer in mental silence is good, because it cleanses the intelligent eyes of the soul and makes a person worthy of the ineffable revelations of God. However, sometimes a monk needs to communicate and meet with like-minded brothers so that you can pray and sing together. So, you must now go to the brothers who are serving the vigil, for they are in great need of your care.” After this, Anthony became invisible. The Divine Gregory at the same hour went to the brothers, who received him with joy and they spent the whole night in a festive vigil. Returning to the Holy Mountain, he showed the hesychasts and those elected from the monasteries his writings, written in defense of Orthodoxy from the errors of Varlaam. The monks were surprised, praised them and unanimously approved everything. The following incident also happened. When Gregory was just about to go to the Holy Mountain, he learned that his sister Theodota was dying. Disciples and friends asked the saint what to do with the burial. The saint, foreseeing the future by God's Providence, replied: “There is no need to ask me about this now, because, if God pleases, I will return by that time and will be here before her death.” As he said, that's what happened. When Theodota’s last hour came, she began to call upon the divine Gregory, her good brother and spiritual mentor. Hearing that he was on the Holy Mountain, she was saddened with all her heart and complained that she was not worthy to see him and talk with him for the last time. Soon she fell silent and completely calmed down, as if she had plunged into herself. Those present were already preparing everything for the burial, but a miracle happened! Eight days passed, during which Theodota lay without food, without sleep, without speaking, without pain, and only weak breathing and eye movements indicated that she was still alive and waiting for her brother. On the evening of the eighth day, the long-awaited brother came from the Holy Mountain and, approaching his sister, spoke. She heard the sweetest voice of her brother, opened her bodily eyes, and with them her spiritual ones, and, since she could not speak, raised her hands a little to God to thank Him, and after a few moments, glorifying God, she surrendered her spirit into the hands of God. After the burial of his sister, the great Gregory again devoted himself to silence, sobriety, prayer and unceasing contemplation of God. But the enemy of silence and contemplation of God, the vile Varlaam, came to Constantinople, as we have already said, and set out external wisdom as bait for those who opened their mouths to such things, bringing in a short time the entire city and, above all, the Patriarch to his wickedness. He almost convinced everyone to renounce Orthodoxy, and his divine preachers, Saint Gregory and his like-minded people, were summoned by a patriarchal letter to the court of the Church. Taking Isidore, Mark, Theodore, and his friends, the saint arrived in Constantinople. Having made sure that almost all eminent men, with the exception of one or two, believed Varlaam’s chatter, Gregory, with his conversations, with the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit, returned them all, and the Patriarch himself, to the bosom of the Orthodox Church. Having read the wondrous works of Gregory, written against the teachings of Barlaam and his blasphemies, he was proclaimed a teacher of piety in agreement with the divine fathers of the Church. The Patriarch himself thanked the saint greatly. In order to eradicate Barlaam's delusion, they decided to convene a general Council as soon as the king returned. By a divine wave, all like-minded ascetics from different regions came to the capital for the Council: the Monk David with his companions, Dionysius, who through a Divine vision predicted the victory of the wondrous Gregory over the heretics, and others. The last to arrive was the king. The council took place in the Church of St. Sophia and condemned Varlaam and his blasphemous writings, threatening him with excommunication. And if he had not pretended that he had repented, accepted and truly professed Orthodoxy and condemned his false heretical writings, then because of the people’s anger he would not have been able to survive. Thus humiliated, Varlaam returned to his beloved Latins. But the same evil one made another Gregory, nicknamed Akindinus, the successor and heir of Varlaam's delusion. Again, a Church Council was assembled, no less than the previous one (against Varlaam), and again Gregory, the great ascetic and famous defender of Orthodoxy, destroyed all misconceptions with evidence from the Holy Scriptures and the teachings of the Orthodox Church. Hardly two months had passed after the Council when a civil war began, which was unleashed by Patriarch John, nicknamed the Cripple. Since the divine Gregory was against war and advised to make peace, the Patriarch looked for every possible way to punish Gregory. Forgetting about all the honors and praises that he himself had previously shown to him, unable to invent any slander against Gregory, the Patriarch turned against Orthodoxy, bringing down terrible abuse on the Church and its divine dogmas, and all in order to punish the monk for allegedly defending heretical teaching. The Patriarch brought Akindinus, the keeper of the heresy, into the Orthodox Church, ordaining him as a deacon and preparing to ordain him as a priest and teacher of the Church. He condemned Saint Gregory, a preacher of truth, slandered for inciting war, to imprisonment. The then queen Anna, hearing that Akindinus, anathematized at two Holy Councils, had been ordained a deacon, expelled him from the Church. The Divine Gregory remained in prison for four years, although he was very sick and needed daily treatment. Gregory, with God's help, steadfastly endured all the hardships of prison. In the end, the Patriarch, who slandered him, became hated by the kings and he was condemned to imprisonment; By a council decision he was deprived of his priesthood for heresy and excommunicated from the Church. His death became the death of heresy and evidence of the truth of Orthodoxy. The civil war stopped immediately. The Great Gregory left prison and solemnly, with the crown of a confessor, returned to his beloved brothers who loved him. To omit the unnecessary, I will say that he was later ordained Metropolitan of Thessalonica, and both the Tsar and Patriarch Isidore strenuously asked him to accept the rank. Since there was some kind of civil strife in Thessaloniki, Bishop Gregory of God was again expelled from the Church, and he again returned to the Holy Mountain, just on the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. One pious priest, who was responsible for caring for orphans, persuaded the priests serving the liturgy to pray to God so that He would show them with the help of a sign what boldness Gregory had before God and in what rank he would remain in Heaven. This pious priest secretly prayed to God that He would show a sign on his paralytic daughter, and that she would be healed (it must be said that the members of her body were dry and motionless for three years). And God, glorifying his servant, for whose sake the prayer was, suddenly lifted the girl out of bed, she began to walk freely, and, not remembering her previous illness, ran around the house healthy. On the Holy Mountain, where the saint had retired, he was visited by the ruler of Bulgaria, Stefan, who for a long time persuaded him to go with him to his kingdom, but achieved nothing. Strongly compelled by this Stephen, Saint Gregory was sent as ambassador to Constantinople to the kings. After some time, Gregory returned to his diocese again, since both the Tsar and the Patriarch thought that the strife in Christianity had already ended. However, the disagreements escalated, the bishop was unable to get to his metropolis in Thessaloniki, and, by the determination of the Great Church, he went to Limnos, where he was an exemplary archpastor and showed numerous miracles. When Gregory was on Limnos, a plague occurred in one small town. Having made a religious procession together with the people and fervently prayed to God, the saint managed to stop the fatal disease. In the end, the Solunians decided to return their beloved archpastor. Using government funds, they equipped a ship, and the church leadership arrived in Limnos. A few days later they brought the shepherd to his flock. On the day when the saint arrived in Thessaloniki, there was great joy everywhere, as on the luminous day of the Resurrection. The usual psalmody at the bishop's entrance was abandoned and, by inspiration from God, everyone sang: “Resurrection day... Let us purify our senses and see... Shine, shine.” The miracle was that there was no one who advised the singers to sing these troparia, and there was no one who first began to sing them. Three days later, the saint appointed a general meeting and a religious procession with holy icons, and after it he taught a lesson about harmony and peace. He served the liturgy and offered the Bloodless Sacrifice to sanctify the people, and it was then that God glorified him with a miracle. That priest, an orphanotroph, had a son who suffered from sleepwalking, and the disease progressed more and more. At the liturgy, the father served with the saint and asked him to give communion to the child. After Communion, the illness immediately went away, and the child, praising God, recovered. After the liturgy, the saint gathered all the priesthood and told them for a long time about the height of the priestly rank, and all his life he did not stop teaching, both in churches, and in private conversations, and in sermons for everyone, especially by his own example, trying to lead everyone to salvation. Since the like-minded people of Varlaam and Akindinus did not stop disturbing the Orthodox Church, the Tsar, together with the Patriarch, decided to again convene a Council in the capital in order to carefully study what they were talking about, for they constantly asked for this. First of all, the most worthy and divine Gregory was summoned to Constantinople. After the solemn and great Council had assembled, at the urgent request of the Tsar and the Synod, the saint stood up and presented the Orthodox doctrine before the Council. At the end of the Council, the saint wanted to return to his flock as soon as possible, but he was again prevented from returning to Thessaloniki, and not by the residents of his metropolis, but by John Palaiologos, who lived there. Because of this, the monk returned to the Holy Mountain again, and only three months later, at the request of this John, was he able to return to his diocese again to care for his flock and bring them spiritual and physical benefit. Once, when Gregory came to one of the women’s monasteries for the feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God, during the liturgy the nun Eleodor, who had been blind in one eye a few days before, came and secretly, like the Bleeder of the Gospel, grabbed the bishop’s vestment and brought it to her sore eye, immediately receiving a miraculous healing. After staying in his diocese for one year, the saint became seriously ill, his body was tormented by unbearable pain and many temptations, so that everyone thought that he would die. However, God unexpectedly granted him life again, because, as a courageous ascetic, he was preparing him for further exploits. And although the illness had not yet completely receded, he was forced, by the numerous persistent requests of John Palaiologos, to go to Constantinople and intercede for him with his father-in-law, King John Kantakouzenos, in order to reconcile them, since it was precisely because of the quarrel that Palaiologos lived in Thessaloniki. However, the Most High God, the King of Kings, sent Saint Gregory to another service, for on the way to Constantinople he was captured by the Achaemenids. Under the guise of a slave, he was brought to Asia, and as a true evangelist and preacher of the faith, he helped Christians who were enslaved and strengthened them with his teachings. How many and what kind of interviews he conducted in Prussia and Nicaea with the Turks about the Orthodox faith, how much he did not stop their mouths, what kind of teachings he did not strengthen the Christians there - anyone who is interested can learn about this from the lengthy life of the saint. A year later, God moved some respectable Bulgarians who willingly gave the Turks a lot of money and freed the saint. And again an amazing miracle happened. When the saint was sailing on a ship and approaching the harbors of Constantinople, ringing and wondrous chants were heard in the air, as if coming from the ship, but those who heard understood that these were not human, but angelic melodies, for the saint was invisibly accompanied by Angels. After spending some time in the capital, Gregory headed to his diocese, which suffered from drought and the absence of the Divine word. Gregory wonderfully gave his children drink both spiritually and physically. The saint had a friend, the pious hieromonk Porfiry. One night, on the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, his side hurt so much that even when he lay down, the pain did not go away. As the saint was serving the liturgy, Porfiry approached him and asked him to heal him. Having crossed his sore side, Gregory, with tenderness and contrition of heart, said the troparion: “Crucified Master... may Christ heal you.” Oh miracle! The sufferer immediately got rid of the unbearable pain and returned to his cell healthy. Another time, Porfiry’s throat hurt so much that he could not swallow even a small amount of water. He suffered for eight days, and was already in danger of death, but the great Gregory baptized the sore spot with his sacred right hand and, turning to Christ, said with tears the troparion: “Thou art not involved in the Passion...”. After this, in a strange way, the patient was healed. One goldsmith had a five-year-old child who had been suffering from terrible bleeding for fifteen months, and no one could heal him. The child was doomed. However, the saint prayerfully crossed him and handed him over healthy to his parents. However, Saint Gregory was still a man subject to human infirmities. Three years after he last visited the capital, Gregory fell ill and lay ill. Already lying on his deathbed, he continued to instruct his children, predicted his death, naming its day. He told his friends that his death would happen after the feast of St. John Chrysostom, that is, after the fourteenth day of November. This saint appeared to him in a dream and called him to him as one of his kind and beloved. In total, the wondrous Gregory lived sixty-three years, of which for one and a half years he served as a bishop in the rank of bishop, caring for the Church of God. When his blessed soul was separated from his body, the grace of the Most Holy Spirit miraculously revealed to those present the inner lordship of his soul, since the cell in which his sacred relics lay was filled with an amazingly bright light. His face, which had dried out long before his death, shone. Almost all the inhabitants of the city who came to the burial of the sacred remains of the saint were witnesses to this supernatural lordship of his face. The grace of the Most Holy Spirit remained inseparably with the saint and with his relics, and from now on, showing his holy tomb as the abode of divine light, made him a source of miracles, sacred gifts and the general physician of all. Because of this, the saint was called a “miracle worker.” He is truly a miracle worker, and how I would like, if time allowed, to tell about many of his miracles, but I am forced to skip those that took place after death. They are described in his lengthy life and those who wish can learn about them. I will briefly tell you only about one miracle, which testified that Gregory was truly glorified by God. The Latins often accuse our holy Eastern Church of the fact that after its separation from the Western Church we had no saints, and there were no miracles that they performed. Holy Nektarios, who became Patriarch of Jerusalem in 1660, wishing through his fiery zeal for the truth to stop the foul mouths of the Latins and prove that they were liars and slanderers, listed many new saints of the Eastern Church who shone forth after the division. He testified to numerous amazing miracles, including the miracles of St. Gregory. On the island of Santorini, on the day of remembrance of the saint, on the second Sunday of Great Lent, some Latins were relaxing by boating, or, as Patriarch Dositheos of Jerusalem says, the Franks put children in a boat, who were riding on the water, clapping their hands and shouting: “Anathema to Palamas, if he is a saint, let him make us drown.” So they blasphemed the saint, but a miracle happened. At this time, without any storm, in complete calm, the boat, along with all the passengers, capsized and sank. The bodies of the blasphemers sank into the sea, and their vile souls went into eternal hellfire. Thus the holiness of the divine Gregory was certified, and everyone marveled at God, marvelous in His saints. To him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen. (Written by Philotheus, His Holiness Patriarch of Constantinople) The life and exploits of our venerable and God-bearing father Niphon, Archbishop of Constantinople, who labored on Holy Mount Athos in the Dionysiatus Monastery in the 15th century This divine father, our Niphon, was from Morea and was descended from noble and noble parents, but more famous for their piety. Their names were Manuel and Maria. At Epiphany the baby was named Nicholas. When the boy grew up a little, he was sent to study sacred literacy. From a young age, having an senile mind, he was not carried away, like other children, by their games. Visiting wise and virtuous teachers, he, like a bee, collected the honey of virtue, listening and imitating everything good - soulful lessons and examples. He had such a sharp mind that the boy soon surpassed all his peers in science. Nicholas often read the lives of the holy fathers, which made his soul rejoice, and he tried, if possible, to imitate them in virtues. The monk was distinguished by amazing chastity, and was so zealous in abstinence that he satisfied his bodily needs for food and drink only with bread and water. He also strived in all other virtues. In those days, a certain hieromonk named Joseph, an excellent teacher and a very virtuous husband, came to the school. Having communicated and talked with him sufficiently, this good Nicholas asked the monk to take him with him, but so that no one would know about it, because he was afraid that he might be interfered with. Having received him joyfully, Joseph secretly went with him and began to teach him philosophy. Arriving in Epidaurus, they heard that a certain hermit Anthony, very virtuous and an imitator of Anthony the Great in everything, was working in this area, and they went to him for a blessing. After talking with him for some time and accepting his divine instructions, they rejoiced in soul. Then Joseph, having asked the elder for a blessing, left, and Nikolai, throwing himself at Anthony’s feet, with tears asked permission to stay with him. Referring to the labors of the ascetic, the cramped conditions and, especially, the young age of Nicholas, Anthony tried to dissuade him, but he, burning with love for God, insisted even more and asked: “Father, everything that you command me, I will do with joy, just do not deprive me of communication with you.” Seeing his strong jealousy, the elder accepted him, gave him a cell and an ascetic rule. And good Nicholas devoted himself to ascetic labors, imitating the elder in everything, whom he soon asked to clothe him in monastic robes. Divine Anthony answered him: “Since you, child, want to take on the monastic image, know that you will have to indulge in great deeds and labors so that the enemy does not find you sleeping and tear you to pieces, for he is insidious and envious towards us, monks. Therefore, we must strive a lot in order to come through the narrow and sorrowful path to the enjoyment of eternal life.” After this, the elder clothed Nicholas in monastic robes, renaming him Niphon. From that time on, blessed Niphon began to strive even more in the exploits of monastic life. When the thought of wealth or his parents came to him, for the enemy constantly forced him to remember them in order to seduce him, he immediately ran to the elder, fell at his feet and confessed with tears, and, strengthened and receiving consolation, he returned to his cell with prayer and blessing. Niphon earned his bread by copying books, for he was an excellent copyist. In addition, he never talked idle, never laughed in the monastery, never read any church book