Monk Païsios the Athonite(1924-1994) – 12 July
Much has been written about the Elder.
Those who knew him best and were closest to him have mostly chosen to
remain silent. I have imitated them. Not because I was one of them. I’ve
simply respected his memory. The Elder, I think, didn’t much care for
quantity, sheer size or publicity. We were neighbours for a decade.
I used to watch the crowds in his
garden. We’d point out the way to his kelli to pilgrims. I didn’t visit
him all that regularly. I followed certain visitors and went only in
times of great need. I respected his privacy and the offer of his love.
He was born in Cappadocia, in Farasa, in
1924. His father was the village president and had ten children. Both
his parents were well-known for their devotion to the Church. A few days
before they left for Greece, as a result of the dreadful Asia Minor
catastrophe, Saint Arsenios the Cappadocian (†1924), whose biography he
so beautifully wrote, baptized him, giving him his own name. In this
way, as the writer and artist Nikos Gavriil Pentzikis, from
Thessaloniki, said, ‘the living father Païsios is the departed father
Arsenios’. As an infant refugee, he arrived in Piraeus and was taken
thence to Corfu, where his godfather [Saint Arsenios] fell asleep in the
Lord, before the child and his family moved on to Konitsa. He just
about completed primary school and then took up carpentry.
After he’d completed his military
service, he came to the Holy Mountain to be a monk, as was his great
wish. He lived in our skete- Saint Panteleïmon, belonging to the Holy
Monastery of Koutloumousiou, in Esfigmenou, Filotheou, Katounakia, the
hermitage of Saint Galaktion on Mount Sinai, the monastery of Stomio in
Konitsa, the Skete of Iviron, the monastery of Stavronikita, in
Papa-Tykhon the Russian’s (†1968) kelli of the Precious Cross, and in
the Koutloumousiou kelli of the Panagouda [Mother of God]. Even as a
young man, he loved contributing, studying and praying. In particular,
he read assiduously the Lives of the Saints, the Sayings of the Fathers
and Abba Isaak the Syrian. He paid great attention to his spiritual
father and would visit Athonite Elders to seek their advice.
