On July 25, 1924, in Cappadocia (Asia Minor), a son was born to Prodromos and Evlampia Eznepidis, a large family. The child's baptizer, the now-glorified Saint Arsenios of Cappadocia, named the infant Arsenios, saying, "I want to leave behind a monk." Many years later, the monk "left behind" by the holy elder would write of him: "My father's life was holy, and hlike a spiritual generator driven by the great and all-encompassing love of God, it always miraculously imparted God's grace not only to Christians, but also to Turks, both believers and unbelievers... He preached the true faith through a righteous life. His flesh melted in the struggle from a warm love for God, and he changed souls with divine grace. He had deep faith and healed many, believers and unbelievers. Few words, many miracles. He experienced much and hid much. Beneath a hard exterior, he concealed his sweet spiritual fruit. Very strict with himself, he was the most tender father to his children. He taught them not the letter of the law, but its meaning, its zeal. As a servant of the Most High, he did not touch the earth, and as His fellow servant, he shone upon the world. He was glorified by God, Whom he glorified with his life."
At that time, Orthodox families in Cappadocia were experiencing persecution from Turkish Muslims, and many were forced to leave their homeland. In September 1924, the refugees arrived in Greece. The family settled in Konitsa. Little Arseny dreamed of becoming a monk from childhood; he would run away to the forest and pray there fervently. After finishing school, Arseny found work as a carpenter. In 1945, he was drafted into the army, where he served most of his service as a radio operator, demonstrating extraordinary courage during the war. He often asked to be assigned to the most dangerous missions on the front lines to take the place of his fellow soldiers, citing his freedom and their wives and children waiting for them. After completing his service in 1949, Arseny, having chosen the monastic path, set off for Mount Athos. In 1950, he became a novice of Elder Kirill, later the abbot of Koutloumousiou Monastery. Some time later, Fr. Kirill sent the novice to Esphigmenou Monastery, where Arseny was ordained a ryasophore monk in 1954 and given the name Averky. He loved solitude, prayed unceasingly, and enjoyed reading the lives of the saints. Father Averky greatly enjoyed visiting the blessed elders.
In 1956, Elder Simeon tonsured Father Averky into the minor schema with the name Paisios, in honor of Metropolitan Paisios II of Caesarea. While living in the monastery, Father Paisios maintained a spiritual connection with his spiritual father, often visiting Elder Kirill at the skete. It happened that Father Paisios would find the answer to a troubling question in a book, which the clairvoyant elder would immediately hand him: the necessary words had been underlined in pencil. The elder, with spiritual insight, foresaw the need of his spiritual child and knew in advance the time when he would arrive. Through the prayers of his spiritual father, Father Arsenios grew spiritually. Having set for himself the main goal—"the purification of the soul and the complete submission of the mind to Divine grace"—he strove to achieve it by all means necessary. He believed that all problems must be confronted with "patience, good intentions, and humility, so that God's grace may assist." Having acquired the wisdom of the Holy Fathers, he demonstrated through his humble life that "the desires of the soul are abolished when its goal is union with God's goodness." Although he had loved solitude since childhood, he trusted in God's providence and, by command from Above, began to receive pilgrims.
From 1958 to 1962, Father Paisios lived at the Monastery of the Nativity of the Theotokos in Stomio, where, by God's providence, he was called upon to spiritually assist thousands of people who came to the monastery with their needs. Since 1962, Elder Paisios has lived on Sinai in the cell of Saints Galaktion and Epistimia. In 1964, the elder returned to Athos and settled in the Iveron Skete.
In 1966, the elder fell seriously ill, and part of his lung was amputated. In the hospital, the elder was cared for by sisters who wanted to found the Monastery of St. John the Theologian. After his recovery, the elder helped them find a site for its construction and provided them with spiritual support for the rest of his life.
In 1967, Father Paisios went to Katounaki and settled in the Lavriotskaya cell of Hypatius.
