Elder Aimilianos: "If I am not joyous, then I am nothing!"

The Parable of the Prodigal Son (source)

  
"The lack of joy is a pathological state of man, a willing closure within one's self. And whatever he wishes to do he will not be successful.

First, one must clean his field, to find out what is going on and why he is not joyous. Then, he must pursue joy within himself, and then the peace of God will take the place of joy. Thus, man should keep his relationship with God and with his Elder [or Spiritual Father], and should seek a true life.

Am I good, faithful, perfect, holy?
Am I a teacher?
If I am not joyous, then I am nothing.

It is important when they tell me: "Physician, heal thyself, and then, offer him to God." God cannot enter into a heart that is not joyful, He cannot find a place of contact, because He is peace, He is the fulfillment of joy.

Only like things can unite, and because of this, God can only unite with a joyous soul. For the monk who is not joyous, the Elder cannot do anything at all, his hands are totally tied.

Whoever thinks that he is approaching to reach "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ", but is not joyous, can understand that he is totally deluded. Joy is the criterion, the thermometer.
Joy is something external, but it is also something internal.

Ultimately, it is a necessary presupposition, because the lack of joy makes man study things differently and to become changed. For example, if one puts even one drop of nitric oxide into pure water, immediately he changes its essence. Thus, exactly, one drop of bitterness, depression, sadness transforms the whole atmosphere of a person, and extinguishes God.

But joy must also exist in a brotherhood [or a family], because it is an element both of one's personal life and of the brotherhood.

I cannot be joyous if all those around me do not have the tendency and the atmosphere of joy, neither, however, can I have any benefit if I do not take on this joy from the brotherhood.

Only when I take it on can I say that I have a relationship with the Elder, and then I can take in God, because God is the life that exists within man, and the life which is transmitted through man."
-Elder Aimilianos of Simonopetra, from the book Neptic Life and the Ascetical Canons
(source)
  

Elder Aimilianos of Simonopetra (+2019) (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Akathist to St. Silouan the Athonite

St. Silouan the Athonite (source)

  

AKATHIST TO OUR VENERABLE AND GODBEARING FATHER SAINT SILOUAN THE ATHONITE

Whose memory the Church celebrates on September 24th, the day of his repose

KONTAKION I
O chosen ascetic and earthly angel of Christ, all-blessed father Silouan, most excellent emulator of the fathers of Athos in vigils, fasting and humility! Through thy thirst for God and burning love for Him thou didst acquire abundant grace for thy soul, O most blessed one. Imitating Christ, thou didst crucify thyself with tearful prayer for those languishing in hades, for the living and for those yet to come. Of this thy love deprive us not, who amid the vale of sin ask thine intercession before God and cry out with compunction: Rejoice, O father Silouan, inextinguishable burning of love in thy prayer for the world!
  
OIKOS I
The Creator of angels and Lord of hosts chose thee beforehand from thy mother’s womb, and, as saith the Psalmist, gave thee a deep heart, O God-bearing father Silouan, that as in a most excellent receptacle thou mightest place the uncontainable name of God Most High, and through the power of God and divine grace mightest most earnestly follow the life of the angels. And praising the wondrous struggle of thine earthly labors, we reverently cry out to thee:
Rejoice, fruit of the chaste purity of pious parents;
rejoice, fragrant flower of the unfading beauty of their struggle of faith!
Rejoice, thou who with all thy soul didst love the piety of thy parents;

rejoice, thou who wast pleased to emulate their chastity and love for God!

Rejoice, thou who from childhood wast wondrously filled with the wisdom to

seek joy in God;

rejoice, thou who like a deer didst yearn for the well-spring of grace

divine!
Rejoice, thou who didst sweeten thy youthful mind with the word of God, as with
sweet honey;

rejoice, thou who didst root thy heart wholly in the will of God!

Rejoice, O father Silouan, inextinguishable burning of love in thy prayer for
the world!   

KONTAKION II

The all-blessed Theotokos beheld thee sunk in the depths of sin, when delight in sin had entered into the belly of thy youth like a fetid serpent; and, grieving maternally, she wondrously cried out to thee: “Most painful is it for me to see thee defiling thyself with sinful acts!” And when thou didst realize that she was suffering for thy falls into sin, thou didst manfully cast the serpent of sin out, vanquishing it by repentance and prayer, and ever chanting to the Lord Who loveth us a hymn of gratitude for His all-pure Mother: Alleluia!    