without tears, and never spoke without the elder’s blessing. After some time, he became perfect in all the ranks of monastic life, but soon the blessed Anthony rested in the Lord. Niphon cried inconsolably because he had lost his spiritual father. Having buried the elder, he spent quite a long time alone, but one day he heard that in the city of Narda there was a wise, very virtuous teacher named Zechariah, who had recently come from the Holy Mountain. Wanting to receive the fruit of wisdom from him and study the Svyatogorsk customs, Niphon came to him and, having confessed, asked to stay with him, and Zechariah began to teach the young man what he so desired. At that time, there was great indignation in the Churches due to the false council of Florence, which took place under John Palaiologos. The Eastern Churches did not want to agree with his decisions. Therefore, the wise Zechariah, together with the holy Niphon, went to Askalon, teaching Christians to stand firmly in Orthodoxy, follow the teachings of the holy apostles and observe the decrees of the Ecumenical Councils. Leaving Ascalon, they came to one city, the ruler of which was George Skander. He received them with great honor and reverence because he had previously heard about them. Having shown them hospitality, the ruler kept them in the palace, and made the wise Zechariah his confessor. At that time, King John Palaiologos died in Constantinople and his brother Constantine ascended the throne in his place. Having convened the Council, he declared the decisions of the Council of Florence invalid. After some time, apparently by the courts of God, in 1453 the Turks took Constantinople. There was great bloodshed everywhere, and Christians rushed from place to place, seeking shelter. Zechariah and Niphon, until this massacre subsided, hid for some time on the mountain, and then went to Ohrid, to the monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos. There they remained, and Niphon continued to study diligently from his teacher Zechariah. At that time, Bishop Nicholas of Ohrid rested in the Lord. To appoint a new bishop, the clergy, clergy and many people gathered, asking Zacharias to accept the rank of bishop, for he was known to everyone for his virtue and wisdom. He humiliated himself, saying that he was not worthy to take on the burden of saving so many souls, since he could barely save his own. But they did not stop asking and begging him until he agreed. A few days later, Saint Zacharias was ordained bishop and blessed Niphon asked him for a blessing to go to the Holy Mountain in silence. The bishop said to him: “I really need you now, child, so that I can be comforted and the weight that I took on my shoulders against my will will decrease at least a little. Are you really going to leave me now? If necessary, friends and children are needed to help parents in danger. My child, Nifone, do not deprive me of the happiness of seeing you.” While the bishop was saying all this with tears, tears flowed like a river from the eyes of the divine Niphon and he could not answer anything. That night they both remained in vigil, and at dawn the bishop had a dream. The Holy Angel ordered him to release Niphon, because he was the chosen vessel of the holy God. The next morning, having said a prayer, the bishop released the divine Niphon with the words: “Go, child, where the Lord will lead you, whom I, unworthy, ask to allow to see you again in this life, if it pleases His Divine Providence.” With the bishop's blessing, blessed Niphon, like a light-winged eagle, hurried to the Holy Mountain. Arriving at the Vatopedi Monastery and venerating the wondrous shrines of the Most Holy Theotokos, he found many virtuous men, whom he willingly followed in everything. Arriving in Karey, he met the archpriest of the Holy Mountain named Daniel, a very virtuous and prudent man, who, seeing him, rejoiced and, kissing him, said: “Oh, wise Niphon, I have heard about you from many, and I prayed to God to grant me the privilege of seeing you before my death. Behold, the Most Good God heard my humble prayer. I ask you to teach the brothers who have gathered to listen to you.” The humble Niphon objected: “Most reverend fathers, I am not worthy to give medicine to healthy and experienced doctors, but I myself need their treatment.” Then the divine Daniel said: “You must not save the words of God only for yourself, father, but must pass them on to others in order to benefit them too.” Then, bowing his head and making the usual bow, the saint began to speak wise words and everyone marveled at their reasonableness. It was so pleasant to listen to him that it was impossible to tear himself away, and from the sweetness of his words one forgot about bodily food. Walking around the monasteries of Karey, the monk found many virtuous men and his soul rejoiced. Then he came to the sacred monastery of Pantokrator. Having stayed there for a sufficient time, he headed to the cave of Crete, in which lived marvelous ascetics who spent their lives in great cramped conditions. Marveling at their extraordinary patience, Niphon spent some time with them, teaching and learning, and earned his living by copying books. Soon the abbot of the Great Lavra, Saint Athanasius, invited him to come to the monastery so that the brothers could benefit from his honeyed speeches. In order not to be disobedient, he accepted the invitation with great joy, readily imitating the Lord, and taught them for a sufficient time. Then he also learned about the monastery of the Honorable Forerunner, called Dionysian, where many virtuous men labored, who truly lived an equal life with the angels and observed all the rules of monastic life, for they had everything in common, according to the rules of Basil the Great. The monk left the Lavra and came to this monastery. Seeing that the place was inaccessible and harsh, the blessed one rejoiced so much that it seemed to him that he saw the divine Forerunner himself, living in the mountains and caves and eating locusts and wild honey. Niphon spent the whole night in vigil, praying to the Honest Forerunner to grant him permission to remain in this place. The next morning the abbot clothed him in the divine and angelic schema. When the brothers began to ask him to accept the priesthood, the monk humbly answered that he was unworthy. He was asked again and again, and finally he obeyed and was made, in order, reader, subdeacon, deacon, and priest. Having accepted the rank, Niphon began to strive even more in his spiritual exploits, in vigils, fasting, prayers and in immaculate love for everyone. In short, he was blessed by a great lamp, shining not only on the monastery of Dionysiatus, but also on the entire Holy Mountain. As one virtuous old man named Petronius testifies, who spent one night with the divine Niphon outside the monastery, at night he got up to pray and saw that Saint Niphon was standing with his hands raised to Heaven and his eyes raised, all filled with Divine light, which reached to Heaven and spread everywhere. Unable to bear such light, Petronius fell to the ground dead. Amazed, the saint picked it up. When he came to his senses, he fell at the feet of Niphon, but the blessed one wanted to hide the divine vision from him. However, Petronius secretly told the abbot about the vision, to which the abbot said: “This, Father Petronius, reveals the extraordinary purity of the husband, for many will be enlightened from him. Be careful, don’t tell anyone about this, so that he doesn’t hear and leave us, avoiding praise. Otherwise, we will lose such a person whom the Holy God has given us as refuge and strength in our days.” At that time, two archons from Thessalonica came to bow to the honest monasteries of the Holy Mountain. Finding themselves in the Dionysiates monastery on the day when the saint served the liturgy in the cathedral, and hearing his honeyed teachings, they were surprised, although they themselves were educated. At the end of the service, after talking with the saint, they rejoiced at his soul-helping instructions. Returning home to Thessaloniki, the archons told everyone about the divine Niphon. In those days, Metropolitan Parthenius of Thessalonica reposed. The bishops and the entire clergy of Thessalonica gathered and unanimously decided that the wise Niphon would be their shepherd. Two bishops and several clergy were sent for him, who came to the Dionysiatus monastery and, having privately talked with the first elders of the monastery, asked them to convince the saint to accept the metropolis. Sighing heavily, they answered: “Holy bishops, who gives his teacher to others? We ourselves hunger and thirst, how can we give away our food and drink? Has the famous Thessaloniki really reached the point that you have no other worthy person and you came to us, humble ones, to deprive us of the light of our eyes, you yourself see that we are deprived of the most necessary things and live in disastrous and impassable places. The Lord sent us a comforter in our sorrows, so should we, the unfortunate ones, really lose him? It seems to us that a truly great danger awaits us if we lose such a lamp, and all the brethren will experience excessive grief.” With these words the elders left. Convinced that nothing had worked out for them, the bishops and clergy began with tears to fervently ask for the help of the Holy God and the Honest Forerunner to help them. When Saint Niphon asked the abbot about them, he did not answer anything out of intense grief. Enlightened by the grace of the Holy Spirit, the saint understood everything and said: “Father, do not be sad, for I will be with you again and in this place I will repay our common debt, which I asked the divine Forerunner for when I came to this monastery, and he heard my prayers.” Then the abbot answered him: “Let it be done for you, beloved, as you yourself asked from the divine Forerunner. Do you see the ones you asked me about? These are the bishops from Thessaloniki. They were sent by the clergy and people to appoint you as their shepherd. We will remain orphans, and I will never see you again.” He said this, being enlightened by God, because when blessed Niphon came to the monastery for the second time, the abbot had already died and, according to his prediction, did not see him again. After the abbot’s words, the humble Niphon fell to the ground and, shedding tears, said: “Who am I, a stinking sinner, to accept such a heavy yoke on my wounded neck?” Hearing the saint’s cry, all the brethren ran to the church to see who was grieving so deeply. When all the brothers had gathered in the church, the abbot announced why the bishops and clergy had come. As soon as the brothers heard about this, they surrounded the saint with such weeping and sobbing that both bishops and clergy entered the church and handed over to the saint a letter from the entire Thessalonica clergy. The saint said with tears: “Holy bishops, I, wounded by the multitude of my sins, came to this place to remain silent and die here. How can I now leave the path of repentance and take care of so many souls when I can barely save my own sinful soul?” To this the bishops answered: “Father, do not resist the Divine decision, because everyone with one mind and unanimous consent wants you to become their shepherd.” Then, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, the abbot said: “Go, honest father, for such is the will of God, for you have increased your talent, and many have been saved by you. But always remember this sacred monastery, our love and that of our brothers, and help us with your frequent prayers, as well as with our earthly needs. We will always remember you as a resident and child of our holy monastery, because the Lord on this night commanded me, unworthy, not to put obstacles in your path.” With these words, he kissed blessed Niphon, and the other brothers did the same with tears. Finally the monk said: “My fathers and brothers, may the will of the Lord be done as you wish, but great danger awaits me, unworthy, therefore pray to the Lord for me.” When the bishops, clergy and Saint Niphon came to Thessaloniki, they were met by many people who wanted to see the monk and receive his blessing, and then one hurried to get ahead of the other. When Sunday arrived, he was ordained a bishop to shepherd the people of God. A few days later, Niphon realized that Christians were embarrassed by the Latin innovations of the pseudo-Council of Florence, and began to constantly teach the people the Divine commandments of the apostles, based on the decrees of the Councils, completely refuting the sophistic evidence of the Latins and commanding them to firmly preserve Orthodoxy. He consoled his flock during the riots and temptations that occurred from the newly reigned Hagarians, urging them to meekly endure the sorrows and torments of captivity for the sake of hope for the promised blessings. With his wise teachings, he moved the merciless and cruel rich people to show mercy to the poor, for he himself was so merciful and poor-loving that he often walked alone at night to give everything they needed to the sick and infirm. By the meekness of his words he attracted everyone to the Divine will. The Wise One brought even many infidels to the Christian faith, converting them from error. The rumor about him spread everywhere, so many people came to him. They also learned about him in the Great Church and wanted to see him. Two years later, the Council of Bishops of the Church of Constantinople summoned him to the capital on urgent Church matters. This happened by God's dispensation, since a lamp placed in a higher place gives light to everyone. When the saint arrived in Constantinople, the patriarch, bishops, the entire clergy and people received him with all honors for his virtue and wise leadership of his flock. Zechariah was also there, they kissed each other and rejoiced immensely. At the same time, the prophecy of the divine Zechariah that they would meet in this life was fulfilled. However, a few days later, His Holiness Zacharias, having fallen ill, went to the Lord, and the divine Niphon, with all honors, reverently buried his honest remains. A short time later, the Patriarch of Constantinople also reposed in the Lord, and immediately, without delay, all the bishops and clergy by royal authority elevated the wise Niphon to the Ecumenical Throne, against his will. Having zeal for God in his holy soul, he loudly began to preach, like a new apostle, the Divine teaching, admonishing, forbidding in moderation, trying in every possible way to drive away the wolves from the flock of Christ and strengthen Orthodoxy. With his divine and wise words, he saved many infidels who received Divine Baptism from him and, strengthened by his prayers, returned to their homeland. After Baptism, they tried to stay away to avoid danger from the wicked. The Church of Christ rejoiced, having such a lamp shining throughout the entire universe, and in those days there was no other like it. However, the devil, a hater of goodness, could not bear the fame of the saint, but the feat of some scandalous clerics led him to separate the saint from his flock. Having conspired against the good shepherd, they expelled him from the Patriarchate by decree of the Sultan. Not understanding why he was being expelled with such senseless anger, the saint was perplexed and sad, not because he had lost his throne, but because Christians were being deprived of salvation. Knowing that all these were the machinations of the evil one, he prayed to the Lord to forgive the sins of those brawlers, convert them and give them the opportunity to repent. He himself was glad that he was freed from worries and could enjoy the desired silence. He returned to Sozopol, to the monastery of the Honest Forerunner, and began to remain silent. He led a most amazing life, and rumors about him spread to many areas, so that Christians came to see the saint and listen to his soul-helping teaching. After he lived in the monastery for two years, he was again invited to Constantinople, and Niphon took the Ecumenical Throne for the second time. He again began to shine like a lamp on a candlestick, enlightening the entire universe with his amazing teachings. But the devil again could not bear the saint’s boldness, so he planned to drive him out in another way. One day, when the monk was returning to the Patriarchate from the church where he served, he suddenly met the Sultan on the road. Stepping aside, the Patriarch greeted him with dignity, but the proud Sultan, who wanted to be honored as God, insulted the saint, declaring that he did not know how to honor kings properly. Without answering anything, the humble Niphon left, thinking to himself: “And these are your tricks, you crafty demon.” When the Sultan returned to the palace, he ordered the saint to be exiled to Adrianople, accompanied by two soldiers. On the way to Adrianople, the soldiers caused him a lot of harm, but God kept him unharmed. Arriving at the place, he was allowed to live in the Church of St. Stephen under strict guard. Thanks to God, who allowed him to live and serve in consolation at the Church of the First Martyr, Saint Niphon rejoiced and glorified the Lord, for he was devoted to Him with all his soul and did not hope for the help of people. Since rumors about the saint spread in Wallachia, the Wallachian ruler Radul wanted to visit the saint. On his way to Constantinople to pay the royal tax, he passed through Adrianople. Using everything possible, he received permission from the Sultan's people to visit the saint. Having come to Niphon, he bowed his head, bowed to him with great reverence and, kissing the saint’s right hand with love, said: “Holy Master, I greatly desired to see your blessed face, to be worthy of your prayers and to receive a blessing from you. Blessed be God, Who has vouchsafed me now to enjoy the vision of you. However, I grieve greatly because of the temptations to which you are exposed.” The saint replied: “Most Serene Commander, “through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22), says the Lord. And the divine Paul writes that “the sufferings of this present time are not worth anything in comparison with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). So we must endure the vicissitudes of this present life with joy, as the divine apostles endured them, who rejoiced when they were beaten by the Jews, for they were dishonored for the name of the Lord, as the divine Luke describes in the Acts of the Holy Apostles (Acts 5:41). Blessed Paul writes in his epistles: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings” (Col. 1:24). The blessed ones rejoiced in their sorrows, enduring them with gratitude, because they expected blessed hope, but we are cowardly and what can we bear?” Hearing this, the ruler was moved and said: “I ask your bishop to come to Wallachia and teach us, because we are deprived of spiritual teaching and a spiritual shepherd. There you will find peace, and everyone will welcome you with joy. Just let me ask the wicked for permission for you.” The saint agreed and Radul asked the Turks for him, after which he and the monk returned to Wallachia, where everyone accepted Niphon as the Apostle of the Lord. The Lord said to him: “From now on, Father, you will be our driver and shepherd who will lead us along the path of salvation. You will have power in Church affairs and as you command, so everything will be.” The divine Niphon answered him: “I praise you for your good character, keep it to the end. But I ask you to accept with gratitude everything that I will do to correct you. Even if you yourself sin, you will accept spiritual admonition, for when the common people see that the ruler accepts correction through repentance, then they too are corrected with ease. And on the contrary, when a ruler tramples the law and violates the sacred canons, then a great fall occurs, because people easily bow to evil.” The Lord said to the saint: “Everything you do, Father, for the benefit of our souls, we will accept with joy.” And then the wise Niphon ordered to assemble a Local Council. All the priests, abbots of monasteries, archons, headed by the ruler, gathered, and the blessed one began to preach the Divine teaching, exhorting them to maintain good morals, citing evidence from the Holy Scriptures and the works of the holy fathers, urging them to turn away from evil customs. Having accepted his honeyed teachings and obeyed his divine words, they began to try to correct all disorder and morals. Saint Niphon ordained two bishops, commanding them to diligently care for the flock of Christ, for they will give an account of those entrusted to them to the Last Judge. Then, turning to the ruler, the saint loudly said: “You, child Radul, who has power in your hands, must admonish your citizens, punish the rioters, regardless