From the memoirs of Elder Paisios: “When I was living in Katounaki, one night during my nighttime prayer, I began to be overcome by heavenly joy. Simultaneously, my cell, whose darkness was only dimly illuminated by the flickering light of a candle, gradually began to fill with a beautiful bluish light. This mysterious light was extremely powerful, yet I felt that my eyes could withstand its brightness. It was the Uncreated Divine Light, which many elders of Athos had seen! For many hours, I remained immersed in this wondrous light, unaware of earthly objects, and in a spiritual world entirely distinct from this physical one. In this state, and receiving heavenly sensations through that Uncreated Light, I spent many hours without feeling time; in it, sunlight seemed like a full moon night! Nevertheless, my eyes were able to withstand the brightness of that light.”
Since 1968, the elder has lived in the Stavronikita monastery. Upon learning of the elder's new location, pilgrims flocked to the monastery.
The elder's love for people was boundless; he tried not to publicly rebuke anyone. For everyone, he had a piece of sweet Turkish delight and a mug of cold water, kind advice, and prayerful support. All day long, he consoled the suffering, filling their souls with hope and love for God. At night, he prayed, allowing himself only three to four hours of rest. When the elder's spiritual children asked him to take pity on himself and rest, he replied, "When I want to rest, I pray. I have learned that only prayer truly frees a person from fatigue. Therefore, pray and study." He said, "I always try not to dwell on my own pain. I think of the pain of others, and I make that pain my own. Thus, we must always put ourselves in the shoes of others... Good is good only if the one who does it sacrifices something of his own: sleep, peace, and the like. That is why Christ said, '...from the deprivation of his own...'" ( Luke 21:4 ). When I do good, having rested, it does not cost much... Tired, and making a sacrifice in order to help another, I experience heavenly joy... My own peace is born from the fact that I give peace to another."
The elder read the Psalter in its entirety every day. At night, the elder prayed for the entire world. He offered special prayers for those in hospitals, for quarreling couples, for all who finished work late, for all who traveled at night...
One night, while the elder was praying, it was revealed to him that a man named John was in danger. The elder lit a candle and began to pray for John. The next day, the very same youth he had prayed for came to the elder. John told him that at the very hour when the elder began praying for the salvation of his soul, he had, in despair, decided to commit suicide. He mounted his motorcycle and sped out of the city, only to crash into a cliff. Suddenly, the thought struck him: "They talk so much about this Paisios on the Holy Mountain; shouldn't I go see him too?" Having met the elder, John found a loving spiritual father, through whose prayers he embarked on the true path.
Through the prayers of Elder Paisios, many believers were healed. One day, the father of a deaf-mute girl approached the elder for help. He explained that several years earlier, before the child's birth, he had hindered his brother's desire to become a monk. Seeing the man's sincere repentance, Elder Paisios prayed for the girl's healing, promising, "Your daughter will not only speak, but she will also deafen you!"
After a while, the girl began to speak.
It often happened that people with difficulty walking, rheumatic diseases, and the disabled, to everyone's surprise, left the elder healed. He advised one desperate couple who wanted to adopt a child after many years of unsuccessful treatment to wait, promising, "Now, with God's help, you will have a child!" Soon, through the elder's prayers, the long-awaited child was born.
One day, the father of a girl with cancer came to the elder and asked the elder to pray for his daughter's healing. The elder replied:
"I will pray, but you, as a father, must also offer some sacrifice to God, because a sacrifice of love strongly 'disposes' God to help... Quit smoking out of love for your daughter, and then God will heal her." Through the elder's prayer, the girl recovered. However, after some time, the girl's father, forgetting his vow, began smoking again—and suddenly the illness returned. When the man returned to the Holy Mountain and asked the elder for help, the elder said:
“If you, as a father, do not have enough piety to sacrifice your passion and save the life of your child, then I cannot help you in any way.
Elder Paisios said: "Because no one desires self-control, everyone wants to live uncontrolled, according to their own will. But this leads to complete disaster, because, yes, God has given man the freedom to act as he pleases, but He has also given him reason so that he can understand his limitations and the boundaries between right and wrong. When a person acts presumptuously, without taking into account his own weaknesses, then he makes mistakes."
Relatives of those who, according to doctors, were not destined to survive after major operations and incurable illnesses often turned to the elder for help. There are numerous testimonies of miraculous healings of terminally ill people through the elder's prayers. However, the elder's own health deteriorated catastrophically year after year.
Back in 1966, after a lung disease and taking strong antibiotics, the elder developed pseudomembranous colitis with severe abdominal pain. Despite the pain, he stood for hours, receiving people seeking his blessing. The elder believed that pain greatly helps the soul and humbles it, and the more ill a person is, "the more benefit they derive."
Since 1988, the elder had developed an additional intestinal complication, accompanied by bleeding. By 1993, the elder's condition had become very serious, but Elder Paisios continued to receive pilgrims. When his spiritual children implored him to seek medical attention, he replied that "such a condition is very helpful in the spiritual life, so it is not beneficial to expel it." The elder courageously endured the suffering that befell him, never asking for anything for himself, praying only for the healing of others. At the insistence of his spiritual children, he nevertheless entered the hospital for treatment, where doctors diagnosed a cancerous tumor. In 1994, the elder underwent two surgeries, but his health continued to deteriorate: on July 11, he received Holy Communion for the last time. On July 12, 1994, the elder gave up his soul to the Lord and was buried in the Monastery of St. John the Theologian in Souroti, Thessaloniki.
Lord, give rest to the soul of Elder Paisios, give rest to him with the saints, and through his prayers save us.
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Sayings of Elder Paisios
A person's primary duty is to love God, then their neighbor, and above all, their enemy. If we love God as we should, we will also keep all His other commandments. But we love neither God nor our neighbors. Who cares about others today? Everyone cares only about themselves, not others, and for this we will answer. God, Who is all Love, will not forgive us for this indifference toward our neighbors.
A true Christian should neither judge, nor quarrel, nor sue others... Human truth is worthless compared to God's truth. Our Lord Jesus Christ was the first to realize divine truth. When accused, He did not justify Himself; when spat upon, He did not protest; when tortured, He did not threaten, but endured everything patiently and silently... He justified His persecutors before His Heavenly Father and prayed for them, saying, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!" ( Luke 23:34 ). To our shame, we do not follow the example of our Savior, God incarnate, and continue to judge others and quarrel over every little thing. And the result is that our human "truth" leads to great unrighteousness. And what some claim—that it's wrong to allow unscrupulous people to plunder our property—is nothing more than a convenient pretext for putting our own good above that of our neighbors. If we abandon prayer and the purifying of our hearts and begin to quarrel with people and drag them through the courts, then it becomes clear that we are putting worldly things above our salvation, and, even more terrifying, above the very commandment of Christ ( Luke 6:26–29 ).
Just as hay and fire cannot dwell together, so divine and human truth cannot simultaneously reside in the same soul. He who trusts in divine truth in everything is not disturbed when he is offended, nor does he seek justification for the deed for which he has been condemned. Instead, he accepts false accusations against himself as true, and does not bother to convince others that he has been slandered, but rather asks forgiveness.
Those who live simply think humbly of themselves and feel the need for God's paternal care, leaving all concerns to Him. In this case, the good God, seeing that this soul trusts Him in everything and not itself, covers it with providence and mercy. Then the soul clearly sees God's help and rejoices.
In everything you do, consider whether Christ wants you to do it; and act accordingly in accordance with the answer to this question; strive to be humble and obedient; always be concerned about how to do good for your neighbor, and not for yourself; do not look at what others do and do not test them, lest you fall into condemnation.
Obedience and natural simplicity lead to holiness by a shortcut.
About prayer
Before praying, read a few lines from the Gospel or the Patericon. This will warm your thoughts and transport you to a spiritual land.
We must pray for others with contrition and heartache. And the soul can achieve this when, in humility, it considers itself to blame for what happens to its neighbors...
A person should constantly pray: "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me." The prayer should be simple... We say the prayer, and our soul is warmed.
To pray from the heart, one must feel pain. Prayer requires effort, self-sacrifice. The more a person suffers, the more comfort they receive from God... God especially comforts when you care for others... A person finds the greatest joy through sacrifice...