OIKOS II

The knowledge of God overshadowed thee when thou wast vouchsafed to hear the voice of the Mother of the Lord of hosts, O Silouan chosen of God, and thy heart was filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, by Whose activity thou didst escape the vanity of the world like a doe from a snare, fleeing unto Mount Athos, the garden of the Mother of God who had wondrously summoned thee, that thou mightest cleave unto God with filial love. And, seeing the wondrous intention of the Mistress of the world for thee, we cry out to thee with compunction:

Rejoice, thou who wast called forth from the darkness of sin into the light of the truth of Christ by the all-pure one herself;

rejoice, thou who wast wondrously chosen to be a faithful husbandman of her earthly garden!

Rejoice, succulent grapes of the land of Russia, springing forth in abundance on Mount Athos;
rejoice, untiring conscience who broke the sting of sin by penitent prayer!

Rejoice, thou who didst minister unto God like an angel in the Holy Monastery of Saint Panteleimon; rejoice, thou who by labor, fasting and stillness didst gloriously subdue the enemy who fought against thee!
Rejoice, thou who by humble-mindedness didst trample all the wiles of the devil underfoot;

rejoice, thou who didst gloriously acquire immaculate faith by thy thirst

for God!

Rejoice, O father Silouan, inextinguishable burning of love in thy prayer for the world!

  

KONTAKION III

The power of the Most High truly preserved thee when the spirit of hades and death attacked thee and assailed thy soul with sinful delusions, O God-loving Silouan. But when thou wast afflicted and didst imagine that God was beyond entreaty, the Lord Who loveth mankind visited thee in the ineffable effulgence of Tabor, O most blessed one, and strengthened thee with the fire of the grace of the Holy Spirit. And receiving a new birth, like Paul, with fear and joy thou didst cry out unto God:

Alleluia!

  

OIKOS III

Possessed of a wealth of grace, thou wast taken up by the Spirit into the heavens, where thou didst hear unspeakable words. Truly, who can describe those joys, O all-blessed father Silouan? For when, beyond the forms of the world, in contemplation of the indescribable beauties of the Godhead, thou wast vouchsafed to gaze upon the face of Christ God Who loveth infinitely and forgiveth all, thou wast filled to overflowing with the ineffable love of God. And, marveling at thine ineffable divine vision, we cry out:

Rejoice, thou who in the struggle of the faith of Christ wast vouchsafed visitation and consolation;

rejoice, thou who wast counted worthy to behold the beauty of His ineffable glory!
Rejoice, thou who by the Holy Spirit wast transported to the heavenly Eden of wondrous beauty;

rejoice, thou who there wast given to drink abundantly of the gracious gifts of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter!

Rejoice, partaker of the ineffable beauty of paradise;rejoice, beloved of God who wast favored by Him with compassions of heavenly beauty!
Rejoice, thou who dost earnestly mediate these graces for the whole human race;
rejoice, thou who like an unsleeping guardian dost wake us for the dawn of eternal life!
Rejoice, O father Silouan, inextinguishable burning of love in thy prayer for the world!
    

KONTAKION IVThe devil, the slayer of man, who from time immemorial hath sought to destroy the righteous, loosed a storm of grievous temptations upon thee, O father Silouan, but thou wast taught by the Holy Spirit to keep thy mind in hell but despair not. Anticipating the wiles of the devil by vigilance and humility, thou didst vanquish him; and put to shame by thee, he plainly admitted that he is a liar. Thus didst thou preserve thy soul for God, like a meek dove from the snares, unceasingly chanting unto Him: Alleluia!   

  

St. Silouan the Athonite (source)

  
OIKOS IV

Hearing of thee that thou wast miraculously summoned from the vanity of the world to the monastic struggle, and that thou didst produce goodly fruit through the grace of God, O venerable one, not only young monks, but elders also, well tried in the struggle, had recourse unto thee and delighted in thy deeds and words as in honey; and thus attaining the angelic life, they emulated the Lord. Wherefore we too, seeing thee adorned with humble-mindedness, cry out to thee with joy:
Rejoice, inexhaustible well of humble- mindedness and chastity;

rejoice, fragrant and unfading lily of the earthly Eden!

Rejoice, thou who with love didst bear the easy yoke of Christ in thy struggle;

rejoice, thou who by prayer didst establish thy mind, heart and will in God!
Rejoice, thou who didst diligently preserve the purity of thy soul and body;

rejoice, thou who by unceasing prayer didst ascend the heights of dispassion!

Rejoice, most earnest follower of the canons of the holy fathers;

rejoice, thou who dost unceasingly proclaim to us the heavenly homeland

and the love of God!

Rejoice, O father Silouan, inextinguishable burning of love in thy prayer for the world!

 

KONTAKION V

The Lord gave thee divine grace as a star pointing the way and enlightening thy mind, O God-loving father Silouan, and thereby He strengthened thee for the struggle of salvation, as He did Elias at the brook Chē΄-rĭth. And, wondrously fed with the inexhaustible treasures of the Holy Spirit, in youth and old age, from the morning watch until night, in thy prayers for the whole world thou didst unceasingly sound forth unto God like a melodious flute: Alleluia!    