of the person, be it great or small, but create righteous judgment, because, as the Holy Scripture says, judgment belongs to the Holy God.” Having taught his teachings with great humility, the saint dissolved the Council, detaining priests and monks from distant places for some time so that they could correct themselves. Everyone glorified God, who sent them such a lamp that guided them on the true path, and called him “the new Chrysostom.” Niphon served every Sunday and on holidays so that everyone who came to church could hear his teaching. And the wondrous Niphon tried in any way to turn them away from the bad custom of drunkenness, because almost everyone was extremely devoted to this passion, from which all mortal sins arise, and especially fornication and vile sodomy, for many were subject to it. Therefore, the wise one tried to extinguish the flame of drunkenness and, with his incessant teachings, turned a great many people to repentance. However, the devil, a hater of good, again plotted intrigues against the saint in order to interfere with his Divine preaching. One noble archon from Bogdania, with an evil disposition and doing a lot of evil, left his homeland to escape the power of his ruler. He left his house, wife, children and arrived in Wallachia. Having made friends with the ruler Radul, he wanted to settle in his state and marry someone else. Knowing that Bogdan had a wife in his homeland, the ruler despised his father’s laws and canons and gave him his own sister in marriage. Having learned about this, Bogdan's legal wife wrote a letter to Saint Niphon in tears, informing him that he was married and had children. Having received the letter, the saint called the archon and, with meekness and humility, began to admonish him so that he would leave lawlessness and return to his lawful wife. However, the malicious and unrepentant Bogdan left the saint with threats and, coming to the ruler, persuaded him to anger, demanding that he expel the saint from Wallachia. Not at all afraid of the threats, the divine Niphon came to the palace to the ruler the next morning and first gave him a letter sent by the archon’s wife, and then, opening a book with the laws of God, begged him not to despise the decisions of God and the canons of our Church. Having thrown off the mask of his former piety, Radul became angry with the saint and said: “Lord, you should not be so harsh, but you should have shame and fear of the ruler. I wanted to point out to you before that as soon as I brought you here, you trampled and abolished all our customs and orders, changing them at your own discretion. From now on, we no longer want you to teach us, we don’t need your customs and your orders, because we are worldly people and cannot follow you.” Not expecting such a rebuff, the saint answered him: “Most Serene Lord, did I think that you would tell me this? Didn’t your lordship, together with your archons, come to me twice and thrice and ask me to come here for your spiritual benefit? Show me what bad custom and order I introduced among you, and abolished your own? Oh woe! Now I clearly see that great wrath will come upon you, and therefore I grieve for your souls. I do not care at all about myself, because I place all my boldness on Him whom I have desired and desire from my youth. For the sake of love for Him, I will gladly shed my own blood, if necessary. Know, sir, that all my power is the law of the Church, for which my Lord shed His Most Pure Blood in order to cleanse it from all sin and sanctify it. He wants her to be pure and holy in doing the commandments of God, which I want to fulfill for the rest of my life.” With these words, Niphon left the palace and, arriving at the church, ordered the people to gather. Having told them a long sermon, he put on the bishop's vestments and excommunicated the lawless archon and those who helped him in lawlessness, along with that adulteress, from the Mysteries of Christ, for breaking the law. Then, while still instructing the people, he predicted what would happen in Wallachia, that Radulus and the archon would die an evil death and perish along with their lawlessness. After this, the saint placed the bishop's vestments on the throne and, having kissed the holy icons, left. Having learned about this, Radul issued a decree throughout the state: do not call the saint a bishop anymore, do not show any honor or care, and if it becomes known that someone gave him bread or something else, or received him in his home, then such a person will lose his life, and his property will go to the state. The saint, in order not to provoke even greater anger, went as far as possible from the capital, where he settled in a small house on the outskirts, placing all his hope in God. And He, the Most Merciful, sent him everything he needed, just as in ancient times he sent food to the prophet Elijah through a raven, and to Daniel through Habakkuk. One noble young man from the Bessarabian family named Neang, the spiritual child of the saint, seeing that Saint Niphon was in such oppression, was very sad and, out of reverence, he secretly, fearing the wrath of the ruler, brought him everything he needed. After some time, Radulus, reflecting on the curse of the saint and fearing that the wrath of God might suddenly fall upon him (for although he was opposed to the saint, he knew that he was righteous in everything and fearing God), returned Niphon to the palace with honors, hoping that through flattery he could obtain forgiveness. He said to him: “Divine and wise Father, forgive us who have sinned against you as people, and Your All-Holiness will receive forgiveness from us for what you have said and done against us. We ask you, do not be angry with us for our sins, and we will give you as much money and clothes as you need, and we will send you with honor wherever you want. And where you will live, we will send everything you need. О сожительстве же архонта не беспокойся, потому что он получил прощение от всего Архиерейского Синода Константинопольской Церкви, пусть и твое Всесвятейшество даст прощение, как и подобает». Sighing from the depths of his soul, the divine Niphon answered: “Radul, I don’t need your money, clothes, or honors, let it not be. Do you remember how you persuaded me to come to Wallachia so that I could teach you the word of God. If I have done you wrong, bear witness to it. I have been appointed by my Lord to expose iniquity, and I never want to be involved in this iniquity, because it is not permitted by any law. You yourself brought me here, and you yourself are driving me away. I go where the Lord leads me. You will die in lawlessness, in many sorrows and illnesses, and many troubles will happen in your country. Then you will look for me, “and you will not find” (John 7:34). With these words the saint left and, finding his spiritual child Neang, said to him in private: “I see, my child, that great wrath is coming to this country. You and your family will be in danger, but the All-Merciful God will protect you from all evil. If you fulfill the commandments that I have given you, you will not only be freed from all danger, but you will also be held in great esteem, and your name will be heard in all parts of the country. Remember me, your spiritual father, and if I find boldness from the Human-loving God, I will ask Him for you.” The saint blessed his child and kissed him, and Neang wept, mourning his impending orphanhood. With his disciples Macarius and Joasaph, Niphon went to Macedonia, and from there to Petolia, teaching and strengthening Orthodox Christians. Then he came to the Holy Mountain, to the sacred Vatopedi monastery, where the local fathers received him with all reverence and joy, glorifying God, who had made them worthy to see such a lamp of God and teacher. Having learned about his coming, the Svyatogorsk ascetics constantly came to him for blessings and listened to his soul-helping teachings. His disciple Macarius, imitating the virtues of the saint in everything and struggling in many labors, ascended to such a height of Divine love that his heart was kindled with the desire to end his life in martyrdom. Niphon, to whom he told about his desire, knew that Macarius’ goal agreed with the Divine will, and said: “Go, child, along the path of martyrdom, for, according to your zeal, you will be worthy to receive the crown of martyrdom, and you will rejoice forever with the martyrs and saints.” With these words, he blessed him and baptized him. Everything happened according to the saint’s prophecy. Arriving in Thessaloniki, the truly blessed one boldly stood before the Ottomans and was subjected to merciless torment for preaching Christ. In the end, his head was cut off, and so he accepted the crown of martyrdom. This was revealed to the Divine Niphon by the Holy Spirit, and he said to his other disciple, Joasaph: “Know, child, today your brother Macarius died and went to Heaven in joy.” After some time, Niphon, together with Joasaph, secretly left the Vatopedi monastery and, unrecognized by anyone, came to the Dionysiatus monastery, in which, as they say, the following custom was established by the ktitor. Anyone who wanted to become a monk in the monastery had to work as a mule driver, or carry firewood, or perform other obediences for as long as the abbot appointed. Only then was he accepted into the monastery and tonsured. If the person wishing to do so was already a monk, then he was immediately enrolled as one of the brethren. So, unrecognized Niphon came to the monastery under the guise of a poor monk. When the abbot asked if he agreed to fulfill all obediences, Niphon bowed and agreed. Just at this time, while he still remained unrecognized, envoys from the Great Church of Christ came to the monastery, looking for Niphon in order to again elevate him to the Ecumenical Throne by decree of the Sultan. Not finding him, they left. One day Saint Niphon was assigned to be at an observation post on a high mountain opposite the monastery, for at that time pirates were suddenly attacking the Holy Mountain, enslaving many and stealing everything they could. In the middle of the night, when the saint stood in prayer at this observation point, some virtuous monks, who were vigilant at night, saw a pillar of fire ascending from the earth to heaven. One of the brothers, who bore obedience along with the saint, woke up and saw that the saint was all on fire. Frightened, he ran to the monastery and told the first elders of the monastery about his terrible vision. Other monks said the same thing. Then, having gathered in the church, they began to pray to Holy God that He would reveal to them who this man was who was accompanied by such signs. And the Lord heard their prayer, revealing the secret in the following way. The abbot of the monastery saw in a dream that he was standing in the middle of the church and saw the divine John the Baptist, who said: “Gather all the brethren and go out to meet Patriarch Niphon. The humility that he showed by becoming a mule driver is enough, otherwise you will lose a great priest.” Waking up, the abbot was numb in amazement. Having come to his senses after a while, he began to knock on the beater and, calling all the brothers, told them about the dream he had seen. Только тогда они узнали, что бедный монах был патриархом Нифоном. When the blessed one, driving the mules, returned to the monastery in the evening, all the brothers came out to meet him with candles and incense, and greeted him with great solemnity. As soon as the wondrous Niphon saw this procession, he threw himself on the ground and began to pour tears on it. Having bowed, the abbot kissed his holy hands and said: “Enough, O universal lamp, to test your patience, enough to endure the extreme torment that you endure of your own free will. The humility that you have already shown is enough, and we, poor ones, did not even suspect it.” And all the brothers wept, and especially those who, out of ignorance, saddened him; they fell at his sacred feet and asked for forgiveness. Then with many tears the saint said: “My fathers and brothers, for this reason the Lord hid me in this soul-saving place, as I asked Him, in order to get rid of worldly worries and receive mercy at the Last Judgment, for if we do not renounce our parents, relatives and any human glory and affections of this world, as He Himself commands us, then we will be unworthy to follow Him. If we gain the whole world, but lose our soul, what good will it do?” To those who asked for forgiveness, he said: “O my children and brothers! Those who strive for virtue must have meekness and love for their neighbors, and not be angry with them, even if they suffer a thousand evils from them, for we are all human, and none of us is pure.” Having instructed them so that they would not do harm to others, but would each fulfill their obedience without anger or grumbling, helping each other as best they could, he blessed them and kissed them. Then the saint returned to the monastery and it is impossible to describe what feats and labors the blessed one endured. Although Niphon was already old and extremely tired of dangers and exiles, he served the monastery in all its needs, as one of the last monks. With his help, many buildings were erected in the monastery, he visited the sick, consoled the mourning, and many times when I (hieromonk Gabriel) came to him for his soul-helping teachings, I saw him digging in the garden, helping at the mill, going down to the monastery pier when ships arrived, and working with other novices so that they would not grumble and lose the rewards of their labors. But the devil, a hater of good, did not cease to fight against the saint, for even in the monastery he found some monks who, at his instigation, rose up against Niphon, condemned and insulted him, calling him a hypocrite and a talker. By the providence of God, the machinations of Satan were revealed to him and he asked God to strengthen him in order to endure all temptations, and to forgive and save the offenders, according to His love for mankind. In such humility, patience, cramped conditions and free poverty, the ever-blessed labored, not paying any attention to his episcopal rank and the fact that he was the Ecumenical Patriarch, but considered all this human glory to be insignificant. One day, through the action of the Holy Spirit, he foresaw that the brothers, who were carrying provisions for the monastery on a ship from the farmsteads, were in danger from a storm. The saint went to the ship because it was not far from the monastery, and immediately the storm stopped and there was complete calm. Falling at his sacred feet, the brothers said: – Most Holy Father, we believe that whatever you ask God, He will give you. Therefore, we ask you to pray to the Lord, as one who has boldness towards Him, so that we continue to sail safely and deliver provisions to the monastery without loss. – If you follow the prayer rule, do not indulge in idle talk, utter shameful and unworthy words, then the Lord will easily hear you and deliver you from all circumstances. Then, kneeling, he raised his eyes and hands to Heaven and secretly prayed for a long time. Rising, he blessed the gaff that was on the ship three times and said: “Brothers, always be sure to place this gaff in a clean place, and when danger occurs, lower it into the sea, and then you will sail in safety.” Since then, this miracle happened every time they were in danger at sea. As soon as a storm occurred, then, reverently calling on the name of the Lord and the saint, the monks lowered the hook into the sea, after which the sea calmed down. The monks revered that hook so much that during the incense service they burned that hook too, imagining that they were seeing a saint. When a storm arose at sea, the brothers shouted: – Lower, lower the “patriarch” into the sea so that the storm stops. As a valuable treasure, this hook was kept in the monastery for more than one hundred and fifty years. Having reached a very old age (ninety years old) and knowing from a revelation from the Lord that the time had come for him to go over to the Desired Christ, the saint called all the brethren and told them about his departure, commanding them to strictly follow the rules of monastic life and strive with all their might in order to be worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. All the brothers bitterly mourned their orphanhood. And the two brothers, who out of ignorance had previously reviled him, wept inconsolably, asking him for forgiveness. Having instructed and consoled them, the saint gave his blessing and said to those present: “My brothers, if you have any spiritual request, ask before I commit my spirit to the Lord.” And everyone answered: “All-Holy Father, give us your prayers in writing, we will read them at the burial of each monk, so that he receives absolution.” Obedient to the end, the saint did not despise their request, but, having prayed for it to God, with hot tears he said to his disciple Joasaph: “Son, write down on paper what I say, so that my words remain as a constant consolation for the brethren.” When Joasaph wrote down the prayers of permission, the saint said to him: “I am going to the Desired God, and you, child, go to Constantinople and do as I told you. There you will receive the crown of martyrdom and will rejoice in Heaven forever.” Then, having received the forgiveness of the brethren, the patriarch received communion of the Most Pure Mysteries and gave up his blessed soul into the hands of God. This happened on the eleventh of August. All the brothers cried that they had lost their good shepherd, and all the fathers from the monasteries and monasteries, who learned about the death of Niphon, rushed to the monastery to kiss the sacred relics. Many people gathered for the funeral, an All-Night Vigil was served, and the next morning, with great triumph, the bright lamp of the universe, the adamantine of patience, courageous in dangers and trials, tempted like gold in a crucible, and having endured everything for the love of the Lord, was buried. This is how the ever-blessed Niphon lived his life and in such exploits, struggles and virtues he shone in the universe. He, being the Patriarch, revived many Armenians, Jews and Turks in Divine Baptism, and through divine and melancholy teachings he brought countless saved people to the Lord. He sent his disciples to God wearing martyr's crowns. So, after the death of the saint, blessed Joasaph came to Constantinople and, according to the commandment of the saint, boldly preached the Holy Trinity before the Hagarians, for which he was betrayed by them to terrible torment, and, according to the prophecy of the saint, he received the crown of martyrdom. And now the time has come to tell about what happened in Wallachia, as the divine Niphon predicted. As soon as the saint left there, great confusion and great temptations arose in the Wallachian Church from the clergy themselves and from the archons. Due to strong winds, drought and terrible famine began in the country, and only then did everyone understand that this was a punishment from God for driving away the saint. Then the ruler Radul sent to look for him to all ends of the earth, but did not find him, as Niphon had predicted. After the death of the saint, Radulus fell ill with some terrible incurable disease: his whole body was pitted and emitted an unbearable stench, so that no one could get close to him. So, in great torment, he died and was buried in the monastery of St. Nicholas, called Distant, which he himself built. After his burial, to the horror of those present, the grave shook for three days, just like that of Queen Eudoxia in the time of John Chrysostom. Everyone was in fear, for they remembered that all this happened according to the prophecy of Saint Niphon. The good Neang, the spiritual son of the saint, was also in danger, as he had predicted to him. He was threatened by the tyrant hospodars who ruled after the death of Radul: first Mikhnas, and then Vladul. But, according to the prophecy of the saint, Neang, through his intercession, not only got rid of all dangers, but, at the request of the people, became the ruler of all Ungrovlahia. Neang, who saw that all the prophecies of his spiritual father had come true, reflecting on his Divine teachings, was inflamed with love for God and wished to transfer the holy relics of Niphon to Wallachia so that his country, punished by disasters from God, and he himself would receive a blessing from them. He especially wanted Radul, whom the saint had cursed, to receive the blessing. Thus, Neang became like Theodosius, who, for the sake of his mother Eudoxia, transferred the relics of St. John Chrysostom from Kukuz, for for Neang the divine Niphon was the “new Chrysostom.” The Lord sent the abbots of two monasteries and two archons to the Holy