Not all deserts are barren wastelands such as those found in Egypt.
Nor are the desert fathers just figures from the ancient past whose stories we remember
yet consider unlikely in our own time.
For even today, certain men and women have forsaken the world and fled to ‘deserts’
of varying degrees in order to seek God.
One such ‘desert’ is located on Mount Athos, the monastic republic situated in northeastern
Greece.
The Athonite ‘desert’, as it is called, is found at the southern end of the peninsula
and is known for its seclusion, rough landscape, and harsh climate.
Many monks and hermits have labored there in caves and sketes and some have even been
declared saints.
Such are the three modern day monastics added to the church calendar by the Holy Synod of
the Ecumenical Patriarchate on March 9th, 2020: Elder Joseph the Hesychast and Elders
Daniel and Ephraim of Katounakia.
All lived remarkably ascetic lives hidden away from the modern world.
And yet the fruit of their hesychastic way of life has enriched not only the Holy Mountain
but all of the Orthodox world and even Orthodoxy in North America in a very direct way.
This is due in large part to the practice of spiritual fatherhood, foreshadowed in the
New Testament and exemplified by the desert fathers, where a young monk lives in obedience
to a spiritual father and elder — geron in Greek and starets in Slavonic —and is
led from purification toward union with God and may, in time and with experience, be able
to transmit this tradition to others.
Elder Daniel, the oldest of these new saints, was born in 1846 and labored for most of his
life in silence and asceticism in Katounakia.
It’s now a group of cells in the Athonite desert so named for the cloaks left behind
by Egyptian monks who moved there long ago to practice asceticism.
They were warned that the climate was much colder and the humidity much higher in the
Athonite desert compared to Egypt.
But they didn’t listen and died soon after.
The cloaks which remained are called ‘katuni’ in Greek, with the area being given the name
“Katunakia” which comes from the plural diminutive meaning “the small cloaks.”
Elder Daniel came to Mount Athos after graduating from the renowned theological academy in Smyrna
and at the direction of Saint Arsenios of Paros.
He first lived at the Monastery of Saint Panteleimon before moving to Vatopedi Monastery for five
years.
He then withdrew into the desert in order to seek greater external silence so that he
could practice the prayer of the heart while struggling to reach interior silence.
In time, Daniel attained stillness, or hesychia, and realized that others wanted to learn from
him.
So, he formed a brotherhood and began guiding monks through the study of Holy Scripture
and the Philokalia, working also from his own experience, and using words that sprang
from an illumination of grace.
He became known for his great virtue, strong prayer, and remarkable discernment by which
he helped many monks and laymen through difficult trials and temptations.
He also shared this wisdom through many letters, including an ongoing correspondence with Saint
Nectarios of Aegina and Elder Philotheos Zervakos.
In 1921, a twenty-four year old layman from Paros named Francis stayed with the brotherhood
and, in a short time, Elder Daniel discerned the young man’s incredible zeal for God
and inclination toward asceticism.
The Elder advised Francis to find a companion and a cave where he could practice his more
austere asceticism in solitude.
Francis found a companion in Fr.
Arsenios, a monk from Asia Minor who had most recently lived in a monastery in the Holy
Land.
Together, the two labored in strict asceticism for three years.
Francis, who would later be known as Elder Joseph the Hesychast, had realized in his
late teens a strong desire to become a monk.
He found Elder Daniel after journeying to the Holy Mountain and meeting with numerous
ascetics in his search for someone to teach him the way of watchfulness and prayer of
the heart.
Three years after Elder Daniel had sent Francis off to find a cave, he recognized the young
ascetic’s commitment and placed him and Fr.
Arsenios in obedience under two elders.
Francis was tonsured a monk with the name Joseph after having received great benefit
from the tradition of spiritual fatherhood.
In 1929, Elder Daniel died and so did the last of Joseph’s two elders.
Joseph wanted to live in greater silence but soon gained a reputation as a grace filled
teacher able to transmit to others the hesychastic way of life.
Several monks came to join him and so he formed a small brotherhood.
But Elder Joseph was an austere and strict ascetic and not many could remain with him
long.
Those few who did stay were able to learn from him and transmit this grace and teaching
to others.
Such a one was Ephraim of Katounakia, a priest-monk who served under a different elder but was
given permission to also learn spiritually from Elder Joseph whenever he visited the
brotherhood.
Papa-Ephraim, as he was known, often served the Divine Liturgy for Elder Joseph’s brotherhood
at St. Basil’s Skete and later at the Chapel of St. John the Forerunner at the Small Skete
of St. Anne.
Papa-Ephraim was born in Thebes, Greece in 1912 and journeyed to the Holy Mountain in
1933.
He lived in obedience to a very strict elder for 38 years and through this found much grace.
But, through Elder Joseph, Papa-Ephraim learned how to cultivate the prayer of the heart,
how to keep watch over his thoughts and senses, and how to follow a path that leads to the
purification of the heart and divine illumination.
By 1980, Papa-Ephraim had formed his own brotherhood.
He also became worthy of countless gifts, including clairvoyance, foreknowledge, and
discernment.
But he always remembered Elder Joseph as his guide, saying:
“Elder Joseph was a spiritual giant and teacher of noetic prayer taught by God.
His love for our dear Panagia was unmatched.
For her sake he patiently endured everything, and it was from her that he received the great
charism of the prayer of the heart….
His pure heart said the prayer without ceasing, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.”
These three saints continued the tradition of spiritual fatherhood, both directly and
indirectly, in a way that is reminiscent of the ancient desert fathers of the fourth century.
Elder Joseph learned first from Elder Daniel and other ascetics, but also benefited from
his own experience, and was even taught directly by God.
He shared this grace and knowledge with his spiritual sons which in turn led in large
part to a renewal on Mount Athos after his death in 1959.
Joseph of Vatopedi, one of the elder’s spiritual sons later commented: “The Elder’s immense
impetus brought back to the Athonite environment the true meaning and continuation of the theology
of St. Gregory Palamas.”
His spiritual sons, men like the aforementioned Elder Joseph of Vatopedi, Elder Haralmabos
of Dionysiou, and Elder Ephraim of Philotheou went on to reinvigorate the spiritual life
in numerous monasteries on Mount Athos and throughout Greece.
Even the Orthodox Church in North America has a connection to Elder Joseph.
In 1979, his spiritual son, Elder Ephraim of Philotheou, visited the United States and
Canada and saw first hand how the church in North America lacked the support of Orthodox
monasticism, which is traditionally the heart of Orthodox spirituality and keeper of her
traditions.
He gathered support from many faithful and between 1989 and 2004, established seventeen
Athonite style monasteries in North America, all of which remain active today and can trace
their heritage back to Elder Joseph.
In times of uncertainty, it is often good to look to those who have endured trials and
afflictions for guidance and inspiration.
In the Orthodox Church, we turn to the lives of the saints, men and women like these three
new saints who lived God pleasing lives and were sanctified by His grace.
They offer us stories about the unrelenting search and love for Christ from which we can
draw lessons on how to live the life of a Christian.
Perhaps for us not in the literal wilderness, but as best as we are able given our own circumstances
and even in very trying times.
With the next three episodes of the Chronicles of the Desert, we will share stories and accounts
from each of their lives.
We hope that with this you will find inspiration on your own journey.