OIKOS V

We see thee in thy goodly struggle, O all- blessed father Silouan, seeking the love of God as a babe seeketh its mother’s milk, aflame with His love and crying out with tears: “Be thou mindful of the love of the Lord, O my soul, and warm thou my heart, for who can give me such heat as the love of God, which will give me rest neither by day or by night?” Wherefore, let us constrain our hearts and soften our souls with the warmth of love for Thee, God most compassionate, and let us cry out to Silouan with compunction:

Rejoice, thou who didst constantly thirst for the righteousness of God, more than for sweet honey;
rejoice, thou who didst emulate the angels in thy love for the Lord!

Rejoice, thou who dost offer up the incense of pure prayer like a flame of fire;

rejoice, thou who hast adorned things above and things below with the

beauty of angelic reverence!

Rejoice, for thou didst make thy heart like the bush unconsumed by the fire;

rejoice, for thine arms, like those of Moses for the chosen people, were

stretched forth before the Lord for all!

Rejoice, for thou didst love to desire the judgments of God for all time, and didst seek His statutes.

rejoice, for thou didst unceasingly cry out to Him: O God, save Thy people and bless Thine inheritance!

Rejoice, O father Silouan, inextinguishable burning of love in thy prayer for the world!

  

KONTAKION VI

Thou wast shown to be a constant preacher of stillness, O favored one of God, when lovingly the Lord Who loveth mankind desired to test thee by depriving thee of the visitation of the most Holy Spirit. Sensing thyself bereft of His grace, like Adam who lamented the loss of paradise thou didst tearfully cry out with contrite heart: “O Lord, before Thou didst seek me out and grant me to delight in Thy Holy Spirit, and my soul loved Thee. But now my soul grieveth after Thee.” And thus lamenting, though trusting in the loving-kindness of God, thou didst cry out to Him:

Alleluia!

  

OIKOS VI

Thou didst shine forth as a new beholder of mysteries, O God-loving father Silouan, and by prayer and tears didst again acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit, through which thy heart was filled to overflowing with ineffable love. And comprehending the power of this grace, thou didst cry out with the boldness of Elias: “O Lord, not to me alone, but grant the whole world to recognize Thy love and be saved!” And having thee as a tireless advocate before God, we cry out to thee with compunction:

Rejoice, for through the crucifixion of prayer for the dead, the living and those yet to come, thou becamest an open heaven;

rejoice, for by such love thou didst win the kingdom of heaven for thy soul!

Rejoice, wondrous embodiment of purity of faith and innocence;

rejoice, thou who didst acquire the full forgiveness of Christ for thy neighbors’ falls into sin!
Rejoice, faithful fellow struggler with the saints of God, the wondrous sanctification of the world;

rejoice, faithful novice of the all-blessed Abbess of Athos and receptacle of the gifts of the Holy Spirit!

Rejoice, sweetly melodious harp of Mount Athos, proclaiming the life which is to come;
rejoice, tireless toiler in her garden, who dost strengthen the weak for the struggle!

Rejoice, O father Silouan, inextinguishable burning of 1ove in thy prayer for the world!

  

KONTAKION VII

Desiring to reveal in thee a new lamp of grace, O venerable father Silouan, the Lord Who loveth mankind transplanted thee like an olive shoot from the root of the land of Russia to the wilderness of Athos; and, bedewing thee with the grace of the Holy Spirit, He rendered thee most fruitful: for by thy deeds and words, as with life-creating oil, thou didst guide all to purity and chastity, piety and brotherly love. And, bound with the bond of love, and making what is baser subject to that which is higher, they chanted unto God: Alleluia!  

  

St. Silouan the Athonite (source)

  
OIKOS VII

The Lord revealed thee as a new fellow ascetic of the desert dwellers, a guide and teacher of monks and lay folk, O all-blessed Silouan. For, while yet living in the world, thou didst teach the full forgiveness of Christ to a certain soldier, who was scandalized by the fall of his wife into sin and raged with anger, and thus thou didst preserve the Mystery of Matrimony, the Little Church, from destruction. And calling on monks who had fallen into despondency to acquire peace of soul, and guiding them to the fear of God, thou didst lead them to repentance, and didst thus prepare all to be dwellers in paradise. Knowing thee as one who thus concerned thyself for the salvation of all, with love we cry out to thee as is due:
Rejoice, diligent fellow struggler with the desert-lovers in seeking God;

rejoice, earnest establisher of brotherly love and fervent advocate for all!

Rejoice, faithful companion on the path of life, amid misfortunes and perils;

rejoice, unfeigned servant amid sicknesses and griefs, and sorrows of soul!