Mountain, to the Dionysiatus Monastery, with a letter to the hierarchy and many gifts. Arriving at the monastery, the envoys gave the letter to the abbot. When it was read aloud, all the brothers were silent for a long time. Then one of the elders addressed the messengers with the following words: “All-honorable fathers, abbots and pious archons, we cannot despise the command of the ruler, nor stretch out our hands on the tomb of the saint. We, unfortunate ones, will not be able to bear the loss of such a treasure, which serves as the consolation of our monastery. Because just as during his life Saint Niphon was our savior and guardian, so now, after his death, his sacred relics give us great consolation in all the sorrows and oppression that we constantly experience from the wicked, and in other troubles to which we are exposed. You see in what a difficult and dangerous place we live, having no other consolation except the holy relics of St. Niphon, who labored in our monastery. And if now you take them and take them to another place, this will cause unheard-of sadness and suffering for everyone.” - Reverend fathers, listen to us and do according to the word of our ruler. Bless the transfer of the holy relics and choose two of you who will go with us. We promise that the Lord will send you great help, provide your monastery with many benefits, and a little later will return the holy relics back. – We don’t dare to dig, do it yourself as you wish. Then one of the archons, with the rank of great logothete, took a spade and, crossing himself, said: “With the faith and piety of my sovereign, I will do this and, I hope, through the intercession of the saint I will not suffer any harm.” He began to dig, and when he reached the holy relics (O Thy ineffable wonders, Christ!), an indescribable fragrance filled the air. Taking the holy relics, the monks placed them in a shrine and brought them into the church, which was filled with a wonderful aroma. All the brethren gathered and served the All-Night Vigil. This event was heard in nearby cells, monasteries and monasteries, so many fathers came to kiss the holy relics with faith and reverence. Wanting to glorify the saint even after his death for his extraordinary ascetic labors and hardships, Almighty God showed a miracle. A certain deaf-mute monk came to kiss the holy relics, and as soon as he approached them, a miracle happened. He began to speak unhindered and, thanking the Lord and the saint, he spoke about this miracle everywhere. Another brother, blind in both eyes, led by a guide, also came to kiss the relics. Having rubbed his eyes near the holy relics, he regained his sight. Saint Niphon performed many other miracles, which I am skipping for the sake of brevity. However, the little that I have described shows what boldness the saint had towards God. Three days later, having taken the holy relics, the envoys, together with several monks of the monastery, set off for Wallachia. Having crossed the Danube, they warned the ruler, and he immediately sent bishops, priests, deacons and monks to meet the relics of the saint. When the holy relics reached Bucharest, the pious ruler himself came out to meet them, along with many people, with lamps and incense. Hugging the reliquary, he kissed the holy relics with reverence and tears. Having lifted the reliquary with the relics onto his shoulders, he, together with other archons, brought them to the Dalsky Monastery and placed them on the grave of Radul. They began to serve the All-Night Vigil, fervently praying to the saint that he would forgive the lawlessness of the unfortunate Radul. In the middle of the night, at the height of the vigil, Lord Neang fell asleep and saw in a dream that the tomb of Radulus had opened, and his completely black body appeared from it, from all of whose members pus flowed and an unbearable stench spread. Unable to bear it, Neang began to fervently ask the Lord and Saint Niphon to have mercy on the unfortunate Radul. And after a while I saw that water flowed from the saint’s shrine. Niphon washed the fetid body of Radulus with this water, and it became light. Then the tomb of Radulus closed again. Saint Niphon approached Neang and said: “Behold, child, I heard your prayer. I just command you, always be at peace with your people and do not forget to send back to the monastery my relics for the comfort of the brothers who labor there.” Then the saint again lay down in the shrine. Having woken up, the God-loving Neang remained in amazement for a long time, reflecting on what he saw. When he finally came to his senses, he said loudly: “Glory to You, the Heavenly King, who glorified His servant, beloved Saint Niphon, with ineffable glory.” The chants had already ended, and the ruler told everyone about his dream, and everyone glorified God. The next morning, when the Divine Liturgy was celebrated, many people gathered from the countries neighboring Wallachia, they brought with them countless sick people who, kissing the relics of the saint with tears and faith, gained health through prayer to God. The lame began to walk, the blind began to see, those suffering from seizures were healed, and almost every disease was driven away from those who turned to the saint with faith. Since miracles were constantly performed from the relics of the saint, the ruler convened a Local Council, at which it was established to celebrate the memory of the saint on August 11, the day of his death, and a service to the saint was compiled. After this, the God-fearing Neang ordered the casting of an expensive golden reliquary, inlaid with precious stones and decorated with enamel, on the lid of which an image of the saint was placed, and next to it, by order of the ruler, Neang was kneeling, and the relics of the saint were placed in the reliquary. In Wallachia, Neang left only the holy head and hand of Niphon, and, with the consent of the fathers, gave them in exchange the all-honorable head of the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John, in a golden casket decorated with precious stones, which Dionysiates sent to the monastery along with the relics of Saint Niphon. The Lord also provided the fathers of the monastery with great material assistance, erecting many buildings in the monastery, where he is constantly remembered as a ktitor. During his lifetime, the ever-blessed Neang always kept the holy head and hand of the divine Niphon with him, wherever he went, for the sake of sanctification and the aversion of any enemy. After his death, the shrine was donated to the amazingly beautiful Artzes Monastery, which was built by the ruler himself, and where they now remain, to the glory of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Brief life and exploits of our venerable and God-bearing father Nektarios, who labored in the 15th century on Holy Mount Athos, in the monastery of the Kareevs, in the cell of the Archangels, called Igaria This divine Nectarius was from the area now called Betolia. His parents were righteous and pious people. One day, the saint’s mother, while on the threshing floor, fell asleep and saw in a dream the Most Pure Mother of God, who commanded her to take her husband and children and leave that country as quickly as possible and take refuge somewhere, for the Hagarians wanted to attack their area and turn the inhabitants into slavery. Having woken up, she immediately ran home, told her husband about what she had seen in her dream, and, taking the children, they left, hiding, as it seemed to them, safely. And indeed, the barbarians soon plundered their country and the surrounding areas. After some time, the parents of the divine Nectarius came out of hiding, preserved unharmed by the cover and intercession of the Mother of God, whom they thanked with all their hearts, at the same time grieving and rejoicing. They grieved because of the invasion of barbarians and the kidnapping of Christians, which was allowed to the inhabitants for their sins, but they rejoiced because of the extraordinary salvation that they were granted through the intercession of the Mother of God. By agreement with his wife, the father of the Monk Nektarios, being already in old age, taking with him Nektarios and his second son, left the world and everything in the world, and came to the monastery of the Holy Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian, which was located at the foot of the mountain. In monasticism he was called Pachomius. He began to remain silent there, praying to God, paying attention to himself and raising his sons in the fear and admonition of the Lord, as the divine Paul commands (Eph. 6:4). This is how Pachomius lived in the monastery, and God created such a miracle during his stay there. The Christians who lived near the monastery had a custom of giving part of the fruits collected on the ground, at the discretion of each, to the monastery for the maintenance of the monks who were there, so that every year they could commemorate the holy unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian. When the day of their memory arrived, the monks and Christians of nearby villages, after the service, solemnly celebrated this holiday, when suddenly they ran out of wine. Elder Pachomius lit a candle and went with the children to wash the vessel. When he wanted to pick up the vessel, he discovered - lo and behold! - that it is full of fragrant wine. With joy and surprise, the elder glorified God, who glorified the holy unmercenaries, and for their sake performed such a miracle. Nicholas, the son of Elder Pachomius, who was later named Nektarios, and who will now be discussed, from childhood being rational and enlightened by God, seeing the miracle that happened and remembering the dream that his mother had (about salvation from the barbarians through the intercession of the Mother of God), was wounded in his heart by the love of God and longed to enjoy the desired Christ. With an ardent feeling he wanted to devote himself to God, and “he who seeks finds,” as the Lord says in the Gospel (Matthew 7:8). Forgetting about everything carnal, he went to the Holy Mountain, where he met a very virtuous old man named Dionysius, whom everyone called Jagaris. Being the son of a senator and first archon of Constantinople, Dionysius loved our Lord Jesus Christ with all his soul. He left wealth, glory, nobility of the family and everything that earthly man considers to be happiness, put on poor and beggarly monastic clothes and went into obedience to the elder Philotheus, a simpleton in words, but very skilled in virtue, and the elder led him along the path of virtue. Nicholas clung to this wondrous Dionysius Jagaris, fervently asking to be allowed to stay. What did the wondrous Dionysius, the most compassionate and philanthropic soul, do? Did he really reject Nicholas for his ignorance or treat him with contempt because of his poverty? No, but, taking pity on him, the elder bowed to his request and, bringing him to his spiritual father, Elder Philotheus, introduced Nicholas. Decorated with the gift of clairvoyance and foreseeing the future according to God's Providence, having made a prayer, Philotheus cordially greeted the young man, calling him by name: - Do you, child Nikolai, son of Pachomius, want to live with us? - How do you know me, honest father? – God our Father, who sent you to us, He revealed to me about you. Hearing this, Nikolai was moved and with great reverence and readiness went into obedience to the elder. Soon the elder dressed him in monastic robes and, with his hair cut, Nicholas cut off all worldly thoughts. Having taken off his worldly clothes, he took off along with them the “garments of skin” (Gen. 3:21), which we received as a result of disobedience, and became the monk Nektarios. But the monk did not stop there, as most monks do today, who think that monasticism consists only of putting on the schema and black robes and do not care about the virtues that monks should do. They also do not think about the fact that when putting on the angelic monastic schema, it is necessary to observe the canons and strictness of monastic life, imitating the life of the Angels. But this is not what the divine Nectarius did. Having accepted the angelic schema, he immediately began to strive with all his might in the performance of monastic affairs, imitating the angelic life, subordinating the flesh to the spirit through obedience, cutting off the will, humility, fasting, unceasing prayer, vigil and all other virtues befitting monks. However, the envious devil could not bear this; Watching how Nectarius succeeded in virtues, he began to fight against him with his thoughts. He tried to deprive him of communication with such a virtuous old man, so that later, as a young and helpless old man, he would be plunged into the net of sin. The bad one knew that while the young man was with the old man, he would not be able to catch him, because he relied on the prayers and fatherly instructions of the old man. But the demon still could not catch Nectarius with this mental battle, because God protected the young man. And what did the all-evil one come up with then? He inflamed the heart of his brother and novice of the same elder with envy, and turned him against Nektarios so much that he openly shouted: “Either drive Nektarios away, or one of the two must be killed.” Hearing this, the elder, together with Dionysius Jagaris, became very frightened and began to convince him with words from the Holy Scriptures and the works of the holy fathers so that he would stop envy and malice against Nektarios. Sometimes they calmed the passion of anger with peaceful and meek words, sometimes they frightened the novice with the unquenchable fire of torment to which envious and brother-haters would be subjected, but they achieved nothing and asked Nektarios to leave their community for a while, hoping that this would bring the envious brother to his senses. Having blessed Nektarios, the elders sent him to the then archpriest of the Holy Mountain, Daniel, with whom he was to spend some time until the Lord arranged everything. So the divine Nectarius came to the priest and was received with joy, for he was virtuous and had experience of monastic life. Prot fell in love with him very much and continued to teach him the rules of monastic life. While Nectarius was with the archpriest, Philotheus, who was already a very old man, reposed and went to the Desired Lord. The wondrous Dionysius Iagiris, unable to bear the brother-hatred of that brother, wanted to live with Nektarios. He also invited him because they were both children of the same spiritual father and elder. And they labored together for a long time, as we said earlier. Having found a small monastery, which was consecrated in honor of the ethereal Heavenly Powers or Kofu, they received permission from the archpriest of the Holy Mountain, Daniel, to settle there. The ascetics began to live in this monastery, pleasing God, earning bread by handicrafts and helping all those in need to the best of their ability. And that brother-hater, remaining unrepentant, wandered around the Holy Mountain like a madman, and then went out into the world. There he spent a dissolute and intemperate life and ended it by throwing out his soul on the road, having neither a home nor a roof over his head, and even without the last prayer that is read over all Christians. Do you see, brothers, what evil hatred and disobedience are? Hatred and envy blind the eye of the soul, that is, the mind of the one who is obsessed with them. Disobedience separates a person from the servants and friends of God, deprives him of their help and protection, and, like a blind man, plunges him into the depths of destruction. Let us hate disobedience and hatred with all our might, if any of us does not want to be separated from the glory of God. Let us love obedience and love for our brothers, so that through them we can enjoy the Kingdom of God. That's all about it. Blessed Dionysius Jagaris, having lived a praiseworthy and reverend life in all virtues and especially in humility, in old age went to the Desired God. The Divine Nectarius buried his remains with reverence and honor. From that time on, he was in deep sadness, for he no longer had communication with the ever-blessed Dionysius, and regretted that he himself did not go to the Desired Christ along with the wondrous Philotheus and blessed Dionysius, and, while on earth, was deprived of the opportunity to enjoy communication with them. Nektarios, according to the apostle, “forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead” (Phil. 3:13), did not consider his own exploits and virtues perfect, but tried to achieve more. The ascetic constantly ascended from strength to strength, adding desire to desire and exploits to exploits. Therefore, seeing his intentions, God did not despise the saint, but wanting to give him a greater crown in Heaven, he allowed him to fall into many terrible bodily illnesses, which the blessed one endured with extreme generosity and gratitude. Having lived a truly reverend life and worthy of saints, he was honored with a peaceful and godly death, betraying his blessed soul into the hands of God in 1500 from the Nativity of Christ on the fifth day of December, and was numbered in Heaven with his beloved Rev. Father Philotheus and Dionysius. The disciples buried him with all reverence, and four years later his holy relics were found, from which an indescribable fragrance emanated. In the northern part of the church, his most honorable relics were placed in a beautiful tomb with reverence and honor. His holy face was depicted on the icon, which was placed above the relics. Many who came here with reverence felt the spiritual fragrance from the holy relics, and received the sanctification of soul and body, for the glory of Christ and our Lord and as proof of the godly life of the Monk Nektarios, through whose prayers may we also be worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. Amen. Martyrdom of the Holy New Martyrs Gabriel and Kirmidol, who accomplished their feat in Egypt in 1522 These holy new martyrs were born in Egypt, their parents were Christians and gave them a good upbringing. Gabriel and Kirmidol were martyred in their homeland during the time of Sultan Suleiman, son of Osman. Here's how it happened. In those days, the ruler of Egypt was a certain emir Haer Mek. The wicked came to him and slandered the holy martyrs, saying: “There are two Christian youths here, not only are they of other faiths, but they are also doing a lot of bad things to us; Since their houses are located next to the mosque, they throw garbage into it, pour out dirty water and other impurities. None of us can reprimand them because they are secretaries of big bosses. They do this every day and we, unable to bear this shame, came to you with a complaint, and you do as you please.” These nasty and wicked ones spoke so out of envy, because the young men were of noble birth, succeeded in many matters and were worthy secretaries. They were naturally capable, well educated, and raised by their parents in good morals, which is why they were envied and slandered before the terrible ruler. Hearing the complaint, the emir immediately sent soldiers who arrested the young men and brought them to him. Seeing how beautiful and young the boys were, the emir began to flatter them with gentle words and ask them about their faith. The young men freely and with great boldness told him that they were Christians and believed in our Lord Jesus Christ. Finding that they did not give in to persuasion to change their faith, the emir ordered the soldiers to take them to the judges. After dragging them like villains, cruelly insulting and inhumanly beating them, the soldiers brought them before the judges. They again asked them about their faith, and without fear, with cheerful faces, they firmly answered them the same as they had told the emir. The Hagarians, who had gathered for the trial in great numbers because they wanted to know the outcome of the case, heard their speeches and became angry and all shouted as one for the martyrs to renounce their faith in Christ and embrace Islam. But the young men answered with great fearlessness: “We accepted our Christian faith from our ancestors, and we will not renounce it, but will remain with it to the end. We despise and abhor your faith, for it is false and vain.” Hearing this, the judges became angry and said: “If you do what you are ordered, then you will avoid many torments and save your life, and you will be honored with great honors and glory. If you do not accept our faith, you will be given over to a painful death.” During this trial, while the judges were talking, the mother of Saint Kirmidol came to see and console her son, who was in such danger, but as soon as the Hagarites saw her, they pounced on her like wild