In 2015, the great ascetic of Orthodoxy, the schemons of the Athos Monastery Paisy Svyatorets, whose life, compiled by hieromonk Isaac who knew him closely, was laid the foundation of this article.
Each Christian has his own especially revered saint of God, to whom he addresses with prayers for intercession before the throne of the Most High. For many people today, St. Paisius has become just such a heavenly patron.
The first religious experience of the future ascetic
As appears from the "Life of Paisius Svyatogorets", he was born on July 25, 1924 in Farasi - a Greek settlement located on the territory of modern Turkey. The future saint became the sixth child in the family of respected and pious parents - Eulampius and Prodromos Eznepides, who gave him the name of Arseny in holy baptism. It is noteworthy that this sacrament was performed on him by another of his illustrious fellow countrymen, who later became a saint under the name Arseny of Cappadocia.
For a number of political reasons, the parents of the baby Arseny were forced to leave their homes when he was barely two months old and move to Konitsa, located on the border of Greece and Albania. There his childhood passed. As described in The Life of St. Paisius the Holy Mountaineer, in his early years a strong influence was exerted on him by his mother, a deeply pious woman who throughout the day constantly performed the Jesus Prayer, which is usually done by people who have received monastic tonsure. This feature of her deeply sunk into the soul of the child and gradually became his own trait.
As later recalled by people who knew his family closely, in his childhood Arseny was distinguished by a lively mind and a wonderful memory, thanks to which, by the time he was six years old, he had already learned to read, and a little later, to write. Since that time, books have become his constant companions, among which the Bible occupied the main place, especially the Holy Gospel. In addition to them, Arseny selflessly read the lives of the saints, printed in small cheap editions, of which there were a great many in his room. It is not surprising that from an early age he acquired a penchant for solitary prayers, so intensified over time that it began to cause concern among others.
Work life and first thoughts about monasticism
Further, in the Life of St. Paisius the Holy Mountaineer, it is described that, having finished elementary school and not having the opportunity to continue his education, he mastered the profession of a carpenter and began to help his family, earning bread in one of the local artels. A capable and hardworking young man was very successful in this truly gospel craft, which our Savior, Jesus Christ, was engaged in during the days of His earthly life. Customers spoke with constant praise about the iconostases made by his hands, the shelves for icons, as well as all kinds of furniture. Arseny also had to make coffins, but he never charged a fee for them, thereby showing sympathy for human grief.
In The Life of St. Paisius the Holy Mountaineer, it is very vividly narrated about how, at the age of 15, the Lord helped him to overcome with honor the temptation of faith. It so happened that one of his peers began to explain to Arseny the theory of Darwin’s evolution, which was fashionable in those years, while trying to prove its superiority to the biblical dogma of the creation of the world. Finding no arguments to refute his words, but feeling his error in his heart, the young man spent several days in deep thought and prayer until he was able to see Jesus Christ Himself, who appeared before him in a blinding radiance. This vision helped the future ascetic cast aside doubts and strengthen his faith in faith forever.
It was then that Arseny began to think about taking a monastic tonsure and even made this request to the abbot of one of the nearest monasteries, but he refused him because of his too young age, but he gave all the necessary instructions to prepare for entering this difficult path in the future.
The tempering of spirit and flesh
As it is written in “The Life of Paisius the Holy Mountaineer”, from then on the god-loving young man began to prepare his body and soul for future ascetic exploits. Extraordinarily strictly fulfilling the requirements associated with Orthodox posts, he also ate on simple rough food without salt on fast days, being content with the minimum amount necessary to maintain strength. Excessive zeal sometimes led to hungry fainting.
In addition, working in the field, Arseny never put on his shoes, which is why he blew bare feet on the sharp stalks of mowed grass in the blood. With this, as hieromonk Isaac wrote in The Life of Paisius the Holy Mountaineer, the future saint strengthened his spirit and learned to endure the suffering of the flesh steadily. An example of such an ardent faith could not but affect others. He was especially sensitive to children and adolescents, many of whom turned their hearts to God at that time, and, having matured, rejected worldly temptations and embarked on the path of monastic life.
Time of hardship
Following the peaceful youthful years spent in prayers and in-depth divine thought, the time for trials came for the future ascetic - the Greco-Italian war, which brought down Konitsa, where his family still lived, all the hardships of the enemy occupation. In this difficult period, he and his parents shared with the hungry fellow countrymen the last crumbs of bread, while at times they themselves did not have the means to live on.
However, the hardships of life were significantly aggravated after a civil war broke out in the country in July 1936. This cruel time is also narrated in The Life of Paisius the Holy Mountaineer. On suspicion of the assistance provided to the supporters of General Franco, the future saint was thrown into prison and there he fully understood the burden of torment experienced by a person locked up for a long time in a cramped stuffy cell, filled to the limit with prisoners like him.
The temptation of the future saint
This period in the life of the saint is associated with one very characteristic incident, clearly showing the ascetic mood of his soul. Hieromonk Isaac wrote that once the jailers, accidentally learning about the extreme religiosity of Arseny and his monastic lifestyle, decided to mock him. Having placed the young man in solitary confinement, they planted two girls of easy virtue towards him, mentally anticipating the scenes of his inevitable, in their opinion, fall.
However, despite the fact that, acting at their instigation, the harlots threw off all their clothes, the young man, exorcising the temptation of the flesh, prayerfully called for the help of heavenly forces. Moreover, he turned words of love and compassion to these fallen women, which made them ashamed and left the cell in tears. On the pages of "The Life of St. Paisius the Holy Mountaineer" there are many descriptions and other cases that clearly characterize his adamant ascetic nature.
Free again
Having no evidence of his own involvement in any of the enemy's battle groups, the prison authorities tried to accuse Arseny of the fact that his older brother was fighting on the side of the enemy. But he quite reasonably objected to them that, by the rule of seniority, he himself was free to make decisions and was not obliged to report to him in his actions. There was nothing to argue with this argument, and Arseny was soon at large.
Another characteristic detail mentioned both in the historical biography and in the life of Paisius Svyatogorets: after being released after several months of imprisonment, he with equal zeal helped both supporters of the pro-communist forces and their opponents. This position stemmed from his deep conviction that all people, regardless of their political orientation, are worthy of Christian compassion.
Military service
The war and the difficulties caused by it for a while prevented Arseny from realizing his dream of leaving for the monastery, since the family urgently needed his help. Nevertheless, the spiritual life of the young man was still extremely saturated. He devoted the free hours remaining from practicing carpentry to prayers and reading the Holy Scriptures, gaining strength on his pages for later life. At the same time, strict observance of all posts and constant readiness to help his neighbor prepared his soul for future monastic obedience.
The war, as you know, requires from people not only prayers, but also active participation in its destructive action. In due time, Arseniy also received a draft summons. In this regard, it is appropriate to recall another characteristic detail mentioned in the Life of Paisius the Holy Mountaineer by Hieromonk Isaac: when he went to the front, the young man prayed to God not that He would save his life, but that he himself would not have someone to kill. And the Lord heard his prayer: upon arrival at the unit, the young man was sent to radio courses and, having mastered this specialty, safely avoided the need to kill.
While in the service, Arseny in his spiritual disposition remained the same as he was in civilian life - he looked for an opportunity to help his neighbor and always willingly performed any, even the most difficult and dirty work. At first, his colleagues laughed at him and often abused his willingness to replace any of them in the outfit. However, over time, ridicule ceased, giving way to universal respect. At the end of the service, which lasted three years, the future saint was so loved that they considered him a kind of talisman sent down from above. In this they were very close to the truth, which was repeatedly confirmed during the fighting.
Dream come true
Further, in the Life of the Elder Paisius Svyatogorets, hieromonk Isaac writes that, having barely been demobilized and still not having time to take off his military uniform, Arseny went to the Holy Mount Athos, which attracted his cherished dream. It was there that he wished to spend the next days of his life devoting them to serving God. However, this time he was not destined to fulfill his intentions, because the Lord sent the future monk one more time, this time the last test of his humility. While in one of the Athos monasteries, Arseny unexpectedly received a letter from his father, in which he asked him to immediately return home and help the family in some very important matter for her. Perceiving his request as a call from above for obedience, the young man resignedly complied and, leaving the monastery for a while, went home.
Having lived in the circle of his relatives for almost two years and having completed everything that his father asked, Arseny again went to Athos to begin a monastic life there, for which he had been preparing so long and persistently. This time the Lord heeded his prayers and made him a novice of the very monastery from which a letter written by his father had once called him home. So the dream of the whole life of this amazing person came true, with the relentless work of acquiring the crown of holiness.
Within the walls of the cloister
The initial period of monastic life is described in sufficient detail in The Life of Paisius Svyatogorets, and the photos in the article can serve as an additional illustration. Reading the lines written by hieromonk Isaac, we learn that even without having enough experience, the novice Arseny, with the blessing of the rector, led such a severe ascetic life than led the monks to the awe of awe. Working all day as a carpenter (this craft was in great demand in the monastery), he stood up all night in prayerful vigil, and spent the short time, which by human nature is still necessary for sleep, lying on bare stones.
Finally, with God's blessing, in March 1954, the novice Arseny accepted monastic tonsure with a new name - Averky. Having embarked on the path of monasticism, the future saint did not outwardly change the previous way of life, but was filled with even greater humility. He, as before, spent days in the carpentry workshop, where he obeyed one of the senior monks, who, unfortunately, turned out to be a rude and cruel man. As can be seen from this circumstance mentioned in “The Life of Paisius the Holy Mountaineer”, the Lord sometimes allows such people who are far from true piety to get tied up in His abode. By such a temptation, He strengthens the humility of His true servants. Resignedly transferring all the rudeness and nit-picking of his superior, the young monk Averky remained in obedience for two years, after which he was tonsured into the mantle (second stage of monasticism) with the name Paisius, under which he received popular fame, and later became famous in the face of saints.
A heavy but honorable cross of old age
Since that time, as hieromonk Isaac wrote in The Life of the Elder Paisius the Holy Mountaineer, the new and most important period of his earthly life has begun - old age, determined not by age, but by the presence in the soul of special grace sent down by God. It is known for certain that the ascetic, while still in the perishable world, was repeatedly able to see Jesus Christ and His Most Holy Mother, who appeared to him and spoke with him. At various points in their life, They filled his soul with Divine grace and bestowed strength for ascetic exploits.
As the rumor about the extraordinary piety of Father Paisius went beyond the monastery, people began to come to him asking for prayer help in various life circumstances. In the monastery books there are many records that testify to the miracles revealed by the Lord through the prayers of the elder. Among them are cases of healings of hopelessly sick people, and the facts of finding people who went missing many years ago.
It is noteworthy that the elder had the gift of talking not only with people, but also with animals who willingly listened to him and obeyed without question. So, in “The Life of Paisius Svyatogorts”, hieromonk Isaac recalls the case when, once in the presence of many pilgrims, a large poisonous snake crawled into his cell. Reassuring the frightened visitors, the elder took the cup and, filling it with water, gave the uninvited guest a drink. After that, he ordered her to leave, and the snake obediently disappeared into the crevice of the wall, causing no harm to anyone.
The blessed demise and the posthumous prophecy of the elder
It is difficult to list all the miracles revealed by the old man’s prayers both during the days of his earthly life and after the blessed death that followed on July 12, 1994. The great elder departed to the Lord after a long and debilitating illness, but none of those who happened to be near him in the last days heard from his mouth neither lamentations nor complaints. He spent the sunset with the same humility and submission to the will of God, as all the previous years, which we learn about from “The Life of Paisius the Holy Mountaineer”. The date of death of this great ascetic, no doubt, should be considered the beginning of his stay in the Kingdom of Heaven, the path to which he paved for himself from early childhood.
At the end of the article I would like to bring one of the prophecies left by Elder Paisius, who, as those who knew him personally, had an extraordinary gift of perspicacity. It concerns the relationship of the Greek state with its original political and military adversary - Turkey. Between them, the old man predicted a military conflict in the future, the outcome of which will largely change the current balance of power. He said that the centuries-old dispute over priority on the Bosphorus would finally be resolved in favor of Greece, and the Orthodox cross would shine over Constantinople. In fairness, we note that Hieromonk Isaac in “The Life of the Elder Paisius Svyatogorets” does not mention these words of his, and they became public with the filing of journalists.