July 6: Saint Sisoi the Great is celebratedtranslated

Today the Church honors the memory of Saint Sisoi the Great, Hieromartyr Asti, Bishop of Dyrrachium, Martyrs Apostles Philemon, Archippus and Onesimus and Saint New Martyr Cyril of Thessalonica. St. Sisoi has the title of great, like St. Anthony, and because he really was a great ascetic, but also to distinguish himself from two others at the same time, who also had the same name. Saint Sisoi in the prime of his life gave up worldly things and went to the desert of Egypt, where a few years ago Saint Anthony had been an ascetic. He was not only drawn there by the place, but also by the example of Saint Anthony, who tried to imitate him in his virtues.

The first thing that Saint Sisoi took care of was to remain unknown, but the disciples of Saint Anthony, admiring his holiness, ran and became his disciples. Because virtue, no matter how much it wants to be hidden, is not hidden; it is, as Jesus Christ says, "a city built on a hill"; like a city, which is built on a mountain and can be seen from everywhere. Saint Sisoi was so liberated and independent from material needs, that he often forgot to...