animals, severely beat her, tore her clothes and drove her out of the trial. Seeing this, blessed Gabriel stood in the middle of them and said: “O unrighteous and lawless judges! Nothing will separate us from the love and faith of Christ - not wealth, not fame, not love for parents, not torment, not even terrible and painful death. This is our neck, and do whatever you want with us.” Kirmidol answered in a similar way: “And I agree with my comrade, and am ready to die for my Christ.” Then one of the Hagarians present, angry with the martyr for these words, struck him in the chest with a sword and threw him to the ground. Another arap, rushing at him with fury, kicked him with all his might in the chest, which left the young man half dead. The third, taking a huge stone in his hands, hit the martyr on the head, splitting it into two parts. But even this was not enough for the inhumans. One of them ran up and tore out the young man’s eyes with his fingers. Thus, the ever-memorable Kirmidol was honored with a blessed death and received a martyr’s crown from the Crown-Giver Christ. Blessed Gabriel was thrown to the ground by one of the soldiers and, striking with a sword, cut off his right shoulder, and then his honest head. So the ever-blessed Gabriel received the crown of martyrdom. After the martyrs had been so cruelly and inhumanly killed, ropes were tied to their feet and the bodies, by order of the judges, were dragged to a place called Himet Ilguman, that is, to the military tents. Having built a large fire, the bodies of the martyrs were thrown there. Two days passed, but the bodies were not burned. Then the lawless ones lit an even larger fire, added wood, added oil and again placed the relics of the holy martyrs in the fire. After the fire went out and the ashes cooled, the Hagaran slaves collected what was left of the bones of the holy martyrs and sold them to Christians. The holy head of the martyr Gabriel was first secretly taken by one of the soldiers and sold to a certain Christian Elijah, a goldsmith, the son of Mufra. Taking the head, Elijah gave it to Joachim, the most blessed Patriarch of Alexandria. Everyone who bought a piece of the holy relics of the martyrs gave them to the Patriarch. Having collected all the particles of the relics with reverence, he anointed them with fragrant aromas and placed them in a shrine, keeping it in his cell. After many days, the Patriarch took the reliquary and, with many candles, hymns and chants, carried it and placed it in the church of our holy father Nicholas. The relics remain there to this day, performing amazing miracles with Divine grace to those who come to them with faith, reverence and kiss them. These saints were approximately twenty years old when they suffered torment. They accomplished this good deed in the name of Christ on the eighteenth day of October. Through their prayers may God have mercy and save us, for He is Good and Lover of Mankind. Amen. The life and exploits of our venerable and God-bearing father Hierotheus This blessed Hierotheus, who shone forth in his feat as another Elijah, was born in 1686 from the Nativity of Christ in one of the villages of Kalamata, in the region of Morea, from pious and wealthy parents Dimos and Asimina. When he was still in his mother’s womb, she asked one virtuous ascetic, who was then in their village, whom everyone revered as a saint and prophet: “Who will be born to me?” He replied: “Go home, you will give birth to a good son, pleasing to God.” When the boy was already out of infancy and he was seven years old, his parents sent him to study. After a short time, to the surprise of those around him, he studied the entire cycle of general church sciences, so that he read and understood any book that came into his hands. Having from the beginning an senile mind and a strong will, he did not indulge in childish amusements, like other children. His heart burned with love for the sciences, only about them he thought day and night, believing that with their help he would easily understand the Holy Scriptures. He heard that the holy fathers of our Church, especially Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian, encourage young men to study the sciences. While still in Kalamata, he sufficiently learned the ancient Greek and Latin languages, because Latin is no less useful for any knowledge than Greek. In his studies, he was greatly helped, along with jealousy and ardor, by mental acuity, memory, and the ability to reason, that is, those natural gifts that, combined with diligence, contribute to the greater success of those who possess them. The monk succeeded in his studies, but his parents wanted to marry him, wanting to see him happy in this life. Many, when they marry their children, think that they will be happy, having a wife, children and other worldly goods, but they do not know vainly that it is better to encourage them to virginity, which is freedom and greater happiness, than marriage, which is bonds. As the apostle says, married people “will have sorrows in the flesh,” that is, sorrows and misfortunes (1 Cor. 7:28). While in these worries, the parents prepared for marriage through betrothal. Blessed Hierotheus was sad and indignant because the engagement took place against his will. However, he obeyed the commandment of his parents, according to the commandment of Scripture: “Children, be obedient to your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord” (Col. 3: 20), but at the same time he did not cease from the bottom of his heart to ask God and His Providence to prevent marriage in order to remain a virgin for life and have time to freely practice the sciences. Seeing the piety that the divine Hierotheus had towards God from his youth, the Lord fulfilled his desire, for “He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him” (Ps. 145:19). Sixteen days after the engagement, the Lord took both parents into another life, not because he wished them death, but such a decision was fair for His inscrutable judgments. It was in this way that the saint was able to maintain his virginity and succeed in the sciences. In order not to give cause for suspicion to the parents of the girl engaged to him that he wanted to leave, and so that they would not interfere with him, the monk left the doors of his house open and went to the island of Zakynthos, without taking any of his property with him. He stayed there for a short time, devoting all his time to the sciences, and then rich relatives who lived on the same island invited him to go to the West at their expense to study philosophy. But the ever-blessed Hierotheus, having learned that on the Holy Mountain there are men who, like bees, produce the honey of virtues, chose to go there to try this honey, prudently thinking that if later in the West he encountered some bitterness - either in relation to dogmas or in relation to morals, he would be able to overcome it with the sweetness of the virtues. Arriving at the Holy Mountain, Hierotheus settled with one hermit in the cell of St. Artemy, where, in silence, he zealously devoted himself to reading the Holy Scriptures and the lives of the saints. Convinced from them that hermits, even after twenty, and after forty, and even after sixty years spent in the desert, are seduced by the devil, he began to look for another way to save the soul, shorter and safer, but could not come up with anything other than martyrdom for Christ. But martyrdom must also be according to rank and according to the law; you cannot just thoughtlessly go and give your life, as if reviling the wicked, thus asking for death for yourself. The divine Paul prevents such martyrdom, saying: “But even if someone strives, he will not be crowned if he struggles unlawfully” (2 Tim. 2:5). The cause of martyrdom must be the wicked themselves, then it will be legal torture for Christ. After these reflections, the blessed one came to the Iversky Monastery, put on a cassock there and, accompanying the abbot of the monastery, came with him to the capital. There were other brothers among the companions. The monk thought that, seeing a Christian monk in the city, the non-believers would find an excuse and beat him, cursing him, and he would resist rationally in order to bring the torment to an end. He often prayed about this, wanting to find out whether this was the will of the Lord, so that his goal would be crowned with a good result. Hierotheus stayed among the wicked for quite a long time. But if his other comrades were reviled and beaten by opponents of the faith, they did not touch him at all, although he often gave some reason for bullying. Apparently, Divine Providence kept it for the benefit of many others. Seeing that his desire was not being fulfilled, Hierotheus one day, with great sadness in his heart, left the city and headed with his companions to the northern reaches of the country. From there he returned to Wallachia and began to study with Mark of Cyprus, a teacher at the local school, where he was ordained a deacon by Metropolitan Auxenius of Sofia. Some time later, Hierotheus returned to Constantinople and was taught philosophical sciences by Iakumis from Argos, a teacher at the local school. However, the monk was not content with these sciences and went to Venice, learning that they taught there more than what he had already learned, and through the study of new sciences he would be able to bear greater fruit. Then Hierotheus returned to the Holy Mountain again, having already learned many sciences and philosophy, and settled in the Iveron Monastery, in the cell of Khagi, the first stage of his initial exploits. The monk leaves the external school and comes to the spiritual, where one can easily learn the true art of arts and the science of sciences - success according to God, the all-desired virtue. And immediately, with the help of spiritual reasoning, which he constantly learned from the Holy Scriptures, the monk began to test what he had learned, discarding the useless and collecting the useful in his spiritual granaries. So he began to joyfully indulge in thoughts about God. Knowing that in order to purify the mind with such reflections and elevate it to Heavenly contemplations, it is necessary to exercise other virtues, both physical and spiritual, the monk began to strive with great zeal in the strictest fasting, vigil, and prayer, for which he was also awarded the divine gift of the priesthood at the age of thirty from Neocaesarea Metropolitan Jacob, who then labored in the same Iversky Monastery. After this, the monk continued to apply exploits to exploits, and sweat to sweat, trying to become “an example for the faithful in word, in life, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Tim. 4:12). Knowing that fasting is the basis of all virtues and that the Lord pleases those who are hungry now, for they will be satisfied (Luke 6:21), that is, voluntary hunger, or involuntary, but endured with gratitude, the saint sometimes ate his barley bread, and even that without salt, once every two - three, and sometimes four days. Sometimes, instead of bread, he ate beans that were so rotten that he forced himself to swallow them with great difficulty. Once denounced by his student Meletius, who considered him a suicide, he said: “No suicide is one who eats nothing and dies of hunger, but I give him (that is, the belly) food regardless of whether he likes it or not.” The monk always collected crumbs from the table, moistened them with water or wine, put them in a bag and kept them until they dried out and began to emit an unpleasant smell. Only after that did he eat them. Very often he ate what is usually used to smear stove utensils and then throw them away. This is how he consoled himself after many days of fasting. During Lent, he ate once a week, trying to outdo the ancient ascetics themselves, and went so far as to eat nothing at all for fifteen days. If he had to eat with others, then he ate everything that a monk is allowed to eat, so that others would not see his virtue, and in order to humble his pride, according to St. John Climacus. But even in these rare cases, Hierotheus ate very moderately. He slept just as moderately, following the words of Arsenius the Great: “It is enough for a monk to sleep one hour a day. If he is an ascetic, then let him practice these two virtues so that he can easily, as if on wings, ascend to other, higher virtues.” When sleep was already overwhelming the ascetic, he walked around the monastery and prayed with tears and sighs: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” This is what the blessed one had to do, and he tried, if possible, and there were no obstacles from people, not to abandon this prayer either with his mind or with his lips. From his excessive ascetic labors, Hierotheus became so weak that the distance from the shore to the monastery was covered with two or three stops, although the path was short and the road was smooth. Thanks to his labors, the monk reached both blissful weeping and joyful tears, which elevate him to the heights of humility and self-contempt. At the end of his life, he also came to know God-like love and was no longer afraid of losing it, according to the apostle: “love never fails” (1 Cor. 13:8). Therefore, if some beggar asked Hierotheus for alms, then he, having neither gold nor silver, took off his clothes and gave them away. Sometimes he would give the beggar his night blanket as well. At the monastery, having learned about this, they gave him another, but he gave it back again. Because of this love, he agreed to the persistent requests of the Scopelites, to whose island he crossed with many other monks due to a terrible plague. Having lived on the island for eight years, he taught various subjects in schools, preached in churches, received confession, and thus fulfilled in practice the prophetic saying: “The mouth of the righteous will learn wisdom, and his tongue will speak judgment” (Ps. 36:30). From physical and spiritual virtues, he rose to the contemplation of Heavenly things, not at all wanting to know about earthly things. Constantly illuminated by immaterial phenomena, the monk rejoiced with inexpressible joy and, contemplating divine beauty, became Divine by grace, although he was still in the body. Mental contemplation of God and the Jesus Prayer were replaced by his study of the Holy Scriptures. When the monk stopped doing this, he gave lessons or taught moral teaching, seasoned with salt. However, after some time, wanting to enjoy deep silence and indulge in Divine contemplation, in order to more fully unite with God (and perhaps foreseeing his imminent death) and avoid human glory, the monk, with one of his beloved disciples, Hieromonk Meletius, who himself was very virtuous and seemed to reflect the exploits of the blessed one, Saint Hierotheos goes to the completely deserted Jura Island. This island has always served as a convenient place of exile for kings. Having stayed here for a short time in asceticism together with the other two brothers, the monk fell ill and a few days later, on September thirteenth, 1745, he left this temporary life and moved to the eternal, having lived on earth for fifty-nine years. He headed towards that joyful Glory and Light, for the sake of which he had undertaken excessive labors and exploits here, and left the brothers who were with him, and especially the mentioned Meletius, in immeasurable sadness. After Meletius buried the monk, he returned to the Iveron Monastery again, and reappeared on the island only to transfer the relics of the monk. The holy relics of Hierotheus exuded Divine grace. Meletius took the honest head with the jaw and brought them to the Iveron monastery, where they are kept and revered to this day. The saint not only during his life was honored to receive from Christ the power of miracles, but also after death an indescribable fragrance emanates from his relics and miracles occur, some of which were witnessed by two hierodeacons and one layman. They came to the Iveron Monastery to the venerable Meletius, a disciple of the monk, and asked him to bring them the venerable head of the ever-blessed elder for worship. When Meletius took the head out of the casket, a wonderful miracle happened: the whole cell was filled with such a subtle and pleasant fragrance that it became clear that this was a gift from Heaven. Those who came were amazed, because they had never smelled such a wonderful aroma before and talked about it everywhere. Next, I will give only a small testimony about the grace that the monk received. In his youth, when the monk was struggling in a good deed, one condemnation-loving monk, envious of his chastity, condemned him, and immediately experienced Divine wrath. By the judgments of God both his body and his lips are swollen - this is how “lying lips that speak evil against the righteous are punished!” (Ps. 30:19) Moreover, his lips were swollen so much that his friends could neither put food into his mouth nor pour in any drink. Having opened his mouth with a knife, they poured a little juice into his mouth, and this is how he lived until the gentle monk, whom no one called, himself appeared to him and, having prayed to the Lord, healed him. The same thing happened to another monk, who also slandered the saint, and he was punished, and he received the same healing through the prayers of the monk. After the death of the saint, a certain Callinicus, a monk of the Iveron Monastery, was in Constantinople; he had with him part of the holy relics of the monk; At this time, one woman fell ill: her eyes became filled with bile, her vision deteriorated and the unfortunate woman experienced terrible pain. The monk healed her miraculously with the help of these relics, through prayers to the Lord, and she began to glorify God and thank the monk, for before that she had spent a lot of money on doctors without any benefit. Another wife lay bedridden and in pain for three years. The same Callinicus, with the help of relics, relieved her of these pains and raised her from bed. A certain baby cried and gnashed his teeth incessantly for a whole year. He also received healing from the relics through prayers to the Lord. And on Holy Mount Athos, with the help of holy relics, some were healed of bodily illnesses, and others were freed from toothache. This is the power of the prayer of the righteous, and especially after death, for he prays to the Lord with great boldness for those who call on him with faith. This, brethren, is the life of our venerable father Hierotheos. This is how he fought, worked and won, so that he, along with the Apostle Paul, can boldly say: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; But now there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day” (2 Tim. 4:7–8). For he, too, by his own will, became a bloodless martyr who gave himself up for Christ, and as a saint he endured many sufferings and oppressions, truly becoming a role model in virtue for everyone, as the Lord commands: “So let your light shine before people, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). The Venerable Hierotheos truly honored in his times God Himself, the Orthodox people, his homeland and his monastery. Now careless carnalists cannot say that the times have already passed when there were saints to whom God gave His grace, and who piously, to the point of bleeding, fought against sin. Most Divine Father, just as all your life you have been more concerned about the benefit of your brothers than about your own, so now, standing before the Throne of God, intercede, we pray, with the Lord for us sinners who are still traveling on this stormy sea of ​​life, still preoccupied with this earthly marketplace, still fighting in this dangerous mental field. Intercede with the Lord - may we land in a quiet harbor, may this market end with success and profit, may we defeat our invisible enemies and worthily accept the crown of victory from the Hero of Christ, and may we glorify you with an annual celebration on the day of your memory, and in the Trinity we will continually offer services and thanksgiving to the One God, to Him belongs all glory, power and praise in eyelids. Amen. A remarkable account of the miracle performed by St. George, and of the Saracen who saw a vision in his church One day the Emir of Syria sent his nephew on business to the city of Diospolis, which the Saracens call Rebli. And in this city there is an amazingly beautiful church of St. George. Seeing the church from afar, the Saracen ordered his servants to take his things to the vestibule of the church, where he decided to stop, and bring his twelve camels there. The priests who served in this church asked him not to commit this heinous act. However, the messenger ordered the animals to be brought inside with threats, but as soon as the camels were brought into the church, they immediately fell