Paisios the Holy Mountaineer was born. What awaits Russia in the future. Cell "Panaguda". The last years of the life of Saint Paisios
It is impossible to imagine the Christian world without wise elders and seers who became preachers of Orthodoxy, a clear confirmation of the greatness of faith in Jesus Christ. Most lived in distant dark times, and we only had a chance to read their life and the memories of eyewitnesses. But the twentieth century also gave the world many pious ministers of the church. The holy elder Paisios Svyatogorets traveled a truly worthy path and had a great spiritual influence on people, and his predictions about peace and war still excite the public.
Biography
Arseniy Eznepidis (this is his worldly name) was born in 1914 in Asia Minor, at that time this territory was the subject of disputes between Greece and Turkey. A few months later, the family was forced to leave because of the persecution of fanatic Muslims and find shelter in the Greek city of Konitsa.
Paisius Svyatogorets, an elder, seer and minister of Athos, was predestined to God from childhood. A close friend of the family, St. Arsenios of Cappadocia, even before the flight of the Eznepidis from Turkey, predicted the boy's monastic future and baptized him with his name: "Let the monk remain after me." His parents honored all church traditions and raised their children in the Christian faith.
From childhood, Arseny felt love for God in himself and decided to dedicate his way on earth to serving his precepts. However, before leaving worldly life, he managed to get the profession of a carpenter and serve his country. In the army, he worked as a radio operator and directly participated in the battles, these difficulties consolidated in the young man faith in the Lord and his teachings.
Special personality
The life of Elder Paisius Svyatogorets did not immediately give him the opportunity to do what his soul so passionately aspired to from an early age. After returning from the service, he tries to immediately go to the monastery, but on the first visit to Athos he fails to find a mentor, and the young man returns home to help his father and sisters. Arseniy is engaged in carpentry, makes doors, various utensils and does many works for free, helping the poor and needy.
Finally, he understands that life is impossible without the Lord, and in 1950 he finally decides to say goodbye to everything worldly. To serve God, the young man chose one of the most sacred places for Christians, the monastery guarded by the Most Holy Theotokos, where the elders of Athos served. Paisius Svyatogorets becomes a novice of the confessor Cyril, learns from him humility and enslavement of the flesh. All the members of the brethren in the monastery worked all day, and devoted their nights to prayers, he passed all the tests and was tonsured into a cassock under the name Avriky.
He decides to continue his spiritual development in the monastery of Felofey, where Hieromonk Simeon lived. He once knew his holy godfather Averky, and the young hermit was gladly received by the monks. Here he continues his obedience, including in the carpentry workshop, which earned him the love and respect of all the brethren. Despite his deteriorating health, Avriky did not stop working and praying, and soon Father Simeon personally tonsured him a monk.
Charity
Paisios Svyatogorets, the elder of Athos, begins his righteous path with a difficult missionary task. He was called to the burned-out monastery of Stomion, where the Christians were oppressed by the Protestants. Here, the venerable father is engaged in the restoration of the holy place and charity, people immediately realized that he was a real saint, and reached out to the temple. The poor carried grain, the richer - building materials, helped with transportation. Paisius Svyatogorets gave a lot of efforts to the education of morality among the population, preached a fine life.
Later, he decided to organize fundraising more thoughtfully and established special places for alms, and also created a board of trustees that distributed money to people in need. Not everyone was satisfied with the missionary activity of Father Paisios; sectarians tried to harm him, with whom the monk fought through campaign sheets and sermons. Some proprietors also disliked him, accusing him of appropriating monastic lands. But all this remained aloof from the holy father, he lived and worked according to God's law and did not pay attention to human squabbles.
Desert life
Over time, Father Paisius increasingly feels the need for solitude and detachment from the world. He himself called himself a radio operator of the Church, establishing a connection with God through prayers, who sometimes needs to make his contact with the Almighty in complete solitude. He never stopped thinking about the desert and the coming solitude, but the Lord did not let him go on this path.
He prepared himself for an ascetic life for a long time and, according to the recollections of people, he could not eat for several days, training his body and spirit. Finally, having received a blessing for silence, the monk settled near the cave of St. Galaktion. Later, he said that he ate bread or rice, drank water accumulated from rain or dew, and only a spoon, a jar and a T-shirt for sleeping were of tools and clothes.
This place kept memories of many ascetic deeds of holy hermits. Once a week he went down to the monastery to serve and to help the brethren, Father Paisios worked just like everyone else, carpentry and instructing young novices, and in the evening he again went to his hermitage.
Heritage
But his health was noticeably deteriorating, and in 1962 Paisius Svyatogorets, the elder of Athos, returned to the monastery. Here he continues his ascetic activity, and even after a complex operation, as a result of which almost the entire left lung was taken away, he does not stop actively participating in the life of the monastery and receiving pilgrims.
Thanks to the amazing openness of the elder and his gift to teach and prophesy, Paisius had many spiritual children, admirers - priests and ordinary people, they left invaluable records about the life and deeds of the saint. Together with his books, we can now compose for ourselves a portrait of this pious associate.
In these collections, all the known thoughts of the Athos monk are written: about the search for spiritual peace with oneself; about the false teaching that tells about the transmigration of souls, the holy father called such thoughts the intrigues of the devil; about the special purpose of man: "We did not come into this world in order to get comfortable."
The life of Elder Paisius the Holy Mountaineer, his spiritual legacy to his descendants, was compiled after 2015, the day of his canonization by the Orthodox Church. One of his father's spiritual children described his formation as a clergyman, the difficulties and dangers of his chosen path, helping people and important predictions. All his words and prophecies on various topics were collected and published in six volumes. His reasoning concerned the problem of the decline of morality in modern man, the role of prayer in spiritual perfection.
The Holy Father received many letters from the suffering, one of the most common problems in them is the relationship between husband and wife. Elder Paisios Svyatogorets devoted many speeches to this topic. "Family Life" is a collection of his teachings to spouses, here you can find tips on how to get rid of the selfishness of the modern world and try to see your loved one in a new light.
In recent years, the Russian press began to appear more and more predictions of Father Paisius, uttered by him half a century ago and received confirmation only now.
War prophecies
The elder was often asked about his attitude to the confrontations of religions in the world, the bloody events in Greece, Turkey and other hot spots. The monk himself in childhood and later, as a missionary, felt the horror of murders for ideological reasons, he saw the reason in the fragmentation of peoples, he said that the path to peace is possible only through a single religion - Orthodoxy.
Elder Paisius Svyatogorets, whose prophecies began to come true unexpectedly in the last few years, predicted the Third World War. According to him, the fighting in the Middle East will begin, long and merciless, in which most countries, including China, will participate.
He also foresaw the role of Russia as a state capable of stopping the war and returning Constantinople (Istanbul) to the Christian world. He saw salvation for humanity in the unification of all Orthodox people and the proclamation of the teachings of Christ.
The deeds of Saint Paisios are not recognized, except perhaps only in Turkey, because he predicted this country an imminent war with Russia and the subsequent division into 5 or 6 parts. The elder said more than once that the Muslims would be forced to leave the territories occupied many years ago, and the Holy City would again return to Greece.
Prophecies about the Russian Federation
It is no coincidence that Elder Paisius Svyatogorets said so many words about Russia, he saw the special mission of this country as the last stronghold of Orthodoxy in the whole world. One day he told a visitor that the Soviet Union would soon cease to exist and faith in Christ would be reborn. Many troubles were predicted for our country - both the intrigues of Western politicians and destructive wars, but in the end the monk saw the revival of a new strong Russia.
Elder Paisios Svyatogorets, whose prophecies also had a moralizing purpose, warned the Russians about the problems of theology in the country. People come to spiritual leaders, driven by worldly considerations of gaining power and leading the minds. The substitution of true Christian norms and dogmas can sadly affect the future of the state. People succumbed to Soviet propaganda, which for decades slandered the clergy and the Church itself.
He saw the prosperity of Greece and Russia in their unification, both spiritual and political. Modern leaders of the new stage of the revival of our country would do well to read the predictions of the elder. Paisius Svyatogorets was not only a seer, but also an amazingly wise man who left a great legacy of instructions, thoughts and sayings.
About parenting
One of the ascetic activities of the holy father was helping young people create a proper Christian family. He pointed out that most of the problems arise due to misunderstandings in the circle of loved ones. It all starts with the choice of a partner, the elder warned girls and boys to go on about carnal feelings, and look for a companion for love and a common spirit.
Paisiy Svyatogorets paid special attention to raising children: a child, according to him, like a sponge, he absorbs all the conversations, sees an example of the relationship of mom and dad to each other and to him, and later transfers all this knowledge to his own home.
The elder warned some mothers against excessive carnal love for their child, there is no need to constantly extol his talents and virtues, which are not yet there. The child will become selfish with the belief that only he is the smartest and most beautiful.
A child needs to be raised with prayer and in the moral ideas of the Orthodox world, one should not show excessive severity, as well as excessive love. Everything needs a balance and balance of views. Parents should always find time to listen to their child and explain what he does not understand, otherwise the baby will go looking for answers to his questions in other places.
Participation in the life of the country
Many lost souls were helped by Elder Paisios Svyatogorets. His words were directed to both the young and the elderly, sometimes the monk also met with people in high positions, since by their actions they can benefit a much larger number of those who suffer.
Father Paisios was a true patriot of his native country, he once fought for it as a young man and continued to do so in his monastic rank. He did not preach raising the status of Greece among other countries, did not want luxury and bliss for the inhabitants of his native state, his words were aimed at awakening the true faith in the Lord in fellow citizens. The elder always said that because of the decline of spirit in the society of the Hellenes, the Turks would come to their lands and pass through them without any resistance.
His help was not limited to sermons, Elder Paisius made a great contribution to the preservation of the statehood of Greece, opposed the falsification of history and tried to prevent attempts by neighboring countries to take away lands that did not belong to them. The opinion of Father Paisius was considered even in the government, so strong was his authority among the people.
Films about the old man
Holy Mount Athos, on which the monk lived for many years, was blessed by the Mother of God herself. For centuries, believers from all over the world have come to the small rocky peninsula to feel the divine spirit of these places. The clergy in the monasteries of Athos have always had a special influence on the laity; so Paisios the Holy Mountaineer, the elder, the seer of the twentieth century, thanks to his deeds, became known far beyond the borders of his native Greece.
Many people witnessed his ecclesiastical and social activities, he died in 1994, after a long illness, but spiritual children and those simply not indifferent managed to record and capture on film the reasoning about the world and God, which was expressed by Elder Paisios Svyatogorets himself. A documentary film about his life, spiritual and physical exploits, a long journey to God and self-knowledge includes six episodes.
The director of the cycle, Alexander Kuprin, tried to cover all the milestones in the formation of the holy ascetic of the Orthodox Church, from his birth to canonization. The picture includes both the memories of friends, relatives and other people who once visited the monk, as well as his own notes and books of Father Paisius.
Canonization
The holy elder became the most famous Athos ascetic of our day, his activities were of a different nature: he preached the observance of Christian traditions, love for God and man, but at the same time he himself was not limited to words alone. He restored temples, organized training classes for young people, collected donations for those in need, but most importantly, he was able to rally a group of associates around him.