Rejoice, proclaimer of the love of God, calling all to reconciliation with God and our neighbors; rejoice, thou who in bearing witness that the Lord is good dost strengthen in the hope of forgiveness souls weakened by sin! 

Rejoice, faithful ascetic of the earthly Eden, tearfully mediating salvation for the world;
rejoice, thou who desirest to descend into hades for all unrepentant sinners;

Rejoice, O father Silouan, inextinguishable burning of lover in thy prayer for the world!

  

KONTAKION VIII

A strange wonder did the Lord reveal to thee, O all-blessed father Silouan, when He miraculously showed thee thy spiritual father, the elder Abraámius, transfigured in His own image and shining more brightly than the eye can bear; and so He hath taught us to treat the Mystery of Repentance with honor. And, seeing thee entrusting thine own will to thy spiritual father as to the Lord Himself, and thus cutting off thine evil desires through humility and repentance, we learn thus to entrust ourselves to the will of God through the pastors of the Church, and so to escape the wrath of God and the coming judgment before our departure, crying out to the triune God: Alleluia!  

  
OIKOS VIII

O all-wondrous favorite of God, who acquired the humility of Christ with all thy heart and soul, and who crucified thyself to the world for Him, thy Beloved, thou didst cry out, weeping: “O Jesus most sweet! Thou hast resurrected my soul, that I may love Thee and my neighbor. Wherefore, grant me to pour forth tears for the whole world, that all men may come to know Thee, that they may delight in Thy peace and behold the light of Thy countenance.” And we who have wasted our life in sins and are saved by thee bless thee thus:
Rejoice, tireless toiler with her who is our earnest helper, in making supplications for the world;
rejoice, thou who, like Jeremiah who wept for the people, hast bedewed the Holy Mountain with tears!

Rejoice, all-wondrous ascetic of Athos, who by thy supplication dost sanctify the whole world;

rejoice, thou who as a solicitous father dost mediate with tears before God for all who are perishing amid sins!

Rejoice, beloved favorite of Christ God, joy and amazement of the angels;

rejoice, radiant effulgence of the North, purely transplanted from Holy Russia to the desert of Athos!

Rejoice, thou who in humility and obedience didst show forth a model of angelic beauty;

rejoice, thou who by the fervor of thy supplication didst desire to make us also dwellings of the divine Spirit!

Rejoice, O father Silouan, inextinguishable burning of love in thy prayer for the world!

   

KONTAKION IX

All the angelic beings and the multitude of ascetics marveled at thy humility and love for mankind, O Silouan our father, when, assuming the position of steward, thou didst emulate the chaste Joseph of Egypt. Having concern not only for the brethren of the holy monastery, but also for the lay workers who toiled there, as sons of God, thou didst cry out in their behalf to God Who loveth each of His creatures: “O Lord, send Thou Thy Holy Spirit, and comfort the troubled souls of these, Thy poor people.” For thus pointing out the beauty of each obedience undertaken with humility of mind, thou didst cry out to God unceasingly: Alleluia!  

OIKOS IX

Even the most eloquent of orators are unable to describe the power of thy love, O all-wondrous father Silouan; for with tears thou didst thirst to extinguish all enmity and disorder among men and to reconcile everyone unto God, crying out to the Master of the world: “O Lord, I yearn to be Thine, and to crucify myself with Thee for the whole world, that all may be saved!” And to the brethren thou didst cry out: “My children, pray for thine enemies, for they are our brethren, our life; and only the devil is the enemy of peace.” And guided by thee toward brotherly love and love of mankind, we cry out to thee:

Rejoice, thou who in thy goodness didst make thyself like Christ on Golgotha;

rejoice, thou who didst crucify thyself for thine enemies, not through thy hands, but thy heart and soul!

Rejoice, thou who carest for thy neighbor and didst not lose the beauty of grace-filled stillness;

rejoice, thou who, loving thy neighbor, didst acquire the power of unceasing prayer!

Rejoice, thou who through fasting and prayer didst utterly deflect the darts of the evil one;

rejoice, thou who hast taught us to overcome the evil wiles and machinations of the devil!

Rejoice, thou who, laboriously grinding thy flesh in the mill of Christ, like sacred grain, didst sweeten thy heart with prayer;

rejoice, thou who with the bread of life didst abundantly feed the workmen

of the garden of the Queen of heaven!

Rejoice, O father Silouan, inextinguishable burning of love in thy prayer for the world!

  

KONTAKION X

Seeking the salvation of thy soul, and desiring to cleave unto Christ most sweet, thou didst humbly flee from the land of thy fathers to the Holy Mountain, where in abstinence and stillness, industriousness and love for mankind, thou didst acquire angelic beauty, O most blessed one. And thus thou didst attain a goodly end at the all-blessed dawn, when all the desert-lovers of the communities of Athos chant the midnight hymn to the Creator, and didst surrender thy soul, which was nourished by the life-creating Body and Blood of the Lord, into His divine hands, that with all the saints thou mightest unceasingly chant to the Word, Who is holier than the saints: Alleluia!  

  

St. Silouan the Athonite (Source)

  
OIKOS X

In life, faith and love thou wast a most zealous servant of the King of heaven, Whom the cherubim, the seraphim and the councils of the saints glorify, O venerable one; and like a right fragrant lily thou standest with all the elect of the all-pure Theotokos at the throne of the All- holy Trinity. Be thou, O most blessed one, a most zealous mediator before God for the peace and prosperity of the land of thy fathers, and an angel of untiring prayer and a fervent intercessor for the Holy Church, that delivered by thee from tribulations, we may cry out to thee in thanksgiving:

Rejoice, angel of the Russian land, who didst labor most excellently on the Holy Mountain;

rejoice, most fervent advocate, who for us hast crucified thyself with love at the throne of God!

Rejoice, earnest mediator before God for the people of the land of thy fathers;

rejoice, speedy intercessor for the brethren of the garden of Athos who weaken in the struggle!

Rejoice, thou who didst bear without complaint the wounds of thy Lord on thy body;

rejoice, thou who didst entrust to Him thy pure soul, rendered white by tears of repentance!

Rejoice, faithful husbandman of the garden of Christ, who wast summoned by the Lord to Sion on high;

rejoice, for, crowned there with glory and honor, thou holdest converse

with the saints and angels!

Rejoice, O father Silouan, inextinguishable burning of love in thy prayer for the world!

  

KONTAKION XI

A right laudatory hymn do we offer thee, O father Silouan, favorite of God; for with burning love for the Lord Who hungered for the salvation of the world and put the devil to shame by His humility, thou didst faithfully follow Him, and adorned with the right fruitful gifts of the Holy Spirit, didst perfume the wilderness of Athos with pure prayer, graciously showing us the ideal of the angelic life. For thus likening the Holy Mountain to paradise, thou didst put the enemy to shame, and didst acquire the kingdom of heaven for thy soul, struggling to cleave unto God with love, and crying out to Him: Alleluia!  

OIKOS XI

In our days— during thy lifetime and after thy death—the Lord hath revealed thee to the whole world as a bearer of the light-bestowing light and grace of the Holy Spirit, that, gazing upon thee, who art resplendent in the incorrupt beauty of thine earthly struggles and offerest supplications for us like the cherubim at the throne of God, we are assured of our hope of salvation and most diligently follow thy right moral life. Sweetly do we submit our will to the love of God, that thus the glorification of the name of the Lord, Who loveth us, may be made steadfast in our bodies and souls. Wherefore, strengthened by thee in faith, with love we cry out to thee:

Rejoice, thou who by the struggles of a right moral life dost strengthen us in love of God;

rejoice, zealous denouncer of immorality, who teachest us to preserve the Mysteries and canons of the Orthodox Faith!

Rejoice, thou who wast earnestly zealous to embrace the desert-dwelling of Peter the Athonite in fasting and stillness;

rejoice, thou who didst faithfully emulate Abba Athanasius in care for the goodly morals of monastics!

Rejoice, new luminary of the Faith, who in our days dost point out the true path to God;

rejoice, thou who bearest true witness unto all concerning the abundance of the grace of the Holy Spirit in the Orthodox Church!

Rejoice, faithful servant of Christ, who standest as is meet before the throne of His glory;

rejoice, thou who dost earnestly ask for us a peaceful ending to our life and a good defense before the fearful Judgment Seat of Christ!

Rejoice, O father Silouan, inextinguishable burning of love in thy prayer for the world!

   

KONTAKION XII

Christ our God poured forth the indescribable power of grace upon thee, O venerable one, that in the heavens, where everything liveth and moveth in the joy of the Holy Spirit, He might show thee to be in the choir of Athonite ascetics, offering up supplications with all the saints in behalf of all born on earth. And knowing thee to be thus, we pray: Pour forth fervent prayer unto the Lord, O most blessed one, that, moved to mercy, He may make His Holy Church steadfast forever, for our salvation, may preserve in every way the desert-lovers of the earthly Eden, and strengthen them, that the name of God may be glorified forever by those on earth and those in heaven, who chant: Alleluia!  

OIKOS XII

Hymning thine all-glorious memory, O God- bearing father Silouan, as is meet we bless the pangs and labors which thou didst most diligently endure in vigils and fasting with all the chosen ones of the Mother of God. For who can reckon the labors and sighs we tearfully offer up in prayers for the world, and whereby the Lord changeth His wrath over our sins into mercy, and in His love for mankind doth not disavow the oath He swore, that the Holy Church will be established until the end of time? Wherefore, thankful for this thine intercession, we cry out to thee with compunction:

Rejoice, diligent follower of the leading of the Holy Spirit;

rejoice, thou who dost gaze upon the face of Christ, the Peace and Wisdom of God!

Rejoice, humble ascetic of Christ, joy and boast of the Mother of God, before all those in heaven and those on earth;  

rejoice, tireless advocate for the world, our consolation and hope of salvation!

Rejoice, heir of the kingdom of Christ, who didst adorn Mount Athos with thy struggle;

rejoice, faithful mover of our salvation, who hast sanctified for us the path which leadeth to God!

Rejoice, gilded clarion proclaiming the glory of God with all the saints and angels;

rejoice, thou who wast crowned by God with a diadem of immortality, and in thy supplications hast not forsaken us!

Rejoice, O father Silouan, inextinguishable burning of love in thy prayer for the world!

  

KONTAKION XIII

O all-wondrous Silouan, favorite of God, gracious scion of the land of Russia, boast and adornment of the desert-lovers of Mount Athos! Accept from us this meager entreaty, and ask thou of Christ our God, Who was crucified for the world, that He may have mercy on all of us, His children, and may bind us with the grace of the Holy Spirit in the bond of His love, and may lead us to Himself by the judgments which He knoweth, that by thy supplications we may appear unashamed on the day of judgment before the face of His glory, and may be vouchsafed with all the saints and angels to chant the hymn of victory: Alleluia!   

(Kontakion XIII is recited thrice, whereupon Oikos I and Kontakion I are repeated.)

   

St. Silouan the Athonite (source)

 

________________________________________________________________________

A PRAYER TO OUR VENERABLE FATHER SILOUAN THE ATHONITE

 

(Which prayer is said kneeling.)

Let us pray to our venerable father Silouan.

O holy father Silouan, pray unto God for us.

O all-wondrous father Silouan, favorite of God! By the grace given thee by God to pray with tears for the whole world — the dead, the living and those yet to come — never cease to make entreaty to the Lord for us who earnestly fall down before thee and with compunction beseech thine intercession. Move thou to prayer, O most blessed one, the earnest Helper of the Christian race, the all-blessed Theotokos and Ever-virgin Mary, who wondrously summoned thee to be a faithful husbandman in her earthly garden, where the chosen of God implore Him to be merciful and long-suffering toward our sins, that He not be mindful of our injustices and iniquities, but that in His ineffable goodness our Lord Jesus Christ may take pity and save us in His great mercy. Yea, O favorite of God, with the all-blessed Mistress of the world, the most holy Abbess of Athos, and the holy ascetics of her earthly portion, ask of the Word, Who is holier than all the saints, that Mount Athos and its God-loving desert-dwellers may be preserved in peace from all misfortunes and the assaults, of the enemy, that, delivered by the angels from evils, and strengthened by the Holy Spirit in faith and brotherly love, until the end of time they may offer up supplications for the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, and may show unto all the path to salvation, that the earthly Church and that of heaven may unceasingly glorify the Creator and Father of lights, illumining and sanctifying the world in the eternal righteousness and goodness of God. For the peoples of the whole world ask, a prosperous and peaceful life, the spirit of humble-mindedness and brotherly love, good morals and salvation, and the spirit of the fear of God, that the hearts of men may not be infected with malice and iniquity, which are able to uproot the love of God in men and cast them into God-opposing enmity and fratricide, but that the name of God may be sanctified in the power of divine love and righteousness on earth and in heaven, that His holy will may be manifest, among men, and that peace and the kingdom of God may

reign on earth. Likewise, O favorite of God, for our homeland, beg the peace we desire and the blessing of heaven, that, protected by the almighty veil of the Mother of God, it may be delivered from wrath, famine, plague, earthquake, flood, fire, the sword, foreign invasion, civil war, sudden death, and from all enemies, visible and invisible; and thus, through the power of the life-giving Cross, may be the most sacred dwelling- place of the all-blessed Theotokos until the end of time, and may be established in the superabundant love of God. And for all of us who are sunk in the darkness of sin, who have neither fervent repentance nor the fear of God, and thus immeasurably offend the Lord Who loveth us, O most blessed one, ask of our most compassionate God that He divinely visit and enliven our souls with His omnipotent grace, and that He abolish in our hearts all malice and the pride of life, despondency and negligence. Again we pray that when we are fortified by the grace of the most Holy Spirit and warmed by the love of God, we may be strengthened in love of mankind and our brethren, in humble-mindedness and prayerful crucifixion for one another and for all, and in the righteousness and grace-filled love of God, and may draw nigh unto Him like children: that thus doing His most holy will, we may tread the path of this transitory life unashamed, in all piety and purity, and with all the saints of the heavenly kingdom may be vouchsafed the wedding-banquet of the Lamb. From all those in heaven and on earth be glory, honor and worship unto Him, and His unoriginate Father and His all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages.