and died. Seeing such a sign, the emir's nephew marveled at the great strength of Saint George and ordered the bodies of the camels to be taken out of the church. The next day, when the priest came to serve in the church, the Saracen from the vestibule wanted to observe what he would do. Our philanthropic God opened the Saracen’s intelligent eyes and showed him a terrible vision. At that moment, when the priest was performing proskomedia, the Saracen saw that he had “stabbed” a small child, poured the blood into the holy Chalice, and cut the body into pieces and laid it on the holy paten. And then, during Communion, the infidel saw how the priest gave the flesh and blood of a baby to the people, and was surprised. At the end of the Divine Liturgy, the priest brought the best prosphora as a gift to the Saracen. He asked what it was, and the priest answered: “My lord, these are the prosphora at which we serve in our church.” Then the Saracen exclaimed with anger: “Did you serve for them today? Didn’t I see how you killed a child, poured his blood into a cup, and cut his body into pieces and put it on a paten, and then gave it to the people? Didn’t I see everything you did, you nasty killer?” Hearing these words, the priest trembled and, falling at the feet of the Saracen, said: - May the Lord be glorified, who has vouchsafed you, my lord, to see this terrible Sacrament. I believe in my God that you are a great man, and you are among those saved by Him. Amazed by the words of the priest, the Saracen answered: “Wasn’t everything as I saw it?” – Yes, my lord, this is so, and we believe that the bread and wine that we prepare at the liturgy are the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. But I was never worthy to see this vision, because I am a sinner, and I see before me only bread and wine. Since the Lord and my God have vouchsafed you, my lord, to see this Sacrament, I believe that you are a great man, for only the great fathers of our Church, being highly worthy, saw this wondrous Sacrament. Hearing this and being very surprised, the Saracen thought for a long time, and then, as if rising from sleep, he came to his senses and ordered the servants to go out, saying to the priest: – As I see and verify, the Christian faith is true. Woe to me, who spent my life in the false and vain Saracen faith, truly unclean. But since God wants me to be saved, baptize me so that from now on I will serve God with a clear conscience. “My lord, I do not dare to baptize you, because your uncle is a king, and if he finds out that I baptized you, he will kill me and destroy our churches.” If you want, secretly leave here and go so that no one recognizes you, to the Patriarch of Jerusalem, he will baptize you.” After these words, the Saracen found a hair shirt, put it on and secretly left at night. Having come to the Patriarch of Jerusalem, he fell at his feet and asked him to baptize. After Baptism, on the eighth day, the former Saracen again came to the Patriarch and said: - Now, by the grace of God I became a Christian, what should I do to be saved? - If you want to be saved, go to Mount Sinai, where pious and virtuous monks are found, become a monk and keep the commandments of God. Arriving at Sinai and taking monastic vows, he lived there for three years, achieving a great measure of virtues, after which he began to ask the abbot to let him go to Rebli. Having received permission, he came to the city, to the church of St. George, and met with that God-fearing priest whom we mentioned earlier. He revealed to him who he was and said: “Now, by Divine grace and your favorable prayers, I have become a Christian and a monk, but I have a strong desire to see the Lord Jesus Christ, so I earnestly ask you to fulfill my desire. Having glorified God, the priest answered: - Go to your uncle the emir and confess before him and all the Saracens that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God and God, the Creator of all Creation, that He became man and performed amazing miracles, was crucified, and buried, and rose again on the third day, and ascended into Heaven with glory. Having done this, you will be able to see the Lord with boldness. After this, that blessed monk, having obeyed the divine words of the pious priest, went to the country where his uncle lived. At night, he climbed the minaret of the mosque and began to cry out in a loud voice: “Run here, Saracens, I want to tell you something.” Hearing the call, they ran with candles and, finding the monk, asked what he wanted to tell them. The monk answered them: “What will you give me if I tell you where the emir’s nephew is, who left secretly?” They promised him as much money as he wanted. And then the monk said: “Take me to the emir, I will tell him myself.” They happily took him to the emir, explaining: “This monk knows where your nephew is.” The emir asked him if it was true that he knew the place where his nephew was, and the monk answered: “Yes, I know, because I am your nephew, but now I am a Christian, and I believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the One Divinity, and I confess that the Son of God was incarnate from the Ever-Virgin Mary and performed great miracles in the world, and was crucified, and on the third day rose again, and ascended into Heaven, and sat down.” at the right hand of God the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead.” Hearing these words, his uncle the emir asked in surprise: “What happened to you, unfortunate one, why did you leave your home, wealth, fame, and wander despicably like a beggar? Why don’t you want to return to your faith and confess Muhammad as a prophet, and return to your previous state?” The monk answered: “Everything I had when I was a Saracen was all from the devil. And this hair shirt that I now wear is my praise, and wealth, and the pre-betrothal of the glory that I will enjoy for my true faith in my Christ. But I curse and abhor Mohammed, who deceived you, and his faith.” Feeling sorry for him, the emir said to the Saracens who were with him: “He has gone crazy and does not know what he is saying. Take him out and drive him away." But they objected to him: “Do you want to release the one who cursed our prophet and our faith, and who is worthy of a thousand deaths? Maybe we should also renounce our faith and become Christians?” Fearing that they would rebel against him, the emir allowed them to do whatever they wanted with his nephew. Gnashing their teeth, they seized this blessed monk, took him out of the city and stoned him, while he called on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. So the ever-blessed one died in good confession and immediately, boldly going to the Lord, Whom he so desired, received the crown of martyrdom. But for a long time, every night a bright star shone over the pile of those stones, illuminating the place of martyrdom. Seeing this, the Saracens were surprised. After a long time, the emir finally allowed the Christians to remove the holy relics of the martyr from under the stones. And - lo and behold! – his body was found completely whole and incorrupt, and emitted a strong fragrance. Having kissed him with reverence, the Christians buried the martyr with hymns and psalmody, glorifying our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion forever. Amen. The heart-warming story of Abba Elpidia A certain monk named Elpidius, silent in his cell, was overcome by the sin of negligence and carelessness. And since the battle of carelessness had overcome him for a long time, he left his cell and went to the inner desert called Elos. On the way, he met a very elderly hermit, completely naked, who, seeing Elpidius, ran away from him. The monk Elpidius chased the hermit and asked him to stop. The hermit stood up and, according to custom, said a prayer, and then asked Elpidia: -Who are you, brother, and how did you get here? – I was struggling with the sin of carelessness and went into the desert so that the sin would be removed from me. I wanted to find some servant of God so that he would pray to God for me. And so, the Lord despised my sins and sent me your shrine. I ask you, father, for the sake of the Lord, beg God for me, a sinner, and let me live with you. Having hugged me and prayed to God for me, the hermit said: “It’s impossible to live with me in the desert, child, because this is not given to you by God.” “Tell me, father, for the sake of the Lord, how did you come here to the desert, how many years have you lived, and what gift has God given you?” “I came here almost seventy years ago because I am a sinner and wanted to be saved, and since then, until this day, I have not seen a human face here. Several years ago, through the action of a hater of goodness, I became exalted, thinking that I had achieved a great measure of virtues, surpassing all the desert fathers. However, by Divine Providence the thought came to me to ask God to reveal to me with whom He will number me in His Kingdom, and whether there is anyone on earth similar to me in virtue. I prayed to God with all my soul for seven days in a row, and on the eighth day a voice came to me, telling me that I would be numbered with Sergius of Alexandria, the owner of the brothel. Hearing this, I was very sad and thought: “Woe to you, humble Pyrrhus. Look, you have been working for God in such oppression for so many years, and you will be numbered with the owner of the brothel.” In my exaltation, I thought that this voice was not from God, but from the enemy, and therefore I did not believe it. I began to pray to God for another seven days, and on the eighth, in the same way, I heard a voice: “I will number you with Sergius.” Then I said to myself: “Since God wants to classify me with Sergius, I will not die until I see who this Sergius is.” I immediately went to Alexandria and began to look for Sergius, whom I found sitting in a tavern. He played with harlots and feasted because he was their leader. Then I told him: “Brother, I really want you to show me love and we eat together.” He answered: “As you wish, Abba, let’s eat. Sit down." He immediately ordered the innkeeper to bring their usual food, and I was forced to eat it all after so many years of abstinence in the desert. After dinner, the two of us left the inn and I asked him if he had a house. He answered that there is. Then I said, “Let’s go to your house because I have something to tell you.” When we got home, I said a prayer and said: “Brother, for the Lord’s sake, tell me what good have you done in your life?” Marveling at the question, he replied: “Man of God, you found me in a tavern with harlots over whom I am the master, and still want, as you say, to find out how I live? What good can I do? Since I began to beg and conjure him even more, telling him about the voice that came from Heaven, I forced him to tell about his virtues. Marveling at God’s love for mankind and taking a deep breath from his heart, he began the story: “I remember how one day, entering a tavern, I saw a wonderfully beautiful wife sitting at work: she was sewing for sale. I lusted after her greatly and asked the innkeeper's wife to go and tell her that I wanted to sleep with her. The innkeeper’s wife answered me: “I can’t tell her about this, because she is of a very noble family, and she came to this situation because the ruler of this city put her husband in prison, who owed him a hundred coins, and took his two children into slavery. So she works day and night, like a slave, to free them.” I again suggested to the innkeeper’s wife: “Tell her that if she agrees to sleep with me, I will give her a hundred coins.” The innkeeper’s wife objected: “I can’t tell her that, because she is very chaste and will not agree to sin.” As I continued to press her strongly, she finally told me about my proposal. Moaning from the depths of her heart, the noble woman weptly answered the innkeeper’s wife: “For so many years I have been working day and night to free my three loved ones, but I can’t. I will have to agree to what you are offering me, and may God, the Lover of Mankind, forgive me this sin, which I am committing against my will, for He knows that until now I have not known another husband.” The innkeeper's wife came up to me and said that the beauty had agreed. Then I brought a hundred coins and gave them to her. Moaning and crying, she entered the bedchamber with me, saying: “Lord, you know my sorrow, forgive me.” At these words of hers, I was stung to the very heart and said to myself: “If this unfortunate woman grieves so much over this sin, then why don’t I lie down with one of those harlots over whom I supervise, and satisfy my lust with the harlot, and leave her untouched, because for me there will be no difference in this lawless act.” So I let her go, she immediately went to the governor, gave him a hundred coins and freed her husband and children. Having heard this story from Sergius, I glorified God and said: “Brother, truly in justice I am numbered with you in the Kingdom of Heaven.” Taking a deep breath again, Sergius replied: “If the good God truly liked what I did, as you say, and you, Father, from God came to me, a sinner, to find out how I live, then I remembered another good thing, maybe even better than this.” One day, a ruler of other faiths, dissolute and sin-loving, came to our city. Every day he took two or three harlots from me. One day, while visiting a convent, he saw beautiful sisters-nuns. Having desired them, he ordered the soldiers to surround the monastery and, entering it, counted all the sisters, of whom there were seventy. Handing them over to me, he said: “Here, I give them to you, do with them what you want, but every day you will send me as many girls as I ask you, until I sleep with all seventy.” Sighing from the depths of my heart, I thought: “Woe to me, a sinner, for how many years these sisters have been virgins for the sake of God, exhausting their bodies with fasts, vigils and other deeds in order to appear before God pure and undefiled, and now because of me the unfortunate ones will be desecrated by this wicked ruler and will ruin their feat. Let it not happen that I would dare to commit such wickedness and betray so many pure souls to destruction!” I began to ask God to enlighten me and show me a way in which I could save them from such defilement. And the Humane-loving God gave me a good thought: I went to the harlots over whom I supervised, gave them much of the property that I had, spent a long time convincing them to put on monastic robes, and then brought them to that monastery. At this time, the sisters hid in another place. And so every day I sent to that pitiful ruler those harlots that I had, until he slept with seventy. Later, that depraved ruler left the city, and I brought the sisters to the monastery and wanted to take the harlots out of there, but they did not want to leave there, saying: “Since God has vouchsafed us to put on this holy monastic schema, may we not return to our former uncleanness again.” So those harlots remained in the monastery to lead a life pleasing to God, in true and perfect repentance. Having heard such a story, I glorified God even more and said to Sergius: “I now know, brother, that you are not only equal to me, but above me, and therefore, I ask you, bless me on my journey.” Sergius answered: “What are you talking about? So that I can bless you to leave? Since you said that we will be in the Kingdom of Heaven together, I will no longer be separated from you on this earth, but I will go with you, in the name of my Lord Jesus Christ.” Asking me to wait for him for one day, he distributed the remaining property to the poor and followed me. Having lived with me for three years, he cruelly oppressed himself, working for the Lord with great zeal, and four days ago he died in the Lord. I think, child Elpidie, that you came here by God’s dispensation so that I could tell you this. Now go to your cell, and in three days, I ask you, come here again, because I have to tell you something. Returning to my cell, I returned three days later and found that Abba Pyrrhus had died. As I was told, I buried him next to Abba Sergius, and left, glorifying and blessing God, to Whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. The wondrous word of the philosopher Theodore Prodromus about how the honest chains of the holy supreme apostle Peter were transferred to Constantinople from ancient Rome Great is the Apostle Peter, and who else could be the supreme head and stronghold of all the disciples of Christ? Truly great is the Apostle Peter, and it is difficult to adequately praise him in human language. So I, unworthy and unclean, would never have been able to dare to write a word of praise to the Apostle Peter and his miracles, if he himself had not inspired me by appearing in a vision. I was very frightened and hesitated, not being able to dare to accomplish such a feat. Since from this vision I seemed to have received strength, therefore now I dare to tell you about the chains of the apostle, and how they were transferred from Old Rome to the New, that is, to this reigning city. As Gregory the Theologian says, it is good to show a little my refusal to compose a word due to weakness, but then again with readiness to resort to the Apostle, who called me by the power of the One who called. So, who was this great and supreme Apostle Peter by birth, fate and craft? He was a Jew, a poor fisherman, whom Jesus Christ called to become His disciple. And he immediately left everything and followed Jesus who called him, becoming, as I believe, an example and model of perfect renunciation of the world for those who move from the salty and bitter sea of ​​sins and the snares of the devil to the sweetness and simplicity of the Holy Gospel. It is unnecessary to tell what zeal and what ardent love for the teachings of Christ the Apostle Peter had, and what talents he possessed, thanks to which he was preferred to the other apostles. Instead of his former name Cephas, he was called Peter, having been vouchsafed to hear from the Lord that he is the unshakable rock of the Church, and that he has been entrusted with the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and the spiritual care of the verbal sheep of Christ. Which of the Christians who have read the Divine Gospel and the Acts of the Holy Apostles does not know about Peter, about how he once walked along the waves of the sea with his Teacher, how he loudly confessed Christ as the Son of God, how he paid the didrachm with Christ, how he ascended Mount Tabor with James and John and saw the light of the Transfiguration of God, how he did not agree to wash his feet with most pure hands His Teacher, how he fought for the devoted Christ with both hands and sword, how they called him by name on Mount Galilee, and how he ran with the Apostle John to see the resurrection of the Lord, and how before John he entered the tomb. Oh, how much could be said about the Apostle Peter, but I of my own free will avoid these events due to brevity. I will only mention the ordination that the Apostle Peter performed over Matthias, the twelfth apostle, chosen instead of the traitor Judas, but I cannot help but recall the terrible trial of Ananias and Sapphira, and Simon the Magus, who gave him silver for the ordination and whom the apostle drove out and cursed, I cannot help but mention the teachings taught by Peter, and his long travels, which the apostle undertook for the sake of preaching about how he healed various sick people, for which sometimes only the shadow of the apostle was enough, about the lame beggar who was healed by one word of Peter and walked on straight legs, about Aeneas the paralytic from Lida, whom the apostle healed of his illness, and about Tabitha from Jopia, who was resurrected by one word of Peter. I am silent about the other miracles that the divine Clement, Peter’s disciple and successor, narrates, because if I want to list all the deeds of the saint and tell about them exactly, then I will not have enough not only a day, but also a whole century. So, if this seems fair to you, we will leave all this for the present and talk about it in another word. We will also keep silent about the Supreme Leader’s trips to Rome, about his teachings and miracles, about interviews with Simon the Magus and about the cross on which he was crucified upside down, and about his death, and we will move on to the subject of the word, that is, we will talk, as far as possible, about the chains of Peter, or, better yet, mentally imagine the apostle chained in chains and imprisoned, and mentally see how he is freed from the faith, he is driven out of prison by the Angel of God and steps free with his feet. We can say that we will transfer these honest chains of Peter from the old Rome to the new, reigning one. If, after the world-saving suffering and death of our Savior Jesus