After 40 days, Isaac comes to the ravine to see the relics and, to his amazement, does not find them. After a long trial, he finally learned that the relics were in the Pantocrator monastery. He appears there and asks the elders to give him the remains of his father as his property, but the pantocrators did not want to hear about it. Quite a lot of time passed in this way. To the consolation of Isaac, Macarius, Bishop of Yerissa, then visited the Holy Mountain. Isaac turned to him with a complaint about the Pantocrator monastery and asked him to take part in this matter for his part. Macarius did not hesitate. Having invited the Athos abbots, he arrived at Pantocrator, separated a hand from the relics of St. Theophilus for this monastery, and left the other parts to the disciple. Then they were solemnly transferred from Pantocrator to the cell church of St. Basil, where the monk was silent, and from that time they began to exude fragrant myrrh as evidence of his godly life.
Such is the life of our venerable father Theophilus the Myrrh-streaming; This is how he labored and this is how he was glorified by God on earth and in heaven, during his life and after his death. May we also imitate the saint in non-covetousness, meekness, humility, purity, silence and love for God and neighbor, so that we too may inherit with him the Kingdom of Heaven in Christ Jesus our Lord. To him be glory and power with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen.
9
St. Gabriel of Athos, archimandrite. († 1901, commemorated July 9)
How many faithful followers God has, zealous workers in the great work of building the economy of the salvation of the human race, how many have already been glorified in heaven and are still unknown to the world! It pleased God, wondrous in His saints, to glorify one of these workers in the field of Christ, St. Gabriel of Athos, by the appearance of his incorruptible relics in the St. Elias Cathedral in the city of Odessa on July 9 (22), 1994.
Our reverend and God-bearing father Gabriel was born on January 8, 1849 in the Kyiv province, into a family of poor parents. His birthday coincided with the day of church memory of the Monk George Khozevit, and at baptism the baby was named George. Apparently, George received his initial Christian upbringing from his parents. At the twelfth year of his life, the boy became orphaned. With the help of teachers, he received an education in a rural school, especially showing his diligence in studying the Word of God. He quickly mastered church literacy, loved to read the Holy Scriptures, spiritual and edifying books, while revealing a bright mind and clear memory, adorning himself with virtues. As a young man, during a serious illness, he made a vow to visit the holy places of the Kyiv land upon recovery, which he soon fulfilled. A visit to the Lavra shrines and other monasteries made a deep impression on him.
George saw with his own eyes the places of the exploits of the reverend fathers, about whom he had heard and read a lot, and with reverence kissed the incorruptible relics of the ascetics of Holy Rus', asking for their prayers.
In the soul of the pious young man arose the desire to follow in the footsteps of the saints, imitate their exploits, like them, to renounce the world and devote his life to monastic work. After spending some time in his homeland, he goes to Kyiv a second time and asks the brethren of the Feofaniv Hermitage to accept him as one of the inhabitants of the monastery. With love, George was received by the novice and given to teach monastic life to the humble Father Boniface. Imitating the elders of the desert, the young novice went to church, stood through long monastic services to the end, loved prayer, and diligently carried out the obediences assigned to him.
In 1867, a favorable opportunity presented itself to visit Jerusalem and Athos. Having received the old man's blessing, novice George goes to Jerusalem, where he venerates the Life-Giving Sepulcher of the Lord and other shrines, and the next year he arrives at Mount Athos.
And then Athos opened before him - the lot of the Mother of God with its shrines, miraculous icons and strict monastic life, an island of prayer and spiritual life, a thousand-year monastic kingdom serving the Creator of centuries day and night. George looks with amazement at the inhabitants of Athos - the holy fathers and venerable hermits, monks who live not in a world distorted by sin, but in a transformed world, where, having been cleansed of passions, the ascetic contemplates God. George is convinced with his own eyes that the Athonite monks are martyrs of Christ, “in feelings removed from the world and in thoughts dead to the world,” who truly experience all the beatitudes of the Lord, who passionately loved triple poverty: material, spiritual and bodily. For having become poor in spirit, they become rich; becoming meek, they will inherit the earth; crying, they are consoled; thirsting for truth, they are satisfied; having had mercy, they will be shown mercy; having purified the heart, they will see the Invisible; Having acquired spiritual peace, they will be called sons of God.
The silent appearance of the monks with their faces turned to the earth, the caves of hermits praying for the human race, the magnificent monasteries, the strict way of monastic life, the very nature of the Holy Mountain made an irresistible impression on the novice George. “Ardent love for You and an ardent desire for You, Lord, gripped these angels,” says St. John Chrysostom, “and even greater desire and love kindled in them. For words cannot ignite as much as contemplation of deeds.” George saw the virtuous, truly monastic, ascetic life of the inhabitants of the Holy Mountain. His heart was inflamed with the fire of Divine love. Having completely rejected everything worldly, he remains on Athos and there devotes himself to serving God.
More than other Russian monasteries, he liked the monastery of the holy prophet of God Elijah, whose brethren lived a strict monastic life. The rector, Father Paisius P., a loving and kindly elder, subjected the young novice to the usual test, for he accepted him into the monastery selectively and not before he was fully convinced of his brother’s ardent desire to become a true monk. Archimandrite Paisius and the brethren fell in love with George, who conscientiously and joyfully carried out various obediences in the monastery, and was distinguished by meekness and humility. The young man fell in love with the night monastery services, holy prayer leading to the Lord, solitude and silence. His desire for monastic life increased.
As a proven novice, in 1869 he took monastic vows with the name Gabriel, in honor of the Archangel Gabriel, the heavenly messenger who proclaimed the great joy of the Most Holy Theotokos. The name "Gabriel" means "power of God." The namesake of the Archangel, the Monk Gabriel acquired in his life that Divine power, which he performed in weakness, bearing illnesses and labors, fulfilling the obediences entrusted to him by the hierarchy of the Elias monastery. Resolutely leaving the world with its passions and temptations, the holy man in deep faith sought the Heavenly City, with his heart, soul and all thoughts belonging to it. Imitating the venerable fathers of Athonite in his works and prayers, the young monk Gabriel becomes a man of spiritual maturity. Succeeding in his exploits, in 1874 he was ordained a hierodeacon, and in 1876 a hieromonk, blessed with “the great honor of the priesthood”, called to “perform sacred acts for the people” and “to offer the sacrifice of truth for his sins and for human ignorance.”
Hieromonk Gabriel tries to use all his strength to live holy and please the beneficent Lord, to remain in prayer, to keep his mind and heart pure.