Amen.

  

APOLYTIKION

Tone 3

The work of the Archimandrite Zacharias

Having knowledge of the Holy Spirit, thou didst attain unto Adam’s lamentation and didst yearn after Christ insatiably. Keeping thy mind steadfastly in hell thou didst show love for us men that was past nature. Holy Father Silouan, ever pray unto God that we be granted great mercy.

ANOTHER APOLYTIKION

Tone 4

The work of the Hieromonk Paul

By prayer thou didst receive Christ for thy teacher in the way of humility, and the Spirit bare witness to salvation in thy heart; wherefore, all peoples called unto hope, rejoice in the day of thy memorial. O sacred father Silouan, pray unto Christ our God for the salvation of our souls.

(source)

 

St. Silouan the Athonite (source)

     

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Akathist to St. Herman of Alaska

St. Herman of Alaska (source)

  
Akathist to St. Herman of Alaska
  

Kontakion 1

O Chosen Doer of Wonders, most glorious favorite of Christ, our God bearing Father Herman, Alaska's adornment, the joy of all Orthodox in America. We sing to you, our heavenly protector and powerful intercessor before God, these songs of praise. Cease not to pray for your children, who cry fervently to you:
Rejoice our blessed Father Herman of Alaska, America's most glorious doer of wonders.
  

Ikos 1

The Creator of the Angelic Hosts, called you, Father Herman, to proclaim the Orthodox faith in the new land and to be the founder of the monastic way in the remote lands of the North. You were sent, as was the Apostle Paul, to those sitting in darkness so that the light of Orthodoxy might brightly shine to all the ends of the world. We, the inhabitants of the American continents, bring you this thanksgiving and sing this song of praise to you, our heavenly protector:
Rejoice, our Father Herman, our glory, our adornment;
Rejoice, bringer of the light of the true faith to our lands;
Rejoice, gatherer of your own glory by your great spiritual effort;
Rejoice, most honored branch of Valaam Monastery;
Rejoice, praise and joy of the Church in America;
Rejoice, comforter and protector of all of us;
Rejoice, our blessed Father Herman of Alaska, America's most glorious doer of wonders. 
    

Kontakion 2

In your early youth, O Blessed One, enkindled by the flame of love for the Lord, you desired to serve God and Him alone. As an offering, you dedicated your youth to God, beginning your journey from the hermitage of Valaam, where many novices sang ceaselessly to God: Alleluia!
  

Ikos 2

The Most High granted you spiritual wisdom in your youth that you might know the beauty and sweetness of heaven. For this reason, the wise Igumen Nazary, teacher of the blessed Seraphim of Sarov, taught you God's wisdom and the Lord's way. Therefore, the Holy Church praises you:
Rejoice, glorious Herman dedicator of your youth to Christ;
Rejoice, disciple together with Seraphim of Sarov;
Rejoice, performer of spiritual labors in glorious Valaam;
Rejoice, honored by all the brethren of Valaam Monastery;
Rejoice, learner of spiritual wisdom in Valaam;
Rejoice, glorified now by the Orthodox Church;
Rejoice, our blessed Father Herman of Alaska, America's most glorious doer of wonders. 
    

Kontakion 3

The power of the Most High directed the divinely-wise primate of the Church in Russia, Gabriel, to send preachers of the Orthodox Faith to Alaska. The apostolic choice fell on you, O Blessed Herman, therefore, all the people enlightened by the Light of Christ through your labors and the personal example of your life, sang to the Lord: Alleluia!
  

Ikos 3

Showing great zeal not only in your spiritual labors as a novice, but also in your Apostolic fervor as you preached to a people sitting in darkness, you, O Blessed Herman, revealed the light of Christ to them with great power. Remembering your labors as a novice and your efforts to preach; with love we praise you:
Rejoice, uncomplaining giver of obedience to your Igumen;
Rejoice, beginner of a long journey to preach;
Rejoice, steadfast in your love for the land of your birth;
Rejoice, inflamed with love for your new found home;
Rejoice, initiator of the monastic way in America;
Rejoice, zealous preacher of the Orthodox Faith;
Rejoice, our blessed Father Herman of Alaska, America's most glorious doer of wonders.
    

Kontakion 4

O Blessed Father Herman, you endured storms of evil attacks and sorrows, by your efforts you persevered in this new land. Therefore, Christ glorified you with the gift of foresight, enriching you with miracles, granting you the Kingdom of Heaven where, together with the angels, you praise God in song: Alleluia!
  