Christ, “ours for the sake of salvation,” His dead body was asked from Pilate by the handsome Joseph, who reverently took Him down from the Cross, who anointed Him with ointment, wrapped Him in a clean shroud and placed him in a tomb, then no one asked the body of the supreme apostle, after his death on the cross, head down, from the ruler Nero for burial. Several pious Christians, seeing that the body was left unattended, secretly took it and, putting it in a wicker box, buried it, out of fear, as I think, of inhuman idolaters breathing with the desire to kill. Christians feared that they might throw the remains of the apostle either into the fire or into the sea, and Christian believers would then lose a great treasure. Until time, the earth in its depths hid the relics of the apostle hidden, since the one whom the Teacher called Peter was the stone on which He built His Church. Consequently, according to the rules of construction, the foundation of a building is laid in the ground, and the apostle, as a foundation, had to first lie in the ground. But one day the need arose for this honey-flowing spring to flow from the earth, and manna came to its surface, similar to that ancient manna that descended from heaven into the desert during the time of Moses. Rome was revered by the Apostle Peter much more than Palestine, because this land did not exude honey, like Palestine, but poured out manna from its hidden depths. And now, what was previously hidden appears on earth again, and through an earthquake, it brings out the relics of the apostle from the earth, when the warfare of the idolaters has calmed down a little. And again the first preacher of the Gospel shone to the world, and stood with Christ, with whom he was united by death (see Rom 6: 4-10). Since the Teacher likened him to wheat, as can be seen from the Holy Gospel, when Christ says: “Behold, Satan asked that you be sowed as wheat” (Luke 22:31), then the apostle accepts the properties of wheat; just like a grain that, having fallen into the ground and being hidden in the ground, dies, and thus bears fruit a thousand and many thousand times over. Imitating His Teacher, out of fear of Herod and the idolaters, he seeks refuge in the earth, as if in some kind of Egypt, and after the death of the persecutors he again goes to the mountains of Galilee. Just as his Teacher, out of fear of Herod, went to Egypt, and after his death returned again to Nazareth of Galilee, so the apostle, out of fear of idolaters, hid in the underground parts of the earth, and after the death of the persecutors returned to earth again. But let's move on to our topic. When the persecution stopped and Constantine the Great reigned, the believers removed the relics of the supreme apostle from the tomb and built a magnificent church in his name, in the upper part of which they erected a vaulted pulpit, like a kind of altar, into which it was forbidden to enter, and inside they placed a throne, on which they placed the holy relics, showing, as I think, with the help of the throne and pulpit the following. Firstly, that the one sitting on the throne is alive in Christ, although according to the laws of human nature he died, and secondly, that it is he, at the future world Judgment, who will sit on the first of the twelve apostolic thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel. To the Galileans, who during the Ascension marveled at the carnal ascension into Heaven of the Lord Christ, the heavenly Angelic forces said: “Men of Galilee! Why do you stand and look up to heaven” (Acts 1:11) as Jesus ascends? Why do you marvel at the new and wonderful ascent, seeing a weightless body rising upward? With this body that is now rising, He will come again to judge the whole world.” And to the upcoming Romans, who were surprised that the relics of the apostle were on the throne, it seems to me that the Roman bishops said: “Men of the Romans, why are you standing, marveling at this apostolic see? In the same image, sitting on a throne not built, not created by the hand of man, the apostle will judge the people of the Jews.” The pulpit, which received the relics of the apostle, and the throne, on which, like a living one, the holy relics sat in confirmation of the word of the Lord: “He who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live” (John 11:25), were not fenced with linen or other curtains, just as Bezaleel fenced the sanctuary of the ancient tabernacle, but were securely closed with double doors. And if the rest of the church was open to everyone, then this sanctuary was opened only three times a year for the veneration of holy relics. All Romans revered the relics of the apostle; their love for them intensified due to the rare opportunity to see them, and also due to the fact that the holy relics were decorated with all kinds of jewelry. Therefore, they decided to keep the holy relics behind double doors, under locks, in order to protect them from thieves, sacrileges and grave robbers. For the soles of the saint’s shoes were made of pure gold, and on top of the shoes were decorated with light pearls and precious stones. The apostle's clothing was embroidered with gold and also decorated with pearls. The poor fisherman was dressed like a king after his death, and the one who did not know where to find the didrachm to pay the tax collector was now lying covered in gold. During his lifetime, the apostle had power only over the pebbles that were scattered along the seashore, and now he was dressed in clothes embroidered with pearls, and truly beautiful was the one who preached peace and good things to the world, according to the word of the prophet Isaiah: “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the evangelist who brings peace” (Is. 52: 7). While the relics of the apostle, decorated in this way, were kept with all possible precautions in the sanctuary, the divine chains of the apostle were found outside the church. They were always in sight and anyone could worship them at any time, and various miracles came from them to those who asked with faith. The wisdom of the Spirit is such that it catches the sophist of malice, the devil, in his own net and throws him into the ditch, which he himself dug, and he is killed with his own sword, just as David killed Goliath. Satan conceived the Cross as a deadly weapon against our Lord Jesus Christ, but the unfortunate man was mistaken, because the Cross turned out to be an instrument of our salvation, and for himself an instrument of destruction. He experienced the same thing when he forged chains as an instrument of torment for the Apostle Peter. But the pitiful one did not know that he had made an instrument of miracles, from which countless healings of believers would occur. The Supreme One performed many miracles with the help of these chains, many wondrous miracles occurred from them. It is enough for us to tell only about the miracle that more than others shows their ineffable power. These chains not only heal bodily illnesses, but also forgive and resolve sins, which is absolutely incredible. At that time, a certain Christian came to the then Pope, a wonderful and wise man in Divine things, who confessed to him great and mortal sins. With many tears he asked him for forgiveness. The Pope joyfully accepted confession and repentance and gave him the rule that he had to perform. The Pope left the resolution of sins in the power of the supreme ruler. Therefore, he ordered the apostle’s hands, feet and the entire body of the repentant to be tied with chains, and so he had to crawl through the church seven times, and at the end approach the sanctuary, where the holy relics were located, and beat his head against the closed doors. If the doors open by themselves, then this miracle will be a sign of the forgiveness of his sins. If they do not open up, then the sinner would remain under the penance given to him. The Christian did as the pope commanded him and began to beat his forehead against the door of the sanctuary, calling on the apostle for help. Oh, quick to compassion, the supreme apostle of Christ Peter! You immediately broke the seal, opened the locks, opened the doors and brought the bound man inside, freeing him from the bonds of the faithful, freeing him from his sins and returning him to the house in joy and gladness. If you were entrusted by Christ with the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, and you open it when you want and to whomever you want, what is strange in the fact that you rightly close the doors of the present sanctuary for the unworthy and open them for those who have purified themselves by due repentance? And now what the Pope, moved by God, ordered that Christian to do became an inviolable law, for the Popes - a way of action, and for those Christians who confessed, a way to find out whether their sins were forgiven. This is how you should carefully listen to the story with your mind, because next I will tell you a most pleasant story. When the news of this miracle spread throughout all the countries that lie around Rome, another Christian, who was once a rich merchant and transported goods by sea, and then became the last poor man, because the sea swallowed all his goods, for such is the property of gold - to quickly enrich and just as quickly make poor. So, that Christian about whom I spoke, who was repeatedly caught in a storm at sea and barely escaped, experienced another storm - thoughts, due to worries about his daily bread. He could not earn enough to earn bread anywhere, not for himself, much less for his family. He came up with different ways to make money, but nothing worked out for him. In the end, he remembered the chains of the apostle and the miracle that happened. Mentally, he imagined the relics of the supreme apostle, the precious clothes that he was wearing, the golden soles of the shoes and the pearl trim on the top. Mentally turning to the apostle and shedding tears in prayer, he silently talked with him, asking rather with the movement of his heart than with the sound of his lips: “You, O man of God, when you lived in this world, chose poverty of your own free will and, according to the commandment of your Teacher, did not have not only gold and silver, but also copper. For this reason, you rejected the silver of Simon the Magus and cursed it along with Simon himself, who brought it to you. And often in your teachings you condemned gold and, together with Your Teacher, pleased the poor, convincing everyone: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God” (Mark 10:25). And if one of the believers offered you gold or silver, you distributed it to the poor, widows and orphans, having forever chosen for yourself poverty, misery, the scourge and rods, and everything that you experienced for the sake of love for Jesus Christ. This is how it was while you were alive, but now that you are dead, you wear golden shoes and clothes that shine with precious stones and pearls. I, who yesterday and the day before yesterday seemed richer than other people, now suffer a lot from poverty and hunger. Coming to the rich, I seek consolation in my poverty, but there was not one who would look at me with sympathy and hear my request. Everyone turns away from me. I despaired of getting help from people, and therefore I came to your sacred feet and, like the once divine Moses, I say to you: “Take off your sandals from your feet and give it to me, so that I may put on the robe of salvation” (Ex. 3:5). You know very well, divine apostle, the troubles of those who suffer shipwrecks. So I transported goods by sea, and was often caught in storms, and was twice in danger of drowning. One day, when you were with your Teacher Jesus Christ, who was sleeping in your boat, you, along with the other disciples, were afraid of death, so you ran up and woke up Jesus so that He could save you. And another time, when you rushed into the sea to meet your Teacher, you almost drowned if Jesus had not gotten ahead of you and given you a helping hand, saving you from death. I’m not asking you for a boot, but for a loan. If you give it to me, I will buy the goods and now, I am sure, I will sail successfully. And so I will get rid of the storm of poverty, and you will receive your debt with interest, because, with the help of God, when I return from the trip, I will make for you magnificent and much more precious shoes, and your foot, which will be without shoes for some time, will not freeze, will not get hit by a thorn, will not trip on a stone and will not get dirty with mud. This place in which you find yourself has a roof on top and a floor below covered with shiny tiles, especially since you have long completed your earthly journey and nothing can force you to set off on the road. Thus spoke that unfortunate merchant, and since necessity forces one to be more inventive than any other, the merchant found a way to enter the sanctuary. “If you wish, O Chief Apostle, I will pretend that I have sinned mortally and will go to the Pope to falsely confess a mortal sin. He, as I well know, will order me, according to custom, to tie myself with your chains and go around the church seven times, and then knock my head on the door of your sanctuary. And then everything will depend on your philanthropy and compassion - maybe you will open the door for me, let me in and agree to the theft of your sacred boot.” So, with tears telling the apostle about his plans and sorrows, the merchant fell asleep in a dream and approved his plan. chains, walked around the church seven times and began to knock with his forehead on the doors of the sanctuary. And what happened after this? The doors of the sanctuary opened of their own accord, and the apostle himself allowed the theft to be committed. Because as soon as the doors opened, the thief was, as it were, invited by the divine Peter himself to come inside (truly, brothers, my hair stands on end at this terrible story). Then, I say, the apostle stretched out his foot slightly and of his own free will gave his boot to the merchant. The merchant, with his shoes under his arm, left the sanctuary filled with joy and gratitude to his benefactor. I know that you, readers, are surprised at this strange miracle, and I myself would have been surprised at the strength and power of the apostle’s faith, which performs such miracles, if I had not known before that the dead were raised by one shadow of the Apostle Peter. And the fact that such miracles are performed through the chains that came into contact with Peter’s body and were sanctified is not so strange. The fact that miracles were performed from the shadow that followed Peter was more strange. But if that miracle happened and they believed in it, then undoubtedly the prudent will believe in this miracle and will always honor it. So, as I already said, rejoicing and thanking the apostle, the merchant left the sanctuary along with the boot, and the power that had previously opened the doors now closed them again. Neither the Romans, nor even the Pope himself, learned of the theft until the day came when, according to custom, the sanctuary with the relics of the apostle is opened for the veneration of the people. Going inside, the Pope saw that the apostle had no shoes on one foot. He was surprised and greatly saddened by this sacrilege, because he could not understand how it happened - the doors were closed, and the seals were not broken. Reflecting that everything did not happen without the will of God, because without the will of the apostle no one would have dared to do this, the Pope ordered another similar boot to be sewn for the apostle’s foot. And the merchant, having earned a lot of money from the sale of the apostle’s shoes, bought a lot of goods, sold them and became unusually rich, but instead of hastening to repay the debt to the lender as soon as possible and thank his benefactor, according to the promise (I don’t know, maybe his soul was corrupted by great wealth and he felt sorry for the money, or he heard that the pope ordered to sew another boot), the merchant thought that it would be unnecessary to sew a third boot, judging, that the apostle, who has only two legs, does not need three boots. Therefore, he did not return gratitude for the good deed, being too lazy, so to speak, to pay his debt. But God’s Apostle Peter did not allow him to remain in this carelessness and laziness for long. He appeared to him at night and reminded him of his debt, asking for what he had promised. After this, the merchant made a magnificent boot and went to Rome. After he again confessed to the pope, he was again tied with chains and again knocked on the doors, which opened again. The merchant entered and then a miracle happened. The apostle again stretched out his leg, and the merchant, taking off the boot made at the command of the pope, put on his new one. With fear, he placed the pope’s boot between the apostle’s legs, which in themselves were as if they were alive; one rose slightly above the other, making room for the third boot. Having fulfilled his promise, the merchant left in joy and joy. The decorated relics of the apostle remained for a long time, and then, it is unknown why God arranged it this way - “for who has known the mind of the Lord? or who was His counselor?” (Rom. 11:34), - the integrity of the relics was broken, and everything was separated: the head, spine, forearms, hips, shoulder blades, fingers - perhaps in order to punish the Roman people for their iniquity, because they removed the throne from the sanctuary, canceled the previous precautions, removed the jewelry and boots of the apostle, and put his relics in an ark and placed them in the courtyard of the church. Many years passed, and a certain resident of Constantinople of high rank, God-fearing, the best archon of the synclite, coming for some reason to Rome, was honored to venerate the relics of the apostle, and out of love for his homeland and God, he planned to do a daring and dangerous deed. He wanted to steal the relics and transport them to Constantinople. Perhaps he would have succeeded in his plans if he had acted like that merchant, first informing the apostle of his intention and asking his permission. But this archon approached the matter with shamelessness. Having stolen the relics, he put them in a clean new bag, and set off on a mule to Constantinople. What did the divine Peter do this time? I don’t know whether it was because he didn’t want his relics to be in Constantinople, since the abduction took place without his permission, or because he wanted to remain forever the guardian and savior of Rome, but at night he appeared in a dream to the Pope and told about everything: he reported the theft of the relics, named the kidnapper and said that he was heading to Constantinople. Very embarrassed by this dream, the Pope immediately gathered a large number of horsemen and soldiers and sent them in pursuit of the thief. Soon they caught up with the thief and returned the relics of the apostle to Rome. The Archon was scourged in disgrace and bound before the Pope. Having learned that the archon was of a noble family, had a high position, and had stolen the relics out of love for God and the Apostle, the Pope ordered him to be untied and began to speak to him meekly, like a spiritual father, directing his efforts towards peace. The relics of the apostle were securely placed under the Holy See, and instead of the relics, the Pope gave the archon the honest chains of the Apostle Peter in order, on the one hand, to reduce the archon’s strong sadness due to the dishonor caused to him with a gift, and on the other hand, to console him in the love that the archon had for the apostle. This is how honest chains were brought to us - an inestimable treasure of souls, an inexhaustible source of healing, an ever-flowing river of miracles and a gift to the pious - the best and most precious of any other gift. For the city of Constantinople, chains are fetters that hold and strengthen, which compress and protect it on all sides, for foreigners - a chain for strangulation, which oppresses and subjugates them, and for our souls - a chain that leads us to Heaven, which connects us with the divine Peter and with the Savior Christ. Oh, supreme Apostle Peter, you, who were revealed by the Beginningless Father Himself and preached the Only Begotten Son, you, who permitted and bound everything on earth, resolve and bind in Heaven, you are the foundation of the Church, the keeper of the Kingdom of Heaven, to whom paradise is entrusted, but not in order to guard its doors, like the Cherub, and to hinder those who want to enter, but in order to open and facilitate entrance to those who wish, you, who are the amazement of Heaven, the praise of earthly, the fear of the underworld, great Peter, we ask you, visit us from above with a meek look and strengthen the Church, shaken by the