The traitors that weaken prayer are spiritual dryness and coldness. These can be countered by short prayers, especially the Jesus Prayer, and diligent reading of Holy Scripture and spiritual books. Thoughts of death, judgment, heaven, hell, and God's blessings also protect us from sin and help us. From this will come the fear of God, self-discernment, the rejection of bad thoughts and feelings, and the maintenance of moral purity. Let us always examine ourselves: do we repent of past sins and fear our weaknesses? But let us not lose hope of salvation.
Prayer is the soul's oxygen, its essential need, and it should not be considered a burdensome chore. For prayer to be heard by God, it must come from the heart, be offered with humility and a deep sense of our sinfulness. If prayer is not from the heart, it is useless.
Flee from a powerful enemy—chattering with people. Just as a cloud obscures the sun, so chatter darkens the soul. Prayer should be joy and thanksgiving, not a forced and dry formality. Prayer is rest. The soul does not tire in prayer, for in conversing with God, it rests.
When praying, you must stand with the humility and simplicity of a small child, so as to be worthy of a father's care. Acknowledge your weakness and insignificance, so that you may be covered by God's mercy, for just as a shadow follows an object, so does God's mercy follow simplicity and humility... He who has attained the knowledge of his spiritual weakness has attained perfect humility.
Only by cutting off our own passions can we help others cut off theirs as well. Prayer must be done with the heart, not just with the lips.
Let us pray for those in need of prayer and for the entire world. Let us divide our prayer into three parts: one for ourselves, one for the living, and one for the departed. Let us regularly submit our names to the proskomedia, so that the priest may commemorate them at the holy altar. Let us not trust ourselves. Self-confidence is a great obstacle to divine grace. When we place everything in God, He will surely help us.
Don't limit your prayer to words alone. Make your whole life a prayer to God.
Feats in spiritual life
Avoid opportunities to sin... The more spiritual a person is, the fewer rights they have in life. The greatest joy is serving another person and forgiving their mistakes. The recipient of a benefit feels human joy, and the giver feels divine joy.
Our spiritual success, like our salvation, depends on us. No one else can save us.
When a person does something with all his heart, that is, loves what he does, then he does not get tired mentally.
Let us not justify ourselves, so as not to hinder Divine Grace.
The heart is cleansed by tears and sighs... Let us cry over our sins, always hoping for the love and mercy of God.
Those who struggle for a long time and see no spiritual progress are proud and selfish. Spiritual progress is found where there is a great deal of humility, which compensates for everything. Spiritual progress is found in those who feel that everything within them is vile and worthless. Diligent and zealous struggle, with a sense of one's own wretchedness and hope in God, is spiritual oxygen. All this lends credibility to spiritual endeavor.
On humility and patience
What happens to a person is absolutely connected with humility... A person can hate specific passions and not desire them, and even shed blood to remove them – but he will not succeed, for God does not help him; and will not help him – until he humbles himself. (Because, although he hates specific passions, he is a slave to pride, which leads to all other passions.)
To achieve spiritual success, a person can ask God for love, prayer, wisdom, obedience, and other virtues. However, God... will not grant us anything we ask for, no matter how much we strive, unless we first humble ourselves. When our sole goal is humility, then God will give us everything freely. God wants only one thing from us—humility, nothing more.
Those who were born crippled, or became crippled through the fault of others, or through their own carelessness, if they do not complain, but humbly glorify God and live with Christ, will be numbered by God among the confessors.
There is a great evil in the world that we fail to notice: a failure to understand the ways of God's providence and the resulting grumbling. God does not allow trials from which something good cannot come. When a cripple joyfully accepts the trial sent to him, then God will number him among the righteous.
Let our minds be completely submitted to Divine grace. Christ seeks only one thing from us—humility. Divine grace then provides everything else.
God allows people to endure various trials, illnesses, harm, and much more, including slander from those around us, insults, and injustice. We must accept them patiently, without frustration, as God's blessing. When someone treats us unfairly, we should rejoice and consider the one who is unjust to us our great benefactor.
Only through humility can one come to one's senses and be saved. Only humility saves.
About thoughts
When a brother has a bad thought, we must try to correct it with kindness and humility. This is our duty. Unfortunately, today many people, even clergy, do not fight their corrupted thoughts. They either agree with those who think badly or, even worse, corrupt their thoughts.
My job is to correct thoughts, and this is the job we all must do...
At the beginning of spiritual life, the ascetic drives away bad thoughts through spiritual instruction, unceasing prayer, and fervent asceticism. Then only good thoughts come. Later, even good thoughts cease, and a certain emptiness is felt, and then divine enlightenment comes to the person.
Almost all of us consider thoughts to be simple and natural, and therefore naively trust them. However, we should neither trust them nor accept them. The mind and heart should be absolutely free of any thought, either evil or good, for this place belongs only to God's grace. So we too must keep it pure, not only from thoughts but also from the slightest fleeting inclination. This, however, we cannot achieve except by loving Christ with great piety and entrusting ourselves to Him in everything without the slightest hesitation! And thus we naturally humble ourselves. And after we humble ourselves, the restoration of divine grace within us is natural, a grace given only to the humble.
If our thought is established in faith, no one can change it...
We will have good thoughts when we see everything as pure. A pure heart and pure good thoughts bring spiritual health. Bad thoughts hinder Divine grace.
Those who have good thoughts, think and see good...
About raising children
Many parents, by loving their children improperly, cause them spiritual harm. For example, a mother, out of excessive carnal love for her child, hugs and kisses him and says, "What a wonderful child you are," or "You are the best boy in the world," and so on. As a result, the child very early (at an age when he cannot yet comprehend or object) develops a lofty opinion of himself, that he is the best and smartest. For this reason, he naturally feels no need for God's grace and is unable to ask God for help. Thus, from early childhood, a stony conceit is ingrained in the child's soul, which he will never be able to overcome and will take with him to the grave. The evil is that the first to suffer from this arrogance are the parents themselves. Indeed, will children sit quietly and listen to their parents' instructions when they are convinced that they are the best and know everything? Therefore, parents should be very attentive to the spiritual development of their children, because they are responsible not only for themselves, but also for them.
About condemnation
Let us never judge. When we see someone fall into sin, let us weep and ask God to forgive them. If we judge the mistakes of others, it means our spiritual vision has not yet been cleared. He who helps his neighbor receives help from God. He who condemns his neighbor with envy and malice has God as his judge. Let us judge no one. Let us consider all as saints, and only ourselves as sinners. Condemnation occurs not only with words, but also with the mind and the inner disposition of the heart. The inner disposition sets the tone for our thoughts and words. In any case, it is better for us to be restrained in our judgments, lest we fall into condemnation; in other words, let us avoid approaching fire, otherwise we will either get burned or become sooty. It is best to always judge ourselves.
His full life: https://verapravoslavnaya-ru.translate.goog/?Zhitie_Paisiya_Svyatogorca&fbclid=IwY2xjawFnJbxleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHb-sw5RtPFkJULmx0czZRl4lKZ7iTSYo6uokP42w5aUfhxtEF3jGklLp_g_aem_sIPJUoVATdUgzJB1FvUHMQ&_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp
His works:
Vol 1: https://verapravoslavnaya-ru.translate.goog/?Paisii_Svyatogorec_Slova_1&_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp
Vol 2: https://verapravoslavnaya-ru.translate.goog/?Paisii_Svyatogorec_Slova_2&_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp
Vol 3: https://verapravoslavnaya-ru.translate.goog/?Paisii_Svyatogorec_Slova_3&_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp
Vol 4: https://verapravoslavnaya-ru.translate.goog/?Paisii_Svyatogorec_Slova_4&_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp
Vol 5: https://verapravoslavnaya-ru.translate.goog/?Paisii_Svyatogorec_Strasti_i_dobrodeteli&_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp
Vol 6: https://azbyka-org.translate.goog/otechnik/Paisij_Svjatogorets/o-molitve-tom-6/?_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp