Venerable Paisios of the Holy Mountain

Commemorated on July 12.

To the daily fatigue of Saint Paisios, some health problems were added, which tormented him. In the final years of his life, the pains of various diseases such as colitis, which left him permanently dyspeptic, an inguinal hernia, and especially from the cancer with which he had been diagnosed. There was more and more of this, nevertheless, he was calm and did not complain at all. On the contrary, he continued to pray for everyone.

In the early 1980s he moved near Karyes, to a kelli at Koutloumousίou.

After 1993 he began to hemorrhage, for which he was hospitalized, saying that "everything will be done, it is convenient for me." In November of the same year, he left the Holy Mountain for the last time, and went to Sourote, to the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian for its Feast Day; and later for the Feast of Saint Arsenios (November 10). He stayed for a few days, but when he was preparing to leave, he fell ill and was taken to Theageneio, where he was diagnosed with a tumor in the large intestine.

He asked God to grant him bodily and spiritual health. On February 4, 1994, he underwent surgery. The disease was not halted, but it metastasized to the lungs and to the liver. The Saint announced his desire to return to the Holy Mountain on June 13, but a high fever and shortness of breath forced him to remain. At the end of June, his doctors announced that he had only two or three weeks to live at most. On Monday, July 11, 1994 (the Feast of Saint Euphemia), Father Paisios received Holy Communion for the last time, kneeling by his bed. In the last days of his life he decided not to take medicines or painkillers, despite the horrible pains of his sickness. He reposed on Tuesday, July 12, 1994 at 11:00 and was buried in the Holy Hesychasterion of Saint John the Theologian in Sourotei, Thessaloniki, next to Saint Arsenios of Cappadocia, whose Life was written by Saint Paisios.

On January 13, 2015, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople met and decided to include Saint Paisios of the Holy Mountain in the Hagiologion of the Orthodox Church. May his blessing be upon us.

1 Under the terms of the Treaty of Lausanne, Greeks living in Asia Minor were forced to move to Greece, and Turks living in Greece had to return to Turkey. 2 4 Kings 2:15 (Septuagint). 3 According to Saint Paisios, philotimo is a reverent distribution of goodness, the love shown by humble persons, from which every trace of self (ego) has been rooted out. Their hearts are filled with gratitude toward God and to their fellow man; and out of spiritual sensitivity, they try to repay the slightest good which others do to them. 4 "Life is blessed for those in the wilderness, as they fly upon the wings of divine love" (Sunday Matins: Hymn of Degrees, Tone 5, First Antiphon). 5 Skete: Typically a settlement of hermits near a common church, known as the kyriakon. Kalyva: cells gathered around a church. 6 A monk's cell, or a monastic establishment consisting of a building with a chapel in it, and some land. Usually, a kelli was inhabited by three monks.