wiles of the devil, the Church that Your Teacher redeemed with His Blood and built on you, the immovable stone. And preserve this city and hold it with the all-encompassing chains of peace, be a supporter and assistant to our pious kings, becoming for them a solid stone and suitable for driving away enemies; be a stone of temptation and stumbling for foreigners. We pray to You, that pious Christian who prompted me to write this word, reward generously for the fiery love that I have for you, and accept me with favor because, due to the weakness of my tongue, and not from coldness of thought, I did not duly praise your supernatural greatness, but was poor in what befits you. And here, in this life, we pray you, correct the sins of the world, heal the weak in body, and in another life put the burden of your petitions on the right side of the scales, appeasing for us the Judge and our God, to whom belongs glory forever. Amen. Martyrdom of the Holy Martyr George, who suffered in New Ephesus in 1801 Blessed be God! No matter how much the enemies rebel with rage against Christianity, just as much the East clearly preaches and exalts with the exploits of the True God, the Savior of the world and the Judge of all, our Lord Jesus Christ. Along with what you, my Christian brothers, read in the previously published martyrology, we add here, in the New Eclogion, stories about these new ascetics of Christ, so that your love will not be deprived of the benefit of reading their lives. So, we inform you that in 1801, in New Ephesus, usually called Kusantasi, the New Martyr George suffered for Christ. He suffered in the following way. George was a native of this city, and his father’s name was Nikolai Lankhus. George was forty-two years old, he had a legal wife and children. However, he lived in sin, debauchery and drunkenness. In July 1798, without coercion or prompting from outside, but from the darkness of drunkenness, he came to Crete and in the presence of many, he renounced (oh woe!) his faith in Christ. But before undergoing the rite of circumcision, he sobered up and, greatly saddened, chose the time and crossed over to the island of Samos lying opposite. In those days, a Christian church was built in Crete, with the permission of the Sultan. Opponents of the Christian faith decided to destroy it out of envy. They convinced everyone that Christians killed George because he renounced the faith, and hid his body under the foundation of the church. For this reason, a great number of foreigners gathered around the church, who wanted to destroy the foundation and remove the body. Seeing how excited the crowd was, and that the church watchmen and other Christians could be killed and the church destroyed, the Christians sent their elders to the judge and, in the presence of the local authorities, assured everyone that the man was in Samos, and offered to send people there to see for themselves. And so they did. People were sent who found George and threw him into prison, chained in iron. Finally, three days later, he underwent the rite of circumcision and was assigned to serve in the mosque. But if George changed his faith, he could not change his drunkenness, and gave himself over to it so much that he almost turned the mosque into a tavern. He served in the mosque for ten months, and then left there and lived either in Samos or Patmos in repentance and confession of his lawlessness. On March 1, 1801, he returned to his homeland, but not a libertine and a drunkard, but abstinent and sad, in great contrition and with many tears. He often asked forgiveness from all his acquaintances and friends and, it seemed, was just getting ready to accomplish a great feat. Moreover, he prepared for it with great intelligence. Before openly declaring his intention, he took care to transport the children to a safe place, and three days before the event he went to where the martyr Polydorus was hanged on a mulberry tree and looked carefully at this tree. Before his renunciation, George had a Christian friend, his compatriot, who then began to avoid him. On the day when George was about to appear before the non-believers, they met in a coffee shop, and that Christian, seeing that George’s legs were swollen and wounded, with a constricted heart, asked what was wrong with his legs. He replied that it was due to illness. “What kind of disease is this if it is only on the legs, and there is nothing on the rest of the body?” asked the Christian. Then George told him the truth that, while on Samos, he came to the local ruler and confessed himself to be a Christian, who ordered him to be stretched and given a thousand blows to the legs, after which he was thrown into prison. Then the elders of the communities of Samos came and, with the help of money, convinced the ruler to take him out of prison and drive him away. So before this courageous man appeared in Ephesus, he already had enough signs of martyrdom on his body. Having somehow dulled the pain from the unbearable beating, returning to his homeland to enter into the perfect feat, George decided to accept the desired end for Christ his Savior. So, to give a reason, Georgy tried to fight with the owner of the coffee shop, thus making a good start. But seeing that he was not succeeding in his plans, he abandoned such a long method and on the third of April, on Wednesday, at three o’clock in the afternoon, he came and appeared before the judge. The judge asked him: “I had a great thing pawned, but you took it from me and gave me something else in return.” Here, I return it to you, and give me mine. With these words, he took off his hat and threw it on the ground. “Who are you,” the judge asked him, “and what is your business?” “I was a Christian and renounced my faith, and now I have come here to confess to you that I was and am, by the grace of God, a Christian. Then the judge asked how he renounced his faith, and he answered that of his own free will and without any coercion. - Maybe you're drunk or crazy? - No, I’m not crazy, I’m of sound mind and sober, but since I learned and became convinced that my faith is holy and immaculate, I returned to this holy faith of mine. I want to be a Christian, and I say this and declare: I was a Christian and remain one. My name is Georgy. Angry at such insolence, the judge ordered him to be immediately taken bound to prison. Then the martyr turned to the one who was to lead him to prison: - Man, why are you going to tie me up, am I a thief or a murderer? I came here of my own free will to confess my holy faith and the fact that I am a Christian. But they still took him to prison and put a large chain around his neck and put his feet in stocks. No matter how much torture they subjected him to that night. On Thursday evening they took him to court and convinced him to profess the Muslim faith, promising that they would then give him a lot of money, and then they began to threaten him. The martyr only repeated: “I am a Christian and I want to die as a Christian.” Then these inhumans, seeing his inflexibility, squeezed his testicles out of rage and tore them apart. On Friday everyone gathered again for the trial and ordered the martyr to be brought. He was brought in as a condemned man, with his hands tied behind his back. The judge began to speak to him with meekness, persuading him like a father: - Well, come on, child, repent, and then you can go wherever you want and be whoever you want. If you want, you will be a Turk, but if you want, you will be a Roman. – I am a Christian and I want to be in my faith. Then one of them said: - He is not to blame, but their priests are to blame, who teach that where they renounced their faith, there they must confess it again. - Let's not hang him, but behead him with a sword. Then he turned to the martyr: -What's more, ninety or a hundred? “Even babies know what you’re asking me.” And the mufti asked him to find out if he was sane, because if it turned out that he was crazy, they would drive him away. Finally, realizing his inflexibility, the judge pronounced a sentence: beheaded by beheading with a sword. The executioners seized the martyr and brought him to the place of execution. They forced George to his knees, and one of the executioners waved his sword to frighten him. At this time the Turk Osman approached, who, showing that he seemed to feel sorry for him, said: - People, wait, what do you want to do? Then he turned to the martyr: - Man, spare your life. Just say that you have sinned, and you will be freed, you will leave here and live as you want. – I am a Christian George and do not need your explanations. After this, the executioner asked him: The martyr bowed down with a joyful face, and the executioner cut off his holy head on Friday, April 5, at three o'clock in the afternoon. His blessed soul went to the Desired Christ and received an unfading crown. His holy relics were illuminated by Divine grace, therefore, on the night from Friday to Saturday, at dawn, many, not only Christians, but also Hagarians, saw that the relics of the martyr glowed, emitting a wondrous light, like a mirror glows when the sun is reflected in it. That light came from the blood of the martyr while it was still on this gently sloping place paved with stones. With the onset of Saturday, the whole people learned about the miracle, and the judge ordered the holy relics to be placed in the tomb of the holy great martyr Polydorus. While the relics were being carried to the tomb, some of the Christians tore off several hairs from the martyr’s head, others took his bloody clothes. They later reported that the clothes healed those experiencing extreme fever. One of the foreigners took a piece of clothing for his brother, who was lying in a fever. This martyrdom served as an incurable shame for those who opposed it, but for the pious it became spiritual joy and unspeakable joy for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ with the Father and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen. The life of our venerable and God-bearing father Feona, Archbishop of Thessalonica and ktitor of the monastery of St. Anastasia the Pattern Maker “Having walked closely in life, Father, the paths, now you rejoice in Heaven. The spirit of Feona was sent from here to the glorious City." Neither written documents nor traditions have conveyed to us where this reverend and God-bearing father of ours, Theon, the honorable monastery of St. Anastasia, ktitor, mentor and teacher of Thessaloniki and all of Thessaly, the most holy shepherd, the glory of the ascetics, the adornment of bishops and all Christians, the excellent praise had an earthly homeland, from which parents he came and how he became the bishop of Thessaloniki. Perhaps this happened because, out of complete hatred for everything earthly, the saint did not reveal to anyone either the name of his fatherland or the names of his parents (as many other saints did), and considered Heavenly Jerusalem as his homeland, as a new fatherland, predestined for him, as his parents - our Lord Jesus Christ and the Lady Theotokos, and as brothers and relatives - all the saints from the ages, or because all-consuming time erased all memories and stories about life saint We know about him only what is mentioned in the life of the Venerable Martyr James the New, who labored on Holy Mount Athos, where is now the monastery of Venerable John the Baptist. This life says that the holy father of Theon, adorned with the priesthood, first lived in the monastery of Pantokrator. Loving the silent life more than the communal life, he got used to taking prosphora, a little food and going to Saint James, famous among the fathers of the Holy Mountain for the mysterious revelations and Heavenly gifts that he was honored to receive from God. Theon often visited Jacob and learned from him the high science of monastic life, and after repeated requests, he finally became his student, entering his brotherhood. He rejoiced that he was honored to hear about the divine visions of the elder, and that his teacher and elder was such a Heavenly man. Moved by divine revelation, Jacob went out into the world and settled in Naupactus, in the monastery of the Honest Forerunner, near the village of Trevestica. He was accompanied by Saint Theona, who with his own eyes saw the Divine light, which strangely appeared over the monastery of the Forerunner three evenings in a row before the divine Jacob came there. For his faithful and close disciple, Saint Theona, Jacob received written permission from Bishop Akakios of Arta to confess the Christians coming to Arta. Later, when Saint James was already condemned to torture by order of the bey, the other disciples became faint-hearted and returned back to the monastery of the Forerunner, and Saint Feona was not afraid of anything, but, burned with love, accompanied his beloved teacher, compassionate with him and trying to alleviate the torment to which he was subjected. One day, with another disciple of an elder named Marcian, they asked Saint James, who was in prison with Dionysius and Deacon Jacob, his disciple: “Tell us, father, what will happen after your death to our monastery and to the brothers?” And the monk answered them mysteriously: “When God deigns to deliver us from the hands of the Sultan, then let us go first to the Patriarch, then to Great Wallachia, and when we arrive there, we will no longer be afraid of temptations. After this, we, from the north, will come, and you, from the south, will gather near Thessaloniki, and with the help of God, you will find a monastery to live in, and we will become inseparable both in this century and in the future.” This riddle, my brothers, was the saint’s prophecy about what would happen later. And its explanation is as follows: “The Patriarch is our Lord Jesus Christ, Great Wallachia is a paradise where the souls of the righteous are found. The fact that they will come from the north, and others from the south, means that after the martyrdom of Saint James with his disciples Jacob and Dionysus, the other disciples of James (who left Prevestika, as we said, and were on Mount Athos in the monastery of Simonopetra), and especially our father Theona, having heard from a certain priest Nicholas of Arta that the relics of the saints were buried near Adrianople, They sent to dig up their graves, took out the relics and left the Holy Mountain. Before reaching Thessaloniki, that is, here, in this place, they found the monastery of Honest Anastasia, which at that time was a small ancient destroyed monastery. They restored it from its foundations, built a sufficient number of cells for the brethren, and by the grace of Christ, up to one hundred and fifty monks gathered in the monastery, who lived a communal life. Over the buildings and all the brethren the abbot and primate was Saint Theona. And the riddle indicated that the saint’s disciples would come from Naupactus and the Holy Mountain, and the relics of the saints from Adrianople. So they will gather in this monastery and remain inseparably - both living and dead. In this life with bodies, and in the next – with souls. And so it happened. The divine Jacob left this venerable Theon as successor and primate over his other disciples, as is clear from the letter that he sent to them at the end of his life. In it, the monk writes: “Submit to Father Feone as to myself, and confess your thoughts to him.” These words are quite enough to show us that in virtue Saint Theona was equal to his teacher, and therefore not to anyone else, but it was him who Jacob left as the leader and abbot of the flock, ordering them to honor him as themselves. Having Feona as abbot, they must have thought that this was Jacob, as if his image and reflection. The life of Saint James says that a certain hieromonk Varlaam, asceticizing with his disciples in the monastery, once disobeyed the abbot, who was, apparently, Saint Theona, for which he was subjected to demonic possession. The demon tormented him greatly, attacking up to thirty times a day, and the unfortunate man rolled on the ground, emitting foam. Seeing this, the brothers tied him hand and foot and began to await the arrival of the abbot from Thessaloniki. As soon as Saint Feona found out about what had happened, he served a prayer service with the blessing of water before the relics of Saint James and, having given the sick man some holy water to drink, he was healed by the grace of God and the intercession of his teacher. Saint Feona lived in the year one thousand five hundred and twenty-five from the Nativity of Christ. When he well established this cenobitic monastery in accordance with the monastic rules of Basil the Great, streamlined the life of the brethren and built the ascitirium, he withdrew from the monastery for some time and remained silent there, praying to the One God, then returned to the disciples, repeatedly comforting them with his divine teaching and strengthening them in the exploits of monastic life. Saint Theona fulfilled both great commandments: “thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind... thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matthew 22:37, 39). And the ascitirium that he built, and where he talked with God and was inflamed by His love, is proof that he loved God with all his soul, with all his heart and with all his thoughts. This monastery, which he built and thanks to which he saved countless souls, is living proof that he loved his neighbor. Having fulfilled these two commandments, on which all the law and the prophets are based, he achieved a measure of perfection. Who can tell about the exploits that the blessed one accomplished when he became the bishop of Thessaloniki and all of Thessaly? He added fasting to fasting, vigilance to vigilance, “to all... he became all things” (1 Cor. 9:22), according to the Apostle, so that, as a true shepherd and archpastor of Christ, a true disciple, he could save all the Christians entrusted to him and protect his flock from the attacks of sensual and mental wolves. And what can I say, why am I leaving the high, proving the holiness of our reverend father with the most active argument? If we, Christian brethren, suppose we had no other proof or evidence that Theon is holy, then the glory that God Himself awarded him would be sufficient, who after death preserved his relics completely incorruptible, contrary to the laws of nature, for they are light, yellowish in color, emit a wonderful fragrance and perform miracles for those who turn to him with faith. Feona is truly holy, pleased God and lived an angelic life. There is no other way to acquire holy relics if you have not cleansed yourself of mental and physical passions, if you have not become the abode of the Holy Spirit, and if divine grace does not unite with your heart, with your brain, bones and joints. Just as a tree is known by its fruit, so by the holiness of Theon’s relics we know that he was equal to the ancient saints and lived a holy and superhuman life. This honor and praise which God bestowed on him deserves all the other praises that the most wonderful rhetoricians in the world would express. These sacred and honorable relics remain intact and incorruptible in the monastery of St. Anastasia, emitting an indescribable fragrance, pouring out miracles and giving healing to those who resort to them with faith. The honorable fathers of this monastery commemorate him on the fourth Sunday of Lent, holding a vigil and a solemn service, to which Christians from the surrounding villages gather, in imitation of Gregory Palamas, celebrated on the second Sunday of Great Lent, to whom not only on the throne, but also in virtue and holiness, was the equal successor of Blessed Theona. We, brothers, will also imitate him, jealous of his virtuous life. Children should be like their father, students should be like their teacher, and sheep should follow their shepherd. Saint Feona is our father, teacher and shepherd, and we are his children, students and sheep, and therefore we must follow his life, be like him. If we do not be like him, then it is in vain for us to boast that he is our teacher and shepherd. And he will not recognize us as his children and disciples if we do not maintain the order of the cenobitic monastery and, especially, church services inviolable. Let us love non-covetousness, let us hate the love of money and cursed money, let us turn away from the love of our relatives and desire Christ more than them, Who says: “Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:37). Let us preserve virginity and chastity, staying away from those who seduce us, and let us fulfill all our promises that we made to God during tonsure, so that through the intercession of Saint Theona, James and his disciples, we may be honored with the Kingdom of Heaven in Christ Jesus, to whom belongs glory forever and ever. Amen. You might be interested in: