The Monk Maxim the Greek (XV-XVI centuries), the son of a wealthy Greek dignitary in the city of Arta (Albania), received an excellent education. In his youth he traveled widely and studied languages and sciences in European countries; visited Paris, Florence, Venice. Upon returning to his homeland, he arrived on Athos and accepted monasticism at the Vatopedi monastery. He enthusiastically studied the ancient manuscripts left on Mount Athos by the monastic Greek emperors (Andronikos Palaiologos and John Kantakouzenos). At this time, the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily Ioannovich (1505-1533) wanted to understand the Greek manuscripts and books of his mother, Sophia Paleologus, and turned to the Patriarch of Constantinople with a request to send him a Greek scholar. Monk Maxim received instructions to go to Moscow. Upon arrival, he was tasked with translating the interpretation of the Psalter into the Slavic language, then the interpretation of the book of the Acts of the Apostles and several liturgical books.
The Monk Maxim diligently and carefully tried to fulfill all orders. But, due to the fact that the Slavic language was not the native language of the translator, naturally, some inaccuracies arose in the translations.
Metropolitan Varlaam of Moscow highly valued the works of St. Maxim. When Metropolitan Daniel took the Moscow throne, the situation changed.
The new metropolitan demanded that the Monk Maxim translate the church history of Theodoret into Slavic. Maxim the Greek resolutely refused this assignment, pointing out that “this story includes letters from the schismatic Arius, and this could be dangerous for simplicity.” This refusal sowed discord between the saint and the metropolitan. Despite the troubles, the Monk Maxim continued to work diligently in the field of spiritual enlightenment in Rus'. He wrote letters against Mohammedans, papism, and pagans. He translated interpretations of St. John Chrysostom into the Gospels of Matthew and John, and also wrote several of his own works. When the Grand Duke intended to dissolve his marriage with his wife Solomonia because of her infertility, the brave confessor Maxim sent the prince “Instructive Chapters for the Leaders of the Faithful,” in which he convincingly proved that the situation obliges the prince not to submit to animal passions. The Monk Maximus was imprisoned. From that time on, a new, long-suffering period in the saint’s life began.
Inaccuracies found in the translations were blamed on St. Maximus for deliberate damage to books. It was hard for the monk in prison, but in the midst of his suffering the monk also acquired the great mercy of God. An angel appeared to him and said: “Be patient, elder! With these torments you will be freed from eternal torment.” In prison, the reverend elder wrote with charcoal on the wall a canon to the Holy Spirit, which is still read in the Church: “Who fed Israel with manna in the desert of old, fill my soul, O Master, with the All-Holy Spirit, so that I may serve You well in Him...”
Six years later, the Monk Maxim was released from prison and sent under church ban to Tver. There he lived under the supervision of the good-natured Bishop Akakios, who treated the innocent victim mercifully. The monk wrote an autobiographical work, “Thoughts with which a sorrowful monk, imprisoned, consoled himself and strengthened himself in patience.” Here are a few words from this vivid work: “Do not grieve, do not grieve, do not grieve, dear soul, that you suffer without truth, from which it would behoove you to receive all that is good, for you used them spiritually, offering them a meal filled with the Holy Spirit...” Only after twenty years of his stay in Tver, the monk was allowed to live freely and the church ban was lifted from him. The Monk Maxim the Greek spent the last years of his life in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. He was already about 70 years old. Persecution and labor affected the health of the saint, but his spirit was cheerful; he continued to work.
Together with his cell attendant and disciple Neil, the monk diligently translated the Psalter from Greek into Slavic. Neither persecution nor imprisonment broke the Monk Maxim.
The monk reposed on January 21, 1556. He was buried near the northwestern wall of the Spiritual Church of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Many manifestations of grace have been witnessed that took place at the tomb of the Saint, on which the troparion and kontakion to him are written. The face of St. Maxim is often depicted on the icon of the Council of Radonezh Saints.
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St. Dionysius Filofeevsky, Olympian, abbot († XVI, commemorated January 24)
Dionysius was born into a poor family of a blacksmith and gunsmith. His parents, Nikolai and Theodora, named their only son in honor of the Great Martyr. Demetrius of Thessalonica. At night, a luminous cross appeared above the baby’s head, foreshadowing his extraordinary future.
Dmitry lost his parents early and earned his living by teaching children to read and write. Later, while still a young man, he was accepted as a novice of Elder Savva into one of the Meteora monasteries with the name in the cassock Daniel. In search of a more strict monastic life, he left Meteora and went to Athos, but due to his youth he was sent to the village of Agios Mamas on the Chalkidiki peninsula. In 1512, he took monastic vows with the name Dionysius and, under the leadership of Elder Gabriel (in some sources, Seraphim), he labored in the cell of Kaprouli in Kareya. Soon Dionysius was ordained a deacon.
When Elder Gabriel was elected protege of the Holy Mountain and went to Wallachia along with other abbots of the Athonite monasteries to collect financial aid (1517-1519), Dionysius was ordained a priest to perform services in the Cathedral of Protata.
Upon Gabriel’s return, Dionysius took his blessing to settle in a secluded place. Near the monastery of Caracalla he found a deep and impassable desert. Having immersed himself in it, he built himself a cramped kaliva, or hut, and how hard he lived, only God saw and knew. His food consisted of chestnuts, with which the Holy Mountain abounds, and he rarely ate ordinary bread in neighboring cells, where he was sometimes invited for sacred rites. His non-covetousness was such that, wherever he went from his desert, he always left the door of his cell unlocked, because there was nothing in it that the hostile hand of his lord could encroach on. Subsequently, he built a small church at his kaliva in honor of the Most Holy Trinity, where he remained for three years, angelically praising God day and night and passing his life’s path dispassionately, as a result of which he was rewarded with Divine revelations.
Three years later, Dionysius made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Patriarch Dorotheos II of Jerusalem, and then Metropolitan Iconius, whom the ascetic visited on his way back, offered him to become their successor.
The brethren of the Philotheevsky monastery, having lost their abbot, begged Saint Dionysius to be their abbot. Among the monks, however, there were those who were dissatisfied with his election, and discord arose. Valuing peace and love above all else, the Monk Dionysius relinquished the title of abbot and retired to Verria, and then to Mount Olympia. Devotees of monasticism began to flock here to him. Dionysius built cells and a church for them and spent time with them in fasting and prayer. Having reached spiritual heights, he performed many miracles. Many times, through the prayers of the saint, the Lord punished wicked people who oppressed the monks of Olympus or violated the commandments of Christ - so the possessions of the Turk were devastated by severe drought and hail, who expelled the monks and destroyed their monastery; A shepherd who oppressed the monastery was punished with the death of livestock and illness; a girl from one of the villages was attacked by a demon for shamelessness. However, all of them, also through the prayers of the saint, received healing and liberation from disasters, brought to repentance by his gentleness.
During his lifetime, the Monk Dionysius became famous as a seer and wonderworker. So, through his prayer, the monk of the Karakal monastery returned the monastery treasury that he had stolen. He not only healed the sick and cast out evil spirits, but also punished and admonished blasphemers and wicked people. Dionysius also predicted that some time after his death, two bishops would strengthen the monastery with towers (later one tower was built by the Bishop of Kitra, and the other by Platamon).