All these deeds of Father Paisius were noted by the Holy Synod headed by the Ecumenical Patriarch. After studying the life path of the elder, the members of the congregation expressed the idea of his canonization. The decision was taken in 2015 unanimously and did not raise any objections. The day of his memory was appointed - July 12.
A well-deserved recognition already during his lifetime was able to gain the elder Paisius Svyatogorets. His books tell about hundreds of people whom the holy father helped in difficult times, about those who, thanks to him, found spiritual peace.
Elder Paisius Svyatogorets during his lifetime gained fame among people all over the world - and this despite the fact that the media did not talk about him, he was not shown on TV. The fame of him was transmitted by word of mouth - from mouth to mouth. To see the Elder or get advice, people came from different parts of the world - Australia, Africa, USA, Canada, France, Romania, Germany. The veneration of Elder Paisius in Greece is comparable to the fiery love of Russian people for. Now in Russia, often without knowing the Elder during his lifetime, without being acquainted with him, many pious Christians managed to fall in love with him with an ardent love, effectively feeling the prayerful intercession of Father Paisius, his intercession for people before God, his boundless love, kindness, mercy, ambulance. help and blessings. Eyewitness accounts of the Elder's prophetic, theological gifts, miraculous events associated with him, healings, including cancer patients, paralyzed ones, pour into entire book volumes. The Elder's teachings and conversations were reverently recorded by those whom the Lord led to seek consolation and spiritual experience from this ascetic, and today we have the opportunity again and again to fall to this inexhaustible spiritual source.Who cares about others today? Nobody. Only about myself. For this we will answer. Therefore, before God, Who is Love, we will answer for this indifference.
God wants men to be instructed by men.
About the life of Elder Paisios
Blessed Elder Schemamonk Paisius Svyatogorets (worldly name Arseniy Eznepidis) was born on July 25, 1924 (according to the old style) in the village of Farasy, in Cappadocia (Asia Minor). As a baby, he was transported to Greece because of the Asia Minor catastrophe, as a result of which the Greek population, after about 2.5 thousand years of permanent 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 Arseniy, there were nine more children in the family. Before leaving for Greece, the boy was baptized by St. Arsenius of Cappadocia and gave him his name, prophetically saying: "I want to leave a monk behind me."
The Elder's family eventually settled in Konitsa, in Epirus, in the northwestern part of Greece. It was there that the childhood years of Elder Paisios passed.
It early revealed a special spiritual vocation, chosenness, as St. Arsenius of Cappadocia prophesied about him. From childhood, Arseny lived as an ascetic, enjoyed reading the lives of the saints, diligently, with extreme zeal and amazing uncompromisingness, sought to imitate their exploits. He had a great love for Christ and the Mother of God, he really wanted to become a monk. Arseniy 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 ... and climbed some rock to pray there, like the ancient pillars
“In the morning I went to the mountains, taking some water with me, and climbed onto some rock to pray there, like the ancient pillars. As a teenager, I didn’t have a company with my peers, they went and killed birds, and did other things that I didn’t like. And I interacted with young children. They, as the eldest, revered me as their leader and rejoiced in our friendship. I kept fasts - they wanted to fast too, so I had problems with their mothers. “Don’t hang out with him, he’ll drive you to consumption,” mothers told their children, ”this is how the Elder told Afanasy Rakovalis about his childhood with a smile, the author of the book of memoirs about the Elder “Father Paisios told me ...”, published in 2003.
At a young age, the future elder learned the craft of a carpenter, wishing to be like Christ in this, Who until the age of 30 worked as a carpenter in the house of His father Joseph, before going on a three-year sermon. When the civil war broke out in Greece between the government army and the communist rebels (1944-1948), Arseniy Eznepidis was drafted into the army, received the military profession of a radio operator and served his homeland for 3.5 years. In the army, he continued an ascetic life, distinguished by courage, self-sacrifice, high Christian morality and diverse talents.
“When some dangerous operation was planned,” said Elder Paisios, “I tried to participate in it. If I had shown indifference and someone else would have gone instead of me and been killed, then they would have killed me all my life (that is, I would have been killed many times), and in the war they would have been killed only once ...
Once our camp was bombed. I found a ditch nearby and took cover in it. Soon someone walks by and says: “Can I come here?” "Let's!" I say. And there is enough space for one person. In fear, wanting to protect himself, he squeezes me out. Then another came along. I had to get out of the ditch altogether. “Nothing,” I say, “do not worry, God will not leave!” Just got out - a bullet flew by and shaved my head. (The old man laughed.) So, almost touched the skin, cut a strip in the hair. A centimeter lower - would have killed. I marveled."
Ruthless conscientiousness, courage, courage, reckless, unconditional self-giving - such was the elder Paisios in his youth. “He won the love and respect of everyone - both soldiers and officers. The self-sacrifice of the Elder, even before he became a monk and embarked on the path of a warrior of Christ, extended to the willingness to accept death for the sake of love for one's neighbor! How far are we, modern people, from this,” notes Afanasy Rakovalis.
Having repaid his debt to the fatherland, about 30 years old, Arseny embarked on the path of monastic life - the one that he aspired to from childhood. Note that at the same age, Christ came to. The elder endured many trials, but was not abandoned by the Lord. While still a layman, he repeatedly experienced the divine experiences of life in Christ. But when he became a monk, the special favor towards him of the saints, the Most Holy Theotokos and the Lord Himself became most obvious, as the sisters of the monastery he founded in Suroti tell. At the same time, he led a truly ascetic life and open warfare with the human enemy. “I think the ascetic deeds of the Elder go far beyond the bounds of our era with its characteristic effeminacy of people spoiled even in terms of their way of thinking,” says Afanasy Rakovalis. – Therefore, the exploits of Elder Paisius are comparable only with the exploits of the ancient ascetics of the 4th century. With our relaxation, even hearing about these exploits can be scary for us!
In 1950, Arseny became a novice of the blessed spiritual father, Father Cyril, later abbot of the Kutlumush monastery († 1968). Some time later, Father Cyril sent a novice to the monastery of Esfigmen, where in 1954 Arseny received a cassock with the name Averky. The novice monk resignedly and joyfully carried out any obediences, and having fulfilled his own, he helped other brethren to finish their work. Averky constantly prayed, trying not to be noticed by those around him. In the same year, on the advice of his spiritual father, he moved to the monastery of Philotheus, became a student of Father Simeon, known for his virtue. Two years later, Fr. Simeon tonsured Fr. Averky into the small schema with the name Paisius, in honor of Paisios II, Metropolitan of Caesarea, who was also a native of Farasa of Cappadocia. In the new place, Father Paisios led his former life: he pursued asceticism for piety and helped the brethren as much as he could.
Father Paisios asceticised in the monastery of Stomion in Konitsa, where he fed wild bears from his hands, spent three years alone in the desert of the holy Mount Sinai (in the cave of St. Mount Athos. He spent his life in obscurity, completely surrendering himself to God, who revealed and gave him to people. Many and many came to the Elder and found guidance and comfort, healing and peace for their tormented souls. The Divine was overflowing from the sanctified soul of the Elder, the radiance of Divine grace emanated from his reverend appearance. For days on end, Elder Paisios Svyatogorets tirelessly took away their pain from people, squandering divine consolation around him.
On June 29 / July 12, 1994, after truly martyrdom, which, according to the Elder himself, brought him more benefit than the ascetic work of his whole life, he reposed in the Lord. The place of his blessed death was the St. John the Theological Convent (founded by the Elder himself), located near the village of Suroti, not far from Thessaloniki, in Greece. Elder Paisios was buried to the left of the altar of the monastery church of St. Arsenios of Cappadocia, who baptized him as a child. Today in church shops you can find amazing icons with the image of St. Arseny, on the back of which a photograph of Father Paisios is glued, which evokes a touching feeling of unity between two ascetics, an inextricable spiritual connection between teacher and student, who will also be solemnly glorified by the Church in the near future.
An interesting detail: today, Father Paisius is revered by many as an intercessor on the road, especially drivers who are on the road at night. At the monastery in Suroti, pious drivers, and not only drivers, of course, can purchase photos of the Elder with a sticker specially for the car, so that the Elder prayerfully keeps them on the road.
On the grave of Father Paisius, on a white marble tablet, his modest, humble testament to people is written: to pray without ceasing. The live line to the grave of the Elder does not decrease ...
“I am the monk Paisius, having examined my life, I saw that I had transgressed all the commandments of the Lord, that I had committed all the sins. And it doesn't matter if some of these sins I have committed in a lesser degree, because I have no extenuating circumstances at all, since the Lord has done me great favors. Pray that Christ has mercy on me. Forgive me, and may all those who believe that they have upset me in some way be forgiven by me ... I am very grateful and ask again: pray.
Hundreds and thousands of pilgrims flock to Suroti every day, go in an endless stream, as it was during the life of Elder Paisios, to pray, collect land from his holy grave, see with their own eyes the places where the Elder carried out his ascetic feat, breathe the same air, enjoy view of the picturesque plateau at the foot of the valley, a breathtaking view of which opens from the mountain, where the St. John the Theologian Monastery is located.
“People today are spiritually sick”
– Tell us something, Geronda.
- What can I tell you?
- What does your heart tell you?
- My heart tells me this: "Take a knife, cut me into pieces, give them to people and then die"
You can talk endlessly about the gifts of Father Paisius. “The Elder himself is for people. Don't think this is an exaggeration. No, this is reality, says Afanasy Rakovalis, author of several books about the Elder. - Who, if not God, decorated and honored it with so many gifts! And just as He Himself is infinite and unlimited, so can the gifts of God be.”
Of all the gifts of the Elder, the greatest impression on people who happened to come into contact with the Divine Light pouring from his heart was love. “Love without boundaries, without internal hesitation, with absolute self-sacrifice,” says Rakovalis. - Love is fiery, sweet, omnipotent. Divine. Love, pouring out from the depths of his soul, without reasoning, equally warmly accepting into its arms the good and the evil, friends and enemies, near and far, worthy and unworthy, Orthodox and non-Orthodox, people and animals, and even plants, but most of all aspiring to God. It was inhuman love. Only the Holy Spirit can give birth to such love in the human heart. Our human “loves” are so insignificant and selfish, so temporary and fickle, so selfish and despotic, so easily turn into antipathy and hatred, that it is shameful and unjust to compare them with the love of the Elder.
A contemporary of Paisius the Holy Mountaineer, Elder Porfiry said the following about him: “The grace that Father Paisius has is worth more, because he acquired it with his deeds, while God gave it to me from an early age to help people. God sends such saints (like Father Paisios) to earth once every 400 years!”
Blessed Elder Paisius left a spiritual testament to the world - conversations with nuns and laity, which resulted in a six-volume edition of the Elder's teachings. Quite recently, the long-awaited sixth volume of the series, On Prayer, finally came out in Russia; The book can be purchased at the Sreteneniya store.
“Words” are conversations about everything that can excite a modern person on his spiritual path. These are the answers to all the questions that may disturb people in our turbulent times. This is a good guide-friend in the search for truth and gaining love for God. These are books about the most important thing in the life of each of us. It is impossible not to stick to these books with all your heart.
A simple monk who received only an elementary education in elementary school, but generously blessed with wisdom according to God, Father Paisius truly exhausted himself for the sake of his neighbor. His teaching was not preaching or catechism. He himself lived the gospel, and the teachings flowed from his own life, which was characterized by love. He "formed himself" according to the Gospel and first of all taught his contemporaries with all his appearance, and only after that - with his gospel love and God-enlightened word.
The "words" of Elder Paisios are extremely relevant. This is understood by everyone who first discovers this spiritual wealth left to us by the great love of the Lord. The "Words" of Elder Paisius can and should become a reference book for us - a good friend and adviser. However, the Elder always emphasized and insisted on the importance of applying the teachings in practice, because spiritual work is needed on what is heard and read. Otherwise, a lot of knowledge will not bring any benefit.
We are all one big family and brothers among ourselves, because all people are children of God
The uniqueness of the personality of Elder Paisios also lies in the fact that he spread his own gift of speech mainly in Greece. His wise teachings and instructions were addressed primarily to his compatriots - the Greek people. However, later they turned out to be extremely in tune with the needs and requirements of people of various nationalities. And of course, the literary heritage of Father Paisius Svyatogorets resonated with a warm string in the hearts of Russian people. Even during his lifetime, the Elder himself gave a simple explanation for this phenomenon: “We are all one big family and brothers among ourselves, because all people are children of God.” In Russia, Elder Paisius Svyatogorets is perhaps the most famous of the Athos elders. Just like the most famous Russian saint in Greece.
"Words" - a spiritual pantry
During the lifetime of Elder Paisios, no books were written about him. On the radio, on television, in the press, he was not mentioned. However, advice, consolation and stories about miracles that happened through the prayers of Elder Paisios were passed from person to person. In addition, the prudent sisters of the monastery of the holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian in Suroti, which Father Paisius founded and took care of until his death, wrote down his words and wise instructions. At first, by hand, and in the last years of the Elder's life, with the help of a tape recorder. In addition, each nunnery of the monastery, immediately after her personal conversations with the Elder, wrote down their contents in detail. Letters that Father Paisios sent to the monastery have also been preserved. Subsequently, these verbal treasures grew greatly and now they are truly an invaluable repository, a golden spiritual fund, a pearl of great value.
Thanks to the efforts of all those pious people who made efforts to preserve the living monument to the Elder - his words - the unique spiritual heritage is now systematized and published in the form of separate thematic volumes, united in the "Words" series of Elder Paisios the Holy Mountaineer.
In 1998-2001, the first three volumes of Elder Paisios' "Words" were published in Greek. It was decided to begin the translation of the complete collection of teachings into Russian from the second volume of "Spiritual Awakening", since its subject is especially topical today. The translator of almost all the volumes into Russian, Hieromonk Dorimedont (Sukhinin), emphasized the importance and acuteness of the instructive heritage of the Elder, since people in the modern world are spiritually sick, distorted, distorted, involved in a web of negligence, indifference, petrified insensitivity, despondency and other passions. And the kind, bearing the warm news of heartfelt love, the “Words” of Elder Paisios are truly a unique powerful weapon in “opposing crafty efforts to plunge humanity into a sinful sleep.”
The language of the "Words" is surprisingly lively, figurative, replete with dialectisms, phraseological turns, jokes, sayings... The structure of the text is such that books are read easily and quickly - literally "swallowed". After reading each volume, I can't wait to pick up the next one. And it's a pity that there are only six of them. After all, every time it is a Meeting, after which there is a long aftertaste.
I would also like to note the excellent design of the six-volume book: a convenient large format of books (60x100/16), a pleasant to the touch white binding, a text that is easy to visually perceive, color illustrations, highlighting individual mini-chapters and subtitles in the text in red italics, which allows you to quickly navigate the search relevant topics, handy pointers. The circulation of each of the books is 5-7 thousand copies.
Each volume of the "Words" can be considered a separate book. The first one, titled “With Pain and Love for Modern Man,” is divided into four thematic sections: about sin and the devil, about modern culture, about the spirit of God and the spirit of this world, and about the Church in our era. The second volume - "Spiritual Awakening" - consists of five parts: about the responsibility of love, about asceticism and reverence, about spiritual courage, about dependence on Heaven, about spiritual weapons. The third volume - "Spiritual Struggle" - tells about the battle of thoughts, about justice and injustice, about sin and repentance, about the power of confession, and also about the black forces of darkness. The fourth book - "Family Life" - is the Elder's reasoning about how to create a family, about parents, children and their responsibilities, about spiritual life, trials, about death and the future life. In the first section of the fifth volume of Passion and Virtue, Father Paisios, as if under a magnifying glass, considers such important sins as selfishness - the mother of all passions, pride - the root of evil, condemnation - the greatest injustice. In the second part of the volume, the story is about the virtues opposite to these passions: patience, love for one's neighbor, nobility, piety and reasoning, which the Elder calls the crown of all virtues.
Reasoning has always been a measure of the words and deeds of Paisius the Holy Mountaineer. The ultimate goal for him was to save the soul of a person who turned to him with his pain, problem, insoluble situation. Those who knew the Elder remember the tenderness that appeared in the heart from his words, no matter how strict they were sometimes. This happened because the task of Father Paisius was always to heal evil, and not to stigmatize a person with shame. He did not put the passion of his interlocutor in the pillory, but helped him free his soul from it. To any person - a perfect creation of God - the Elder treated with comforting love, heartache and humble disposition.
Do you know what kind of spiritual profit and spiritual experience a person acquires if he spiritually works on everything that comes his way?
Nun Philothea, abbess of the monastery in Suroti, says: “The Elder’s communication with the sisters of the monastery was usually built in the form of his answers to questions. Spiritual achievement has always been the main topic of personal conversations. The elder knew how to benefit from everything for the soul. Any trifle and trifle could become an occasion for a conversation on a serious topic. He said: “I use everything to connect with the heavenly, with Heaven. Do you know what kind of spiritual profit and spiritual experience a person gains if he spiritually works on everything that comes his way?” Meeting with people - so different from each other - the Elder did not just patiently listen to what they trusted him. With his characteristic simplicity and reasoning, he penetrated into the very depths of human hearts. The Elder made their pain, anxiety, and difficulties his own. And then - in an inconspicuous way - a miracle happened: a change in man.
Elder Paisios hoped that his instructions, stories, parables, stories and examples from life, which for 28 years had been collected bit by bit and carefully preserved by the monastery community, would instill good concern in the nuns and laity. So that we strive with piety, and evil recedes and the peace of God reigns on earth. In the teachings of the Elder, we find answers to many painful, insoluble, in our opinion, questions. Questions that excite and disturb everyone who thinks about his life and his own salvation. Everyone who is not indifferent to those spiritual horrors and sorrows in which humanity is mired. Everyone who is looking for light in the darkness of the unspiritual. Everyone in whom the flame of creativity burns, who is "tormented by spiritual thirst." In the hearts of caring, sympathetic readers, the spiritual seed of Elder Paisios will find good land and will certainly give abundant fruit. “Who hear the word, and receive it, and bear fruit” (Mark 4:20).
With pain and love about modern man
God works a miracle when we heartily participate in the pain of another person.
Blessed Elder Paisius Svyatogorets
According to Elder Paisios, the task of spiritual life is to discard one's own egoism, selfishness, and self-centeredness. It is precisely those “virtues” that are now especially promoted in a society where the postulates are the slogans “We only live once!”, “Take everything from life!”, “Live for yourself!” And here, like a sip from a pure life-giving source, the bright, joyful words of Elder Paisios, breathing with faith, hope and sincere love: “When you throw out your “I”, Christ rushes at you.” The elder repeatedly emphasized that without developing the spirit of sacrifice in oneself, it is impossible to partake of the life of Christ. Without sacrifice, one can only become a formal Christian, a person without an inner life.
“The good God first of all cares about our future life and only then about earthly life,” the Elder noted. He himself, as he writes in the preface to the first volume of the "Words" of the abbess of the monastery of the holy apostle and evangelist John the Theologian, nun Philothea, communicating with people, had the same goal: helping a person to know the will of God and unite with his Creator, Father Paisios prepared him for. Citing examples from the field of nature or science, art or everyday human existence, the Elder did not consider them abstractly, in isolation from spiritual reality. He sought to awaken the souls of his interlocutors from sleep, with the help of a parable he helped them to comprehend the deepest meaning of life and "grab hold of God." “I warm you like the sun,” said the Elder, meaning that the warmth of the sun is necessary for flower buds to blossom, and a gentle pastoral touch to the soul helps it open itself and heal from illness.
“It was truly a God-enlightened pastoral work,” Abbess Filofei notes. - It often prepared the soil of the soul for the adoption of a strict word about the uncompromising gospel truth. Therefore, even the strictest word of the elder Paisios is perceived by the heart as a healing dew.
The depth of the spiritual theological content of the letters of the Elder, which he wrote to the monastery in Thessaloniki, indicates that they are the fruit of Divine enlightenment. "The word of God is born, not written".
Elder Paisios wanted every person, be he a monk or a layman, to seek the “monastic life” that comes from a person’s total self-giving to God. Thus, a person is freed from the feeling of insecurity generated by faith in his own "I", and even in this life he tastes heavenly joy.
"How people suffer!"
If people have not trusted God enough to rely on Him completely, then they cannot avoid suffering.
Father Paisios sympathized with the events that took place and continue to take place in the world. He hurt his soul for people, sympathized with them. “The world is tormented,” said the Elder, “it is dying, and, unfortunately, all people are forced to live in the midst of this worldly torment. Human suffering has no end. General decay - entire families, adults, children. Every day my heart bleeds. Most feel a great abandonment, indifference - especially now - feel it everywhere. People have nothing to hold on to. Directly according to the proverb: “A drowning man grabs his own hair”, that is, a drowning man is looking for something to grab onto, how to save himself. People are looking for something to lean on, something to grab on to. And if they do not have faith to rely on it, if they have not trusted God enough to rely on Him completely, then they cannot avoid suffering. is a great thing."
With his wise instructions, the Elder gives consolation and hope, speaking about the only possible way out of human torment - this hell on earth. He once again reminds of the need to break away from our self: “If you get sick and worry about others, and not about yourself, then the whole world is visible, as if on an X-ray, which shines through with spiritual rays. The years we are going through are very difficult and dangerous, but in the end Christ will win. In the midst of the prevailing laxity, an ascetic spirit is needed. The models in the spiritual life should be the saints, not the people of this world.”
"God does not abandon us to our fate"
Father Paisius constantly emphasizes that today every person does what he wants and whatever comes into his head. But he notes that God does not leave His creation, He helps people. By this, the Elder gives us hope for salvation, that we will finally “come to our senses”, awaken spiritually and rise up against the human enemy. But the realization of this salvation is possible only on the condition that the person himself makes an effort. He will make his own choice in favor of light and goodness.
God protects the world today with both hands, while in former times with only one
Here is how the Elder spoke about the position of a person in the modern world: “Today, if a person wants to live honestly, spiritually, then there is no place for him in the world, he has a hard time. Others captivate, lead him along with them. If everyone goes to the same place, then it is difficult for one person not to go along with everyone - even if he does not want to. And if he is inattentive, he will roll downhill, he will be carried down by the worldly stream. Despite the fact that we have brought ourselves to such a state, God does not leave us to the mercy of fate. He guards the present world with both hands, while in former times with only one. Today, when a person is surrounded by so many dangers, God protects him, like the mother of a child who is starting to walk. Most people are in such a state that it is terrible to say. One is drunk, the other is disappointed with life, the third is intoxicated, the fourth is exhausted from pain by insomnia. All these people drive cars, ride motorcycles, perform risky jobs, operate dangerous machines. How many people could have been crippled long ago! How does God keep us, but we do not understand it.
The elder protected people from the spirit of rationalism prevailing in the countries of Western Europe: “You need to think about what you are - and you should be like your Creator in everything. If it is this thought that prompts a person to act, then he is moving in the right direction. Otherwise, he is in danger of falling into humanism.
The saddest thing is precisely that people now really do not understand, do not realize and, unfortunately, do not want to realize where the world is heading. The world has turned upside down: moral values have been turned upside down, they are distorted, and among young people the moral guidelines are generally distorted. Indifference, insensitivity, suffering, disunity of souls and loneliness are constant companions of modern man. But this applies to a non-believer. A spiritual person, according to the Elder, has no sorrows: “When love multiplies in a person and his heart is scorched by Divine zeal, then sorrow can no longer find a place in him. People cause such a person pain and suffering, but they are overcome by great love for Christ.
Father Paisius warned that one should not draw conclusions about a person on the basis of what is visible - since we are not able to distinguish what he hides in himself. This is a very important note. “A person is a mystery to another person,” he often repeated. “We will not draw conclusions, judging by appearance, without checking everything, especially if we lack Divine enlightenment or experience.”
spiritual struggle
He who truly knows himself has humility.
Blessed Elder Paisius Svyatogorets
Who am I? Why do I live? What is the meaning of my life? Probably, there is no such person who at least once would not ask these questions. In order to get closer to understanding the purpose that the Creator intended for His creation, Elder Paisios suggests that a person constantly immerse himself in introspection: “The study of oneself is the most useful of all other studies. A person can read many books, but if he does not take care of himself, everything he read does not bring him any benefit. But if he takes care of himself, then the benefit that he receives is great, even if he reads a little. In the latter case, the actions, the behavior of a person are refined - no matter what he does. Otherwise, he makes gross mistakes and does not understand this.
According to the Elder, the task of man is to know himself. Without realizing his old self, it is impossible for a Christian to learn humility, the mother of all virtues. If a person does not have humility, he will not be able to enter the spiritual orbit. Thus, man remains in the worldly orbit. “A person doing the work necessary for self-knowledge,” Father Paisios explained, “is like someone who digs deep into the ground and finds minerals in it. The more we delve into self-knowledge, the lower we see ourselves. Thus, a person humbles himself, but the right hand of God constantly elevates him. And when a person finally knows himself, humility already becomes his state and without fail has the right to “extension of the lease” in his heart. Pride no longer threatens such a person. And the one who does not do this kind of work on himself, constantly adds more and more new things to his spiritual garbage, increases his garbage heap, for some short time proudly sits on its top and eventually falls down.
From conversations with the Elder:
“- Geronda, what helps a person to improve most of all?
First of all, will. The will, the desire to improve is, in a way, a good initiative. Then the person should realize that he is ill and start taking appropriate spiritual antibiotics.”
Elder Paisius lovingly points out to us, the negligent children of the Lord, that the main thing is a person’s awareness of the fact of the need to recognize and acknowledge their ailments. In addition, a prerequisite in the process of studying one's own essence is a feeling of joy: all our actions must be accompanied by inner joy. Only after that a person can start "treatment" - when he is inwardly ready to take spiritual pills. And then Christ will begin to strengthen him. It is extremely important for a person to realize his own weakness and sinfulness. Elder Paisios affectionately reminds a person that without admitting one's mistakes and inaccuracies it is impossible to “turn” oneself inside out and see one's true face – one's old man. And without this, as mentioned above, neither the knowledge of oneself, one's own "I", nor salvation is possible. However, if a person admits his infirmities, he will be freed.
Good self-knowledge brings God to tenderness and gives us Divine help and heavenly joy.
“A good knowledge of oneself,” Father Paisios said, “leads God to tenderness and gives us Divine help and heavenly joy.” But he immediately warns that there is also an opposite knowledge of oneself - unkind. This happens when a person justifies himself, calms his thoughts. That is, he has an erroneous knowledge of his inner man. “We must always make at least a small effort to improve,” the Elder noted. In order for a person to improve, there must be inner contrition with sincere repentance.
From conversations with the Elder:
“– Geronda, is it possible to realize your mistake and still not succeed?
- When a person realizes his sinful mistake and again, unwillingly, commits it, then this means that he has pride or a predisposition to pride. And therefore God does not help him to succeed. If a person realizes his sinfulness, then this is a great power, a great deed. Then the person begins to abhor, humble himself, attribute everything good to humanity and the goodness of God, and feel great gratitude to Him. Therefore, God loves sinners who are aware of their sinfulness, who repent and live with humility, more than those who struggle a lot, but do not recognize their sinfulness and have no repentance.
Experience from our falls
In researching oneself, as the Elder reasoned, it would be very useful to examine one's life from time to time: step by step, starting from childhood. This is necessary in order to see where a person was before, where he is now and where he should be. Without comparing the past with the present, it is impossible to understand that, even being in a more or less good condition, a person is still not where he should be. And he will not understand that which grieves God.
Falls help you to know yourself. Everything comes out, and slowly useful work is done on oneself
When a person is young, he has an excuse that he is not in a very good condition. However, he has no excuse if, having left his young age, he remains in the same state or does not correct himself enough. Elder Paisius emphasizes that the more years pass, the more spiritually mature a person should become. He spoke about falls and mistakes as a benefit for a person that one must be able to extract: “Often even changeable ups and downs in the spiritual struggle help a person to fruitfully and confidently make his spiritual path to God. By carefully following everything that happens and using everything for the good, we gain experience, using which we receive considerable help. Falls help you to know yourself. Everything comes out, and slowly useful work is done on oneself.
In order not to spill, preserve and increase spiritual wealth, one should “catch oneself in the act of a crime,” as the Elder liked to say. The one who does this, puts off his old man and enters the right spiritual path. Our old man plunders what the new man does. Having learned to catch our old man at the scene of a crime, we catch with him all the other thieves who plunder the good that God will give us. Thus, spiritual wealth remains with us.
Spiritual doing with a magnifying glass
“Our old man is the evil “tenant” living in us,” the Elder said mockingly, whose speech was always distinguished by the apt use of epithets. - In order for this "tenant" to leave, we must destroy his dwelling and begin to erect a new building - to build a new person. But this grandiose building (which can be called the main work of our life) must begin with the renewal of the foundation on which the whole building will rest. As long as our old man acts as a foundation, it is dangerous to erect a new building because of its precariousness and lack of strength.
It is impossible to be born again, to rise again without repentance - it is with it that the renewal of the old man begins. It's like old skin, like dried paint chipping off layer by layer, and a smooth, clean canvas is revealed, ready to take on a new palette of colors. “We have no excuse when we don’t want to repent and confess,” noted Father Paisios, “but we want to remain dirty. There are people who, thinking that they will fall into the same sin, do not confess, that is, they add new dirt to the old dirt (however, if their clothes get dirty, they wash them).
From repentance comes the Divine. Elder Paisios explained that one must learn to give oneself to the world and one's neighbor, then peace and tranquility will reign in a person's heart. In those moments when we truly forget about ourselves (by doing works of mercy and charity, giving our time to our neighbor, helping the sick, caring for a child), we gain the true meaning of life.
Give, give without thinking about yourself. The more you give, the more you get!
“Give, give without thinking about yourself. The more you give, the more you will receive, because God will give you His grace and love in abundance. He will begin to love you strongly, and you will love Him, because you will stop loving yourself, your “I”, which requires pride and selfishness to feed it, and not the grace of God, which gives the soul all the necessary juices, changes the flesh with a divine change and makes a person shine immaterial light."
Elder Paisius calls those people who do not want to repent the most unreasonable in the world - not only because “they constantly have a heaviness in their souls, since they do not repent in order to free themselves from this small hell, leading to even worse, eternal, but and because they are deprived of heavenly joys on earth, which are much stronger in paradise, near God.
Feat
“Since our body is connected with the soul and the task of the flesh is to obey the spirit and obediently serve it to bring the soul into a good dispensation, we only need part of its strength from the body, and not its outrages,” argued Elder Paisios.
“Therefore, caring for the colt (flesh) must be done with reason. We must feed him with suitable barley so that we can keep him in line and so that he does not act outrageously, does not kick and somehow - God forbid! - did not throw us into the abyss. The trouble is that the flesh plunges the soul into hell, while the colt of its rider - at most - can be thrown into the abyss, which will not harm the soul of its owner.
Love
Conscience is the main law that God wrote deep in the human heart. This law, according to the Elder, each of us, being born, receives from his parents as a photocopy. “Those who refine their conscience through daily self-examination already feel like strangers to this world, and to worldly people their refined behavior seems strange. However, those who do not examine their conscience do not benefit either from spiritual reading or from the advice of the elders. They cannot keep the commandments of God either, because they become insensible.”
The elder said that every person takes exams in this life in order to get into another life, eternal - in.
The ardent love of Christ nourishes better than any material food, giving the soul and body many calories.
“Hot spiritual love makes sensitive people even more sensitive, and shameless people more shameless. The ardent love of Christ nourishes better than any material food, giving the soul and body a lot of calories, and often, without medicine, heals incurable diseases and calms souls.
“The elder pushed us with him to heaven”
It's like when you are next to the fireplace, you feel warm, although there is no action on your part.
Afanasy Rakovalis
Studying the literary heritage left to us by the elder Paisios Svyatogorets and carefully collected by the people who loved him, it is impossible not to be imbued with reciprocal love. Love with a touch of heartache. From how much we do not understand and how little love we give to God, the world, our neighbor. While every word of Elder Paisios is permeated with the breath of light, sincere love for the world and man.
In every verbal message, which, due to the great love of the Lord for man, remained from the elder Paisius, there is a quiet pain of the father for his negligent children. Whatever page of his letters or conversations with the laity and nuns a person opens, the spirit of love and joy is clearly felt everywhere. The elder instructs us with the love that he was gifted with, teaches us with a pure, open, sincere heart. In whatever mood a person turns to the help of the Elder, from the pages of his teachings he invariably receives light, joy, a sense of peace. And the sense of humor of Elder Paisius is simply impossible not to notice and not to feel - it is amazingly insightful. Like well-aimed arrows lubricated in the oily solution of the Elder's love, they hit right on target, echoing in the soul with quiet joy and exultation.
Of particular note is the amazing speech of the Elder, which the translator of the "Words" series, Hieromonk Dorimedont (Sukhinin), tried to convey to us. It is very lively, rich, the tone is soft, joyful and optimistic. Also for this reason, after coming into contact with the works of Father Paisius, there is always lightness and peace in the heart. Every time a smile on your lips. Even the words themselves, interjections, exclamations, turns of speech, diminutive suffixes, with which the Elder's speech abounds from an excess of love, are painted in warm, gentle tones. In which there is love. Love for the world, man, animals, plants, even grains of sand - every Divine matter on earth.
The words of the Elder glow with infinite inner light. This light and these words are from God. When you comprehend and accept these speeches and words, all human problems and problems seem insignificant and ridiculous, lose their meaning, often far-fetched due to the weakness of human nature. With his wise teachings, parables, stories, stories, jokes, Elder Paisius, at first glance, easily and without difficulty managed to “raise” a person above everyday life, to make him go beyond his shell, his “I” and look around. He turned his face to the world, at least for a while he was able to forget about his own egoism, to see himself and his neighbor as in a mirror. And at least for a minute to touch the Divine love that came from the Elder in order to feel the true joy - the joy of contemplating the amazing beauty of every moment of life.
Elder Paisios taught me to see this beauty in every creation of God. Nothing in our life is random. Therefore, I am grateful that it was Elder Paisios who, through the paper word, became my first “spiritual mentor.” But love is not a corporeal matter, it has no body, no flesh. It was through the word that the Lord brought to the Church – through the radiant “Words” of Elder Paisius the Holy Mountaineer, which, like a luminous cloud, envelop the human soul. This cloud is the warm embrace of the Elder, his prayerful feat for us to the Lord, his sparkling love that fills the world and the hearts of people in which, even for a moment, pain, the pangs of loneliness, despondency, oblivion disappear. And this proves once again that the Holy Spirit can pour His light into the heart of each of us. But for this we need to work hard, and not “to blow our own tune,” as the Elder liked to jokingly scold those lucky ones whom God vouchsafed in earthly life to join the unique personality of the blessed elder Paisios the Holy Mountaineer.
Prophecy 1:
One doctor asked the Elder what the future holds for us?
“The future, my child, only God knows.
- Geronta, will there be big wars?
What are you asking, child? And you have no idea what will happen!
Prophecy 2:
Today, reading prophecies is like reading a newspaper: everything is written so clearly. My thought tells me that many events will take place: the Russians will occupy Turkey, Turkey will disappear from the map, because 1/3 of the Turks will become Christians, 1/3 will die and 1/3 will go to Mesopotamia.
The Middle East will become the scene of wars in which the Russians will take part. A lot of blood will be shed, and even the Chinese will cross the Euphrates River, with an army of 200,000,000, and reach Jerusalem.
A characteristic sign that these events are approaching will be the destruction of the mosque of Omar, because. its destruction will mean the beginning of work on the reconstruction of Solomon's temple, which was built on that very spot.
In Constantinople there will be a great war between Russians and Europeans, and much blood will be shed. Greece will not play a leading role in this war, but Constantinople will be given to it, not because the Russians will revere us, but because there is no better solution, and they will agree together with Greece, and difficult circumstances will put pressure on them. The Greek army will not have time to approach there, as the city will be given to it. The Jews, since they will have the strength and help of the European leadership, will become insolent and show themselves with shamelessness and pride and will try to rule Europe. Then 2/3 of the Jews will become Christians.
Unfortunately, today people who have no relation to the Church and with absolutely worldly sophistication are pushed into theology, who say different things and perform unlawful actions, with the aim of deliberately removing Christians from the faith by their position. The Russians did the same when they wanted to introduce communism in Russia. What were they doing there? After some wrong priests and theologians had joined the party—and were already “at one with them”—they were forced to accuse the Church and often speak against it. So they poisoned the people, because they could not recognize the role of these theologians. Then they took one of their priests, who was very fat due to illness, looked for months for some bony boy, put them on one poster and wrote at the bottom: “This is how the Church lives and how the people live in poverty.” They also took a photograph of the patriarch's chambers, covered with carpets, furniture, etc., and placed next to the barracks of one of the beggars (like our gypsies) and said: look at the luxury of the priests and how the Russian citizen vegetates! In this way they succeeded, little by little, in poisoning the people and "spoiling their thoughts." And after the people devoured each other, those also appeared, and, as we know, they threw Russia back 500 years ago, and left her dying, killing millions of Russian Christians.
They will build many intrigues, but through the persecution that will follow, Christianity will be wholly united. However, not in the way that those who machinations arrange a worldwide unification of churches, wanting to have one religious leadership at the head, want. It will unite, because in the situation that has been created, the separation of the sheep from the goats will take place. Each sheep will strive to be close to the other sheep, and then “one flock and one Shepherd” will be realized in practice. Do you understand? We see that this is already partly being implemented: Christians, you have seen, have already begun to feel that they are in an unhealthy climate, and will try to avoid painful situations and flow in thousands to monasteries and churches. You will soon see that there are two parts of the people in the city: those who will live a life of prodigality and a life far from Christ, and the rest who will flow to vigils and places of worship. The middle state, as it is now, can no longer exist.
Prophecy 3:
Once I came downstairs and saw the Elder somewhat embarrassed and upset. He treated me and he began to speak:
- Some people came here and began to tell me that there would be a war, and that the Turks would enter Greece, and that they would drive us six miles to Corinth (explaining erroneously, corrupted by their thought, the prophecy of Cosmas of Aetolia). Then I took them up and said that the worst enemy for the Hellenes is that when certain Hellenes like you all over the world spread that if there is a war, the Turks will drive us to Corinth, because when the war starts, everyone will have the spirit is broken, and they themselves will retreat to Corinth. Moreover, if this were the truth, it would be impossible to talk about it. Especially when it's not true. And I repeat to you again: do not talk about this anywhere, because you will do much more evil than many Turkish divisions would have done.
I told them this, and they forced me to explain, although I never wanted to talk about prophecies, that the six miles of which St. Cosmas speaks are six miles of the sea shelf. This is the topic that we have been squabbling over with Turkey in recent years, and it will be the issue that we will “grab on”. However, they will not enter Hellas: they will advance only these six miles, and then a great disaster will come upon them from the north, as the scriptures say, and "nothing straight will remain." A third of the Turks will be killed, a third will convert to Christianity, and the rest will go far into Asia. We will not suffer anything from the Turks. Some unimportant things will be destroyed and the wrath of God will come upon them.
I heard this from them and was upset. I could not believe that the Greeks themselves, by spreading such things in time of peace, would render the Turks the greatest help.
They also began to tell me that what Saint Cosmas said: “then it will come when two summers and two paschals come together,” now that the Resurrection (Easter) coincided with the Annunciation - and the winter passed like summer - means that the Turks will attack Hellas (Greece).
We have all become prophets, my father, and we explain things with our minds as we please. And here I was forced to tell them that Saint Cosmas, when he said: “then he will come,” did not mean the Turks. He understood that then freedom would come for the inhabitants of Northern Epirus. Indeed, in this year, after so many years, the borders were opened, and they can, in a certain way, freely communicate with their fatherland.
My father, I saw that these people do very great harm by explaining things with their poor mind. And what's more, they pass on their corrupted thoughts to others.
Prophecy 4:
So "nobly" divided into parts of Turkey
The brother asked the Elder about the events in Serbia, and he, among other things, said:
- Europeans are now making, for the sake of the Turks, independent areas where Muslims live (Bosnia and Herzegovina). I see, however, that Turkey will be divided in a noble way: the Kurds and Armenians will rise up, and the Europeans will demand that these peoples be made independent. They will then say to Turkey: we did you a favor there, now the Kurds and Armenians should gain independence in a similar way. So "nobly" will divide Turkey into parts.
Saint Arsenius in Faras told the believers that they would lose their fatherland, but soon they would receive it again.
Prophecy 5:
In the summer of 1987, I asked the Elder about a future world war, the one called "Armageddon" and reported in the Scriptures.
With paternal interest, he gave me various information. And he even wanted to discover certain signs that would convince us that we really are in the generation of Armageddon. So he said:
“When you hear that the Turks block the waters of the Euphrates in the upper reaches with a dam and use them for irrigation, then know that we have already entered into the preparation of that great war and thus the way is being prepared for a two hundred million army from the sunrise, as Revelation says.
Among the preparations is this: the Euphrates river must dry up so that a large army can pass. Although - the Elder smiled at this place - if two hundred million Chinese, when they arrive there, drink one cup of water, they will drain the Euphrates!
I was told that the Chinese army at the moment is two hundred million, i.e. the specific number that St. John writes about in Revelation. The Chinese are even preparing a road, which they call the "miracle of the era": its width is such that thousands of soldiers lined up freely pass along it. And by this time they had already brought it to the borders of India.
However, great attention and an enlightened pure mind are needed so that we can distinguish the signs of the times, because, in a certain way, everything happens in such a way that they cannot be distinguished by those who do not care about the purification of hearts, and, as a result, , is easily misled. Let us suppose that one knows that in order for a million-strong army to pass, the Euphrates River must dry up. However, if one expects it to happen in a miraculous way, i.e. Let us suppose that a large fissure opens and all the water disappears, then such a person will be in error, for he did not take care to “enter into the spirit” of the Scriptures through purity of heart. Something similar happened with Chernobyl: in Revelation, St. John the Theologian reports that he saw a star that fell from the sky and hit the waters and people. Those, however, who expect a star to fall from the sky, have long been deluded and will never understand that this has already come to pass. Chernobyl in Russia means "wormwood" and we see that huge harm has been done, and it will be even more over time ... "
Prophecy 6:
During the procession of the Terrible Representative in 1992, an ensign from Ioannina held an umbrella over the icon of Panagia. When we walked, I was to his right, and the Elder was to his left, who at some point said to the officer:
- Come on, pray well, that you will be the standard-bearer in the City (Constantinople) when we enter.
And turning to me he said:
“Did you hear what I said?
— Yes, Geronta, I heard. Amen. I answered him.
Then he smiled and said his characteristic:
- A! (Okay, exactly!).
A day later I went down to his cell and inquired about the City. And he said:
“We will take Constantinople back, but not us. We, due to the fact that the majority of our youth have fallen, are not capable of this. However, God will arrange for others to take the City and give it to us as a solution to their problem.
Prophecy 7:
A group of little disciples from Athosias descended to the Elder. They were occupied with one topic: they heard, as if the Elder told some that we would take Constantinople. And they wanted to hear it themselves from his lips, and especially to ask if they would live at that time. So, they were talking among themselves on the way that someone should have asked the Elder about this topic. So they came and sat down with him, but no one dared to ask such a question. They got up, took the blessing, and headed for the path. The old man, seeing them off, said with a smile:
- And know: we will take Constantinople and you will live at that time too!
The disciples were struck like a thunderbolt by what he said, and they were amazed at the grace that he had, and that she was informed of everything, and also that all these terrible things would happen in their generation.
Prophecy 8:
Mr. D.K. visited the Elder. At that time, the USSR was very strong in all respects and no one could even imagine that it could collapse - it was still under Brezhnev's rule.
The elder, among other things, said to him:
You will see that soon the USSR will fall apart.
Mr. D. objected:
- But such a strong power, Geronta, who will ruin it. And they dare not touch his fingernail.
- You'll see!
The elder predicted that the USSR would also collapse, and that Mr. D. would still be alive and see this (despite the fact that he was already aged).
And the old man continued:
- Know that Turkey will fall apart. There will be a war for two and a half years. We will be winners because we are Orthodox.
- Geronta, will we suffer damage in the war?
“Eh, at the most, one or two islands will be occupied, and Constantinople will be given to us. See, see!
Prophecy 9:
One afternoon, a group of pilgrims arrived at the Elder's cell. Taking the blessing, they sat down in the outer archondarik. The old man kindly brought them traditional Turkish delight, refreshing water and fresh cherry plum, which previous pilgrims had brought him. He sat down and started talking:
Elder: How do they live in the world?
Dimitri: In general, Geront, the media spread evil and are directed towards it. Moreover, even small children are corrupted.
Elder: What does the law say? Do you file claims?
Dimitri: We are trying, Geronta, to do something, but they do not accept words.
Elder: You always have a clear conscience because you are doing your duty. God will arrange the rest.
Dimitri: Can you tell us, Geronta, how we should behave in this evil world? So… in general.
Elder: Need a discussion. Do you have a spiritual father?
Dimitri: Yes, Geront.
Elder: Consult with the confessor, because sometimes we cannot say either “yes” or “no”, therefore reasoning is required.
Here the Elder got up and left them alone, and they seized a convenient moment and agreed to ask the Elder to tell them about Constantinople. Soon the Elder returned and, to the amazement of everyone, before they had time to ask anything - indicating that his spiritual "radar" had picked up their thoughts - he tells them:
Elder: What do you say, will we take the City?
They were dumbfounded and didn't say anything.
Elder: Tell me, will we take the City?
The group, in amazement, does not answer.
Elder(jokingly): Bouncers...
Theodore: Take Geront.
Elder: Glory to Thee, God. (He crosses himself to the east and looks towards the City.)
Dimitri: If God bless, Geront, let's take him.
Elder: Yes, it's from God! Let's take it! Only we will not take it, but they will give it to us. Those who take it from the Turks will give it as a solution to us, because they will think it is to their advantage.
Dimitri: Geronta, how long will such evil continue?
Elder: Maybe, maybe! However, we will take exams.
Dimitri: Will there be proper guidance?
Elder: God will arrange. In this war, everyone will emerge victorious. The Greek army will be a spectator. Nobody will come back victorious. Palestine will be their arena, their grave will be the Dead Sea. It will be in the first half time. But there will also be a second half-time: after these events, a person will come to despair, and then everyone will study the Gospel and the Scriptures. Christ will have compassion on the world and show a sign for faith. Then you will look for the unbeliever.
Dimitri: Geront, a troparion to the prophet Elijah, says that he is “the second forerunner of the coming of Christ.” He, as you know, did not die, as did Enoch. Will the prophet Elijah come to earth?
Elder(smiling): Prophet Elijah sharpens and prepares his knife! And even before that, he will start with patriarchs, bishops, priests and monks!
Nicholas: And worldly ones.
Elder: You have ignorance, we have sins. Is it not said in the prayer at the Divine Liturgy: "Our sins and the ignorance of men"? The prophet Elijah is sharpening his knife: however, much attention is needed, because the Fathers speak differently about some things, and the world interprets differently, as, say, about the six miles, which Saint Cosmas of Aetolia reports. (The Turks will leave, but they will come again and reach six miles. In the end they will be driven to the Red Apple Tree (Kokkinh Mhlia). Among the Turks, 1/3 will die, the other 1/3 will be baptized and the last 1/3 will go to the Red Apple Tree.) Nobody can explain this.
There are six miles in Langadas, Kilnis, in Thrace, in Corinth, but no one knows that those of which he speaks are six miles of territorial waters. You don't read from the Prophets: Joel, Zechariah, Ezekiel, Daniel? Everything is said there. For seven years in Palestine they will burn not wood, but sticks, but how do you know the difference between sticks and firewood! Now you have heaters in your houses (smiling), while I am here burning wood in the stove and I know what's what.
(We are talking about the prophecy of the prophet Ezekiel - 39, 9-10: “Then the inhabitants of the cities of Israel will go out and kindle a fire, and they will burn weapons, shields and armor, bows and arrows, and maces and spears; they will burn them for seven years. And they shall not fetch firewood from the field, nor cut from the woods, but only burn their weapons; and they shall plunder their robbers, and shall plunder their despoilers, says the Lord God.")
Christ: Jews...
Elder: One pious Jordanian told me that the Jews dug a tunnel many meters deep under the mosque of Omar, and they want to destroy the mosque in order to build the temple of Solomon, because. then, they say, the messiah will come, i.e. Antichrist. Then the Arabians will say to the Christians: Don't you Christians say that the Messiah has already come? What are they saying here now, the Jews?
The elder, bringing refreshments to the newly approached pilgrims, asked one of them:
Elder: Will we take the City? What do you say?
Christ: I will go to Northern Epirus.
Elder: Let's take the City, let's take Northern Epirus by seven!
Christ: Seven and I - eight!
Elder: Well done! And I will transfer the relics of St. Cosmas of Aetolia, they are heavy! What can I say, guys, our books (church) write and talk about all this, but who reads them? The people have no idea. Sleeping in sandals!
Dimitri: This, Geronta, signs of the times?
Elder: You don’t see the signs, the signs of the times… Excuse me, you have to be a sheep not to understand what is happening… Many of the Holy Fathers prayed to live in our time, for it is a confessional time. We sleep in bast shoes. Soon they will ask Christians, as they used to ask for political convictions.
Nicholas: Will they file a case against us, Geronta?
Elder: Ah, bravo! Affairs.
Dimitri: Geronta, Greece will suffer?
Elder: Greece has gone through many thunderstorms, but there will be more! Greece will not suffer in any way, for God loves her. We had many relics in Asia Minor. On every inch of the earth you will find holy relics. Let's take Hagia Sophia and the gates will open. No one knows these gates... let's see what will happen though? What will the minarets become then?
Nicholas: We will destroy them.
Theodore: Let's make them bell towers.
Elder(smiling): No, they will become pillars for the pillars, and the rosary will hang down to the bottom!
Dimitri: Will the Jews be the leaders of this war?
Elder: Yes, there will be Jews. The Pope will also help a lot, because all the children of the devil will be considered his (ie the Pope) and he will instruct them to follow the Antichrist. Therefore, Saint Cosmas said: “Curse the Pope, because. he will be the cause." The saint meant the Pope of that particular time, who would help the installation of the Antichrist. Other Popes will seem good by comparison.
After this, for the first time they heard and amazing, which the love of the Elder showed them, the whole group remained silent and agitated for some time. The elder got up, blessed them and showed them the way so that they would not get lost and get to the place.
They left the cell of the Elder shocked, thinking about what God is preparing for the future. They also thought that such apocalyptic events should never be forgotten. The names of the group are real, and the brothers asked your love to pray for them, may they find mercy before God. Amen.
Brief information about the life of Elder Paisius
Elder Paisius of Athos (in the world Arseniy Eznepidis) was born in Faras of Cappadocia, in Asia Minor, on July 25, 1924, on the day of St. Anna, from pious parents. He was baptized on August 7, 1924 by Saint Arseniy of Cappadocia, who gave him his name at baptism. As a child, I really wanted to become a monk. Before serving in the army, he worked as a carpenter, just like our Lord did when he was on earth. In 1945 he was drafted into the army and served as a radio operator. In 1949 he finished his service and immediately went to the Holy Mountain. In 1950 he came to the monastery of Esfigmen. There, in 1954, he adopted a cassock with the name Averky. In the same year he went to the sacred monastery of Philotheus, where his uncle was a monk. In 1956, he was tonsured into the small schema with the name Paisius in honor of the Metropolitan of Kessaria Paisius II, with whom they were compatriots (he also came from Faras of Cappadocia). In 1958, having received a notice from God, he retired from Athos to the sacred monastery of the Nativity of the Virgin in Stomio Konitskaya. There, with the help of the grace of God, he helped thousands of souls, and from there in 1962 he went to Sinai for some spiritual reasons. At Sinai he lived in the cell of Saints Galaktion and Epistimius. He returned to the Holy Mountain in 1964 and settled in the Iberian skete, in the cell of the holy Archangels. In 1966, he fell ill and was treated for many months in the hospital, where they took away most of his lungs. While in the monastery, Stavronikita was close to the famous confessor Father Tikhon, who came from Russia and had many spiritual gifts. The elder served him with great self-sacrifice, offering all the help he needed. At the request of Father Tikhon (after his death), Elder Paisios settled in his cell of the Holy Cross, where he lived until 1979. After that, he came to the sacred monastery of Kutlumush and settled in the cell of Panaguda. In Panaguda, the Elder helped thousands of souls. All day from sunrise to sunset, he advised, consoled, resolved problems, cast out all constraint and filled souls with faith, hope and love for God. He suffered greatly from various illnesses, which he endured with great patience and courage. On October 22, according to the old style (November 5, according to the new one), 1993, he left the Holy Mountain for the last time and went to the Hesychastirium of St. John the Theologian in Suroti to attend, as usual, the vigil of the feast of St. Arseny, which is revered on November 10. Due to illness, he was forced to stay there, and on Tuesday, July 12, 1994, at 11:00 am, the Elder surrendered his reverend soul quietly and humbly to the Lord, whom he so loved and whom he had served from his youth. He was buried in the monastery of St. John the Theologian in Suroti Thessalonica. He left a commandment: not to remove his relics from the earth until the Second Coming.
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Every Christian at least once heard about the elders, whose feat was pleasing to God. Their prayers saved people from illnesses, dangers, troubles. Are there such monks today, in our time? Of course yes! About one old man who lived in the last century, and will be discussed.
The life of the elder Paisius the Holy Mountaineer: birth and baptism
It would be more accurate to say - life. Monk Paisios was canonized in early 2015. So let's take a look at his life.
On the territory of Turkey there is a historical area called Cappadocia. It was here in 1924, on July 25, that a boy was born to Prodromos and Evlampia Eznepidis. The godfather of the child was Arseniy of Cappadocia, now glorified in He called the baby by his own name and said that he wanted to leave the monk behind him.
Subsequently, about the man who was his godfather, the holy elder Paisios Svyatogorets wrote that with his righteous life Arseniy of Cappadocia preached the Orthodox faith, he changed souls and overshadowed Christians and Turks, believers and unbelievers with God's grace.
Childhood and youth of Arseny
During the infancy of the future elder Paisius, Orthodox believers experienced harassment and persecution by the Turks of the Muslim faith. As a result, many families were forced to leave their homes. Among the refugees was little Arseniy with his relatives. In September 1924, forced migrants arrived in Greece. The family of the future saint settled in the city of Konitsa.
Paisios Svyatogorets, an elder in the future, from early childhood dreamed of a monastic life, often ran away to the forest, where he spent time in prayer - selfless beyond his years.
After graduating from school, Arseny worked as a carpenter. In 1945 he was called up for military service. During the war, the future monk was a radio operator. But this did not stop him on the front line from asking the command for the most dangerous tasks instead of comrades who had wives and children.
The monastic path of the elder
In 1949, Arseny was demobilized from the army. He chose to become a monk and decided to go to Mount Athos.
Elder Kirill, who later became abbot of the Kutlumush monastery, in 1950 received Arseny as a novice. After some time, the future saint was sent to another monastery - Esfigmen. Here he ascended to the next step of the monastic path and in 1954 became a cassock monk with the name Averky. He often visited the elders, read the lives of the saints, constantly prayed in solitude.
In 1956, Elder Simeon tonsured Arseniy into the minor schema (the third stage of monasticism). At the same time, the name of the future saint was given in honor of Paisius II, Metropolitan of Kessaria.
Elder Kirill became the spiritual father of the monk. He always foresaw the time of the arrival of Paisius in his skete, knew the needs of the child and helped to find answers to all questions. Through the prayers of Father Cyril, monk Arseniy grew spiritually. He tried to achieve divine grace and believed that for this, any problem must be met with humility, patience, and good intention.
Paisiy Svyatogorets
Although Arseny loved solitude from early childhood, he trusted the providence of the Heavenly Father. Many believers went on a pilgrimage to Paisius the Holy Mountaineer in the hope of advice and support. And the monk did not refuse anyone this.
In 1958-1962, Paisios Svyatogorets, an elder, lived in Stomio, in the monastery of the Nativity of the Virgin. Here he began to receive pilgrims who came to him with their spiritual needs.
In 1962, the elder moved to Sinai to the cell of Saints Epistimia and Galaktion. Paisius returned to Athos two years later and began to live in the Iberian Skete.
The elder's illness in 1966 was very severe. As a result, he had to lose part of his lung. But the Lord did not leave the saint in illness - Paisius was well cared for in the hospital. The nuns, who dreamed of building a monastery in honor of John the Theologian, helped the elder to recover and looked after him. Having recovered, Paisiy Svyatogorets helped them find a place for a monastery, besides, he supported the sisters spiritually for the rest of his life.
Blessed Elder Paisius Svyatogorets and love for people
Father Paisius changed his place again in 1967. He settled in Katunaki, in the Lavriot cell of Hypatia.
The elder has special memories of this place. He wrote that one night, while praying, he felt heavenly joy and saw a beautiful bluish light that was very bright. But the monk's eyes held him. According to the elder, he stayed in this light for many hours, not feeling the time and not noticing anything around. It was not a physical world, but a spiritual one.
In 1968, the monastery called "Stavronikita" became the refuge of Paisius Svyatogorets. The pilgrims found the old man everywhere. Feeling his boundless love for each of the people, receiving spiritual relief and necessary advice from him, they called him a saint. But the elder himself quite sincerely believed that he was the last of the sinners, and he never refused support to anyone. He was a cordial and hospitable host, offering everyone who came a Turkish delight and a mug of fresh cold water. But another thirst came to him to quench.
Even in times of illness, Elder Paisios, strengthened by the Lord, received the afflicted. He comforted them all day and helped them gain faith and hope, and spent his nights in prayer, resting only 3-4 hours a day. The elder himself told his spiritual children that goodness only brings benefit and joy when you sacrifice something for it. He accepted the pain of people as his own, knew how to put himself in the place of any person and understand like no one else. Such was Saint Paisius the Holy Mountaineer, the elder, and such was his and the people.
Monk's prayers
Every day the saint completely reread the Psalter, and when everything around fell asleep, he fervently prayed for the whole world, as well as for those who are sick, for spouses who are in a quarrel, for working late and traveling at night.
Once, in the dark time of the day, a revelation was given to the elder that a man named John was in danger. Paisius the Holy Mountain began to offer prayers for him. The next day, the same young man visited the monk, telling how despair filled his soul at night and he decided to get on a motorcycle, leave the city, fall off a cliff and crash. But the young man was stopped by the thought of Elder Paisios, and he came to the monk for advice. Since then, John has acquired a spiritual father who loves and understands. Through the prayers of the holy young man, he embarked on the true path.
Elder Paisios Svyatogorets recited prayer words with such faith and love that many people received healing from diseases through this. Here is one example: the father of a girl who was deaf and mute turned to the saint. He told the elder that before the birth of his daughter, he interfered in every possible way with his brother, who dreamed of becoming a monk. Paisius the Holy Mountaineer, seeing that the man sincerely repented, promised healing to the child and prayed about it. And indeed, after some time the girl began to talk.
Miracles of Healing
Very many people suffering from diseases of the musculoskeletal system, and even the disabled, moving with great difficulty, left the monk Paisios healthy. There were cases of healing from infertility of married couples.
The father of the girl who had cancer, turning to the elder with a request for help, heard in response that, in addition to the prayer of Paisius himself, the man himself must sacrifice something to save his daughter. The monk advised him to quit smoking. The man vowed to get rid of the addiction, and through the prayer of the elder, the girl soon recovered. But the father quickly forgot about the promise to God and started smoking again. After that, her daughter's illness returned again. The man again turned to the elder, but the monk only said that the father should first of all try for the sake of the child, and prayer is the second thing.
There are many testimonies about the healing of hopelessly ill patients, who were told by doctors that nothing could be done. The monk's prayers helped people recover here too. But Paisios Svyatogorets himself, the elder, was losing his health more and more.
End of life
Even during a lung disease, in 1966, after taking antibiotics, Paisius developed a complication with severe abdominal pain. The elder believed that this was only beneficial, since the soul humbles itself through physical suffering. And he endured pain, standing for hours and accepting those who wished to receive his blessing.
In 1988, the monk's condition was complicated by bleeding. But the holy elder Paisius Svyatogorets, not wanting to go to the doctors, continued to receive people, until in 1993 it became completely difficult for him. But even then, to the advice of spiritual children to go to the hospital, Paisius Svyatogorets answered that the disease helps in spiritual life, so he does not want to get rid of it.
The monk endured bodily suffering with patience and meekness and prayed only for others, but he never asked for anything for himself. Yet Paisios succumbed to the persistence of his spiritual children. When doctors examined him, cancer was discovered. Two operations performed in 1994 brought no relief. His soul passed away on July 12, 1994. This date is the day of memory of the elder. Paisios the Holy Mountaineer was buried in the monastery of John the Theologian in Suroti Thessalonica.
But the intercession of the saint did not stop there. Paisius Svyatogorets still works miracles today, helping to heal the soul and body of the sick.
Monk's Labors
Many sayings and thoughts, written and spoken, left behind the saint. All of them arouse the interest of believers and those who are looking for their own path in life. And here the elder Paisios the Svyatogorets will come to the rescue. The books authored by the saint himself are easy to understand. Here are just a few of them:
- "Words" (five volumes);
- "Arsenius of Cappadocia";
- "Return to God from earth to Heaven";
- "Letters";
- "Fathers-Svyatogorsk and Stories of Svyatogorsk";
- "Thoughts on the Christian Family".
I would especially like to note the book "Words". Elder Paisios Svyatogorets put many thoughts on paper, conversations with him were recorded on tape, and his letters were also very interesting. All this material was used in compiling five volumes, each of which is a separate book.
The first volume is called "With pain and love about modern man." The reasoning of the elder in it concerns modern morals, the role of the church today, about the devil, sins and the spirit of our world.
The second volume is called Spiritual Awakening. Elder Paisios Svyatogorets in it speaks of the importance of working on oneself, prudent behavior, victory over today's indifference and irresponsibility of people.
The third book, called "Spiritual Struggle," tells about the sacrament of confession and repentance, as well as about the struggle with thoughts.
Title of the fourth volume. It speaks for itself. Elder Paisios tells about the role of a husband and wife in the family, about raising children, choosing about trials in the relationships of loving people.
In the fifth book, Passions and Virtues, the saint's advice concerns how to recognize passions and get rid of them, as well as how to move on to virtuous deeds.
Prophecies of Elder Paisios the Holy Mountaineer
The monk began talking about difficult trials and the times that are already coming back in 1980. In conversations with people, he tried to awaken them from the indifference that embraces the whole world. The elder sought to help get rid of selfishness and infirmities so that the prayers offered to the Lord were stronger, otherwise the words addressed to God would be weak and incapable of helping people, and even himself.
The predictions of the elder Paisius the Holy Mountaineer mainly relate to events that precede the end of time. What John the Theologian wrote about in his book "Apocalypse", the monk clarifies in order to give a guide to what is happening.
According to the elder, it will look like this: the Zionists will present him as their own person - and Buddha, and Christ, and the Imam, and the Messiah of the Jews, and the one whom the Jehovists are waiting for. The latter also recognize it.
The coming of the False Messiah will be preceded by the destruction of the mosque in Jerusalem to rebuild Solomon's temple.
All these events are still postponed by the Lord for the sake of each person. As Elder Paisios said, so that "we may acquire a good spiritual dispensation."
About the number 666, the monk said that it was already being implemented in all countries. Even laser marks are made for people in America - on the forehead and on the arm. This is how the seal of the Antichrist will be placed. Those who do not agree to do it will not be able to get a job, buy or sell something. So the Antichrist wants to seize power over all of humanity. Christ himself will help those who refuse the seal. Accepting the mark would be tantamount to denying Jesus.
The future through the eyes of an old man
There were also predictions made by Elder Paisios the Holy Mountaineer. Books
with his statements contain many prophecies. So, the saint said that Turkey would be occupied by the Russians, and China with a two hundred million army would cross the Euphrates River and reach Jerusalem.
Even the elder claimed that a world war would begin soon after the Turks dammed the Euphrates River and used water for irrigation.
Also, the saint during the time of Brezhnev predicted the collapse of the USSR.
He spoke many more times about the war in Asia Minor, about the collapse of Turkey, about Constantinople.
As can be seen from all of the above, some predictions have already come true, others may soon begin to come true.
By the grace of God, the future was opened to the elder, in order to once again warn those living on earth now and to reason, to make them think.
There are many saints in the history of Christianity. But the role of those who live with us or lived quite recently cannot be overestimated. After all, many people were strengthened, and some even believed thanks to the prayers and miracles of the saints. The life of the elder Paisius the Holy Mountaineer just convinces us of this. A bright monk whose love for people was boundless. Such courage in overcoming oneself, one's weaknesses and illnesses can be shown, probably, only by saints.
Blessed Paisius the Holy Mountaineer, pray to God for us!
Among the huge number of Orthodox saints, one can find amazing ascetics of all times of Christianity. These are the martyrs of the first centuries, when faith in Christ was mercilessly persecuted and punished by death; these are the holy fathers of the Church, who systematized the Christian doctrine and described all its dogmas; these are the New Martyrs who suffered during the years of Soviet repressions and many others. Sincere heartfelt prayer before each of them can work wonders. However, almost every believing Christian has his own, especially revered saint, prayer to which is distinguished by the greatest ardor. For many Orthodox, the Athonite elder Paisius Svyatogorets, who was glorified as a saint as recently as 2015, became such a saint. However, even during his earthly life, Saint Paisios the Holy Mountaineer was revered by many people as a true bearer of Christian wisdom and love.
Family and childhood of the future ascetic
All the ancestors of Elder Paisios were from the village of Farasy, a settlement whose inhabitants have always been famous for their careful preservation of the Orthodox faith and traditional culture. A large number of Christian churches and monasteries from time immemorial supported the spark of faith among the entire population.
Important. The whole family of the future ascetic was distinguished by special spirituality.
So, his grandmother even owned one of the local churches, in which she often retired for long prayers. The father of the future elder came from a noble family whose members occupied commanding posts in Faras. Being a strong and courageous man, Father Paisius more than once stood up in arms to defend his native village. In addition, he was a noble jack of all trades - he smelted iron for various products, and did not avoid peasant labor.
Arseny of Cappadocia and Paisius of Svyatogorsk
The elder's mother came from the noble family of St. Arsenius of Cappadocia. She had a special reverence, was brought up as a hardworking and prudent girl. She was married at a very young age, but at the same time she managed to become an exemplary wife and mother. The Lord granted these spouses to give birth to ten children. The first two girls, unfortunately, died in early infancy. Their third daughter was named Zoya, which means "life", and after that all the children grew up in good health. The future Elder Paisius, and by birth named Arseny, was born to the couple as the sixth of the surviving children. It happened on July 25, 1924.
The historical exchange of population led to the fact that the Greeks living in Asia Minor were forced to go to Greece. The family with the infant Arseny ended up on the island of Kerkyra, where the Monk Arseny of Cappadocia reposed in the Lord, baptizing the future elder and foretelling him the path of monasticism.
unusual child
Venerable Paisios of Svyatogorsk
War and trials
Having spent his youthful years in prayer and preparation for monasticism, Arseny also had a time for trials. Difficult war years came, the Greco-Italian war began. When the occupation happened, the Arseniy family helped the poor, shared bread with the hungry, and helped everyone who needed it in every possible way. The future elder was very sorry that, because of his young age, he could not help the suffering anymore - he strove for this with all his heart.
The ensuing Civil War brought new challenges. Arseniy was arrested and put in jail. The terrible living conditions of the prisoners, the extreme cramping in the small cells greatly exhausted the young man. Not without temptations - the prison authorities transferred Arseniy to solitary confinement, where they brought two practically naked young girls. Starting to pray, the young man felt how passionate thoughts left him and he was able to look at the girls completely calmly. Moreover, he managed to talk to them in such a way that the girls were ashamed and left him in tears.
The communist prison authorities interrogated Arseniy, charging him with the fact that his older brother was fighting in the army of the enemy. To this, the ascetic replied that the brother, by the right of seniority, did not report to him in his actions, and that Arseny himself could not influence the choice of his brother. Finding no more than to accuse him, the young man was released.
Icon of Paisius Svyatogorsky
Interesting. After leaving prison, the future elder helped everyone he could - both the communists and their opponents - because he believed that any person was worthy of help and compassion.
The war and the difficulties associated with it forced Arseny to postpone his departure to the monastery for a while, since the family was in great need of help. But the inner spiritual life of the young man was still very intense and rich. Strict fasting, tireless prayer, forcing oneself to help and sacrifice for the sake of one's neighbor - all this gradually prepared the soul for monastic obedience.
Debt to the Motherland
But seeing that the Motherland was in danger, Arseniy went to defend it with a weapon in his hands. In addition to sincere faith, the young man had both patriotism and duty to the Fatherland. The only thing that Arseniy prayed for before leaving for the army was that he would not have to kill any person.
The Lord heard his prayers, and miraculously, Arseny received a military specialty as a radio operator, which saved him from the need to kill. In the service, he did not stop serving his neighbors - he happily did someone else's work, replaced the soldiers on dismissal. Some took advantage of his kindness and abused it, but Arseny rejoiced at this too. Far from faith, people laughed at him, considering him strange, but over time, the ridicule faded away and was even replaced by respect. Many considered him a blessing for their unit, almost a talisman in the war.
Icon of Paisius in the temple
The war brought many trials to the future monk. Together with his colleagues, he had to endure hunger, and thirst, and cold. Once Arseniy had to dig frostbitten soldiers out from under the snowy rubble, and he saved as many as 26 people. He himself received severe frostbite on his legs, threatening amputation. But by God's grace, everything worked out, and the young man recovered.
Miracles in War and Standing in the Faith
Of course, the severe military trials could not but affect the spiritual state of the future monk. Trying to endure all the hardships of the war without grumbling, Arseny derived spiritual benefit from everything. He was every moment ready to give his life for the salvation of his neighbor. Participating in any of the most dangerous tasks, the ascetic never left prayer and sincere faith. And the Lord kept from death both himself and many people from his inner circle.
So, one of his colleagues told how two soldiers from his battalion asked to go into a small trench where Arseniy was hiding from bullets. Seeing that there was not enough room for everyone, the ascetic got out of the trench, giving way to others. At that moment, a shell exploded next to him, and the young man felt one of the fragments strike him on the head. Feeling and examining the head later, Arseny saw that the fragment did not leave even the slightest scratch, but flew so that he only neatly shaved off a strip of hair to the very root.
In another battle, when Arseny's battalion found itself in a ring, and there was less and less hope for salvation, the future monk suddenly crawled out of the trench, stood up to his full height in the midst of whistling bullets and shells, crossed his arms over his chest and began to pray. A few minutes later, attack aircraft arrived and completely destroyed the enemy.
Icon of Paisius of Svyatogorsk and Arseniy of Cappadocia
life saving
Many people with whom Arseniy fought side by side owe him their lives. So, one of his colleagues with tears in his eyes told how during the retreat he fell and lost consciousness. They noticed his absence only when the soldiers reached their shelter. No one even thought to save the poor fellow, considering him dead, and only Arseny rushed back. Throwing his comrade on his shoulders, he dragged him to the location, where he came to his senses. Until the end of his days, he thanked Arseny for saving his life.
After serving a total of 5 years, the future elder received a transfer to the reserve and could return home. Friends in the service offered to settle in the neighborhood in one of the villages and start families, but Arseny firmly told everyone that, having paid his debt to the Motherland, he would go to the monastery.
Visit to the holy mountain and the long-awaited monasticism
Almost immediately after his dismissal from the army, while still in military uniform, Arseny decided to fulfill his old dream - to visit Holy Mount Athos. Being completely inexperienced in the spiritual life, the first trip did not bring the expected spiritual benefits. Arseniy was ready to trust anyone who spoke to him on the topic of faith. In addition, shortly after his arrival, he received a letter from his father asking for help. Considering this as another obedience, Arseny returned to his father's house and again began to work for the benefit of his family, without leaving strict fasting and tireless prayer.
Having done everything in his power to help his family, a few years after the first visit to the Holy Mountain, the young man goes there again. Having chosen one of the monasteries, he begins there a novice life, for which he prepared himself so carefully. Arseny met amazing monks and fathers in his monastery, who instructed him and confirmed him even more in the faith.
Paisiy Svyatogorsky
Interesting. Already a novice, with the blessing of the abbot, Arseny carried out difficult ascetic rules that were beyond the strength of many experienced monks.
During the day he worked obediently as a carpenter, in the evening and at night he prayed. He slept on stones or bricks, he did not drown in his cell. In winter, he walked in one cassock, and wrapped the body under it with paper. He slept half an hour or an hour a day, and in order not to fall asleep at night during prayer, he stood with his feet in a basin of cold water.
Finally, on March 27, 1954, after the transfer of all obediences, the young man took his first tonsure with the name Averky. A difficult monastic life began, full of obedience and trials. So, the monk Averky got a job as a carpenter for one of the senior monks. This monk was not particularly pious, he was arrogant and angry. The brethren of the monastery suffered a lot from him, but he was the only carpenter, so they could not expel him. The young monk Averky stayed with him in obedience for more than 2 years, and humbly endured all the insults and unfair punishments of his mentor. Later, the ascetic will say that during this period of time he received tremendous spiritual benefit.
After several years of simple monasticism, Father Averky was tonsured into a mantle with the name Paisius - it was under this name that he became famous as a great Elder, and later as a saint.
Photo of the Reverend Elder Paisius the Holy Mountaineer
Miracles of St. Paisius the Holy Mountaineer and help through his prayers
The whole life of the righteous elder from childhood was filled with amazing miracles that pointed to the special Providence of God for this man. But most of all Father Paisios felt the presence of God when he lived in a monastery.
Prayers to other Orthodox saints:
So, one day he was returning from work very tired and hungry. While waiting at the pier for a boat, he was afraid that he would faint from exhaustion. Then he took the rosary and wanted to pray to the Most Holy Theotokos to grant him food, but changed his mind, finding such a petition too petty for the Mother of God. At the same moment, one of the monks came out of the gates of the monastery and handed Father Paisius a bundle of food with the words “Take this food for the sake of the Mother of the Lord.”
Important. Father Paisius was honored to personally see the Mother of God and even our Lord Jesus Christ himself.
They appeared to him at different periods of his life, always strengthening and supporting the elder. Father Paisius said that the grace bestowed on him from above was felt in his soul for years, which allowed him to humbly endure any hardships of monastic life.
Celebrations in honor of the canonization of Paisius the Holy Mountaineer
Already living in a separate cell, where the elder could incessantly pray to the Lord, people constantly flocked to him, seeking consolation and spiritual guidance. There were also cases of healing when hopelessly sick people came to the elder and completely recovered.
The pilgrims who came to him testified that the ascetic speaks with animals and birds, which unquestioningly listen to him. So, one day a group of guests were sitting in the courtyard of the elder's cell. One of the pilgrims suddenly jumped up and shouted in horror: “Snake, snake!”. Indeed, everyone saw a large poisonous snake crawling right up to the feet of the monk. Father Paisius calmed the guests, took an empty tin can, filled it with water and gave the snake a drink. After that, he asked her to crawl away and not scare the visitors. To the mute surprise of all those gathered, the snake obediently crawled away.
It is impossible to list all the miracles performed through the prayers of the elder both during his lifetime and after his blessed death. Sincerely and from a pure heart, praying to Paisius the Holy Mountaineer, we find a reliable and faithful intercessor before the Lord. The elder helps in any business and life circumstances, if only the prayer is pure, and the request does not harm the human soul.
The elder went to the Lord peacefully, after a long serious illness in 1994. After just two decades, he was canonized in 2015, and many Christians around the world now have the opportunity to offer their prayers to him.
Reverend Father Paisios the Holy Mountaineer, pray to God for us!
Watch a video about Paisius' predictions