St. Herman of Alaska (source)

  

Ikos 4

Hearing of the miracles revealed to your people when a forest fire and tidal wave were made to cease by your prayers, we implore you from the depths of our hearts and entreat you to aid us who call to you:
Rejoice, ascetic and prophet glorified by God;
Rejoice, holy favorite of God;
Rejoice, our intercessor and healer;
Rejoice, helper of many who called out to you;
Rejoice, healer of many afflicted and suffering;
Rejoice, our merciful and humble Father;
Rejoice, our blessed Father Herman of Alaska, America's most glorious doer of wonders. 
    

Kontakion 5

O Blessed One, you have shone like the North Star on Spruce Island, the New Valaam, illuminating all of America with the brightness of your love and prayer, full of God's power, so that from every corner of it the Orthodox people will sing fervently to God: Alleluia!
  

Ikos 5

Observing your humility, all are in awe of you, O Father Herman, for your rigorous asceticism and perseverance in monastic struggles. In this you followed the example of Anthony of the Caves, the founder of monasticism in Russia, even as he that of Anthony the Great, first monk of the world. You, the founder of monasticism in our land, chose in your great humility the way of a simple monk. Therefore, the holy choir of hierarchs and hieromonks sings these songs of praise to you:
Rejoice, founder of monasticism in our land;
Rejoice, imitator of Anthony the Great and Anthony of the Caves;
Rejoice, crowned, as they were, with heavenly glory;
Rejoice, promising the building of a glorious hermitage where you labored;
Rejoice, giver of your relics to your hermitage;
Rejoice, revealing a source of miracles from them to all the world;
Rejoice, our Blessed Father Herman of Alaska, America's most glorious doer of wonders. 
    

Kontakion 6

The wilderness of the North proclaims your works and miracles, revealing you to be a new branch of the vineyard of the Church of Russia in America. The forests and wilderness are permeated with your prayers. Following the example of the ancient hermits, you cried out in the silence of the night to God: Alleluia!
  

Ikos 6

You enlightened the people who were living in darkness; you showed them an example of the monastic way of life. O our Godbearing Father Herman, pray that we all, giving thanks to the Lord, may ceaselessly sing you these words of praise:
Rejoice, first saint of our land;
Rejoice, founder of the monastic way in our land;
Rejoice, faithful servant of the Holy Trinity;
Rejoice, humble founder of the church of the Resurrection;
Rejoice, glorious hermit of the hermitage of Spruce Island;
Rejoice, loving father of the children who came to him;
Rejoice, our blessed Father Herman of Alaska, America's most glorious doer of wonders. 
    

Kontakion 7

The Lord chose you, O Blessed One, to bring the light of the knowledge of God to the land of the Aleuts and there to sow the seeds of the Orthodox faith. You taught all to embrace the true faith and to call out to God: Alleluia.
  

St. Herman of Alaska (source)

  

Ikos 7

You reached the heights through prayer, O Blessed One. You did not forget those who were in the depths of the earth. You manifested great concern for homeless orphans, building an orphanage and a school for them. You taught them the commandments of the Lord. Therefore, because of these labors, accept from us these praises:
Rejoice, defender of the poor and orphaned;
Rejoice, their good protector;
Rejoice, builder of a home for the orphaned;
Rejoice, servant to God with your labors;
Rejoice, provider of earthly bread to the orphaned;
Rejoice, nourisher of orphans with words of eternal life;
Rejoice, our blessed Father Herman of Alaska, America's most glorious doer of wonders. 
    

Kontakion 8

The Lord who loves mankind, O Blessed One, gave you the gifts of foresight and healing in His desire to manifest through you a source of compassion for his people. You brought them to the love of God through your works and many words of instruction. Enlightened by the light of your spiritual labors, the people called to the Lord: Alleluia!
  

Ikos 8

The people newly illumined by the light of the Christian Faith came to you in times of illness and sorrow. As a father who loved his children, you interceded for all, bringing forth healing and comfort to all who came to you for help. Your glory has gone forth throughout all Alaska and we, your spiritual children, glorify you:
Rejoice, our merciful father;
Rejoice, our unmercenary and gracious physician;
Rejoice, merciful healer of our infirmities;
Rejoice, our speedy helper in time of trouble and need;
Rejoice, foreseer of coming events as of the present;
Rejoice, perceptive reprover of hidden transgressions;
Rejoice, our blessed Father Herman of Alaska, America's most glorious doer of wonders. 
    

Kontakion 9

O Blessed One, you spoke with angels, according to your own testimony, relating how the angels came to you in your hermitage and you had sweet conversation with them. Now you are in the Kingdom of Heaven where with hosts of angels you pray ceaselessly to the Creator of all and the Maker of this praise: Alleluia!
  

Ikos 9

Who can enumerate the miracles witnessed by your people? The waves of the sea and a fire in the forest were calmed by your prayers. When