The confessor, seeing the firmness of his thoughts, no longer began to deviate him from the desire for martyrdom, and from that time Procopius began to prepare for the feat, moreover, he began to come to the confessor more often to reinforce his thoughts, and after fifteen days Procopius announced to him that this was the last day they would see each other, since he decided to appear in court before the Turks today. Then both of them sang a prayer service to the Mother of God and, kissing each other with the last kiss, left together from the house of the confessor, who, following the martyr from afar, admonished him with his secret prayers until the very trial. When the martyr appeared before the judge, he threw off the green bandage from his head and boldly began to profess the Christian faith and curse the Muslim faith with their false prophet. The judge, hearing the disgrace of his faith, first ordered him to be beaten and then imprisoned, thinking by this to force him to change his thoughts, but not seeing success on this side, he turned to him with affection and promises of high positions and ranks.
Hearing the flattering promises, the holy martyr complacently replied: “If you had given me the whole world, then even then you would not have been able to change my firm intention.”
The firmness of the martyr hastened the verdict of the judges, who, following in formality the newly received royal decree, which informed them that the state was in danger from enemies attacking it, and commanded them to resolve great and small matters as soon as possible in order to prepare their forces to repel the enemies, considered it unnecessary to waste time and engage in torture and ordered Procopius’ head to be immediately cut off.
When the holy martyr was brought to the place of execution and without embarrassment bowed his head to be beheaded, the Muslims, seeing his courage, were surprised, and none of them decided to carry out the execution. At that time there was in Smyrna one outcast from Christ, distinguished by the ferocity of his disposition, who was brought to the place of execution, and without hesitation he did what even barbarians by nature could not do, and thus the soul of the holy martyr Procopius, purified by the blood, was separated from the body on June 25, 1810, Saturday. Glory and thanksgiving to Christ God, who strengthens His saints, always, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
27
St. George Svyatogorets, Iversky (Athos), ktitor († 1066, commemorated May 13, June 27)
See life on p.
29
Venerable Paisius the Holy Mountain (Eznepidis)
The blessed elder schemamonk Paisiy Svyatogorets (secular name Arseniy Eznepidis) was born on July 25, 1924 (old style) in the village of Farasy, in Cappadocia (Asia Minor). As an infant, he was transported to Greece due to the Asia Minor disaster, as a result of which the Greek population, after approximately 2.5 thousand years of constant residence in this region, was forced to move to the territory of modern Hellas as refugees in order to avoid persecution and massacre by the Turks.
In addition to little Arseny, there were nine more children in the family. Before leaving for Greece, the boy was baptized by Saint Arsenius of Cappadocia and gave him his name, prophetically saying: “I want to leave behind me a monk.”
The Elder's family eventually settled in Konitsa in Epirus, in the northwestern part of Greece. There Elder Paisius spent his childhood years.
A special spiritual calling, chosenness, was discovered early in him, as Saint Arsenius of Cappadocia prophesied about him. From childhood, Arseny lived as an ascetic, enjoyed reading the lives of saints, and zealously, with extreme zeal and amazing uncompromisingness, sought to imitate their exploits. He had a great love for Christ and the Mother of God, and really wanted to become a monk. Arseny devoted himself to unceasing prayer, trying to develop in himself the main Christian qualities: love, humility, patience. In great spiritual sobriety, in prayers and fasting, young Arseny prepared with ardent zeal for an ascetic life.
“I went to the mountains in the morning, taking some water with me, and climbed onto some rock to pray there, like the ancient stylites. As a teenager, I didn’t hang out with my peers; they went and killed birds and did other things that I didn’t like. And I interacted with small children. They, as the eldest, respected me as their leader and rejoiced at our friendship. I kept fasts - they wanted to fast too, so I had problems with their mothers. “Don’t hang around with him, he’ll drive you to consumption,” mothers told their children,” this is how the Elder told Afanasy Rakovalis, the author of the book of memoirs about the Elder “Father Paisius Told Me...”, published in 2003, with a smile.
At a young age, the future elder learned the craft of a carpenter, wanting in this to be like Christ, who until the age of 30 worked as a carpenter in the house of His father Joseph, before going out to preach for three years. When the civil war between the government army and communist rebels began in Greece (1944–1948), Arseniy Eznepidis was drafted into the active army, received a military specialty as a radio operator and served his homeland for 3.5 years. In the army, he continued his ascetic life, distinguished by courage, self-sacrifice, high Christian morality and diverse talents.
“When some dangerous operation was planned,” said Elder Paisius, “I tried to participate in it. If I had shown indifference and someone else would have gone instead of me and would have been killed, then my conscience would have killed me all my life (that is, I would have been killed many times), and in the war I would have been killed only once...
Once our camp was bombed. I found a ditch nearby and took refuge in it. Soon someone passes and says: “Can I come here?” "Let's!" - I say. And there is just enough space for one person. In fear, wanting to protect himself, he squeezes me out. Then another one came up. I was forced to get out of the ditch completely. “Nothing,” I say, “don’t worry, God won’t leave you!” As soon as I left, a bullet flew by and shaved my head. (The elder laughed.) Just like that, it almost touched the skin and cut a stripe in the hair. A centimeter lower - I would have killed. I marveled at God’s Providence.”
Ruthless conscientiousness, courage, bravery, reckless, unconditional dedication - this is what Elder Paisios was in his youth. “He won the love and respect of everyone - both soldiers and officers. The Elder's self-sacrifice, even before he became a monk and took the path of a warrior of Christ, extended to his readiness to accept death for the sake of love for his neighbor! How far are we, modern people, from this,” notes Afanasy Rakovalis.
Having repaid his debt to his fatherland, at about 30 years of age Arseny embarked on the path of monastic life - the one to which he had strived since childhood. Let us note that at the same age Christ came out to preach. The elder endured many trials, but was not abandoned by the Lord. While still a layman, he more than once experienced divine experiences of life in Christ. But when he became a monk, the special favor of the saints, the Most Holy Theotokos and the Lord Himself towards him became most obvious, as the sisters of the monastery he founded in Suroti say. At the same time, he led a truly ascetic life and open warfare with the human enemy. “I think the ascetic exploits of the Elder go far beyond the boundaries of our era, with its characteristic effeminacy of people who are spoiled even in terms of their way of thinking,” says Athanasius Rakovalis. “Therefore, the exploits of Elder Paisius are comparable only to the exploits of the ancient ascetics of the 4th century. In our relaxed state, it can be scary to even hear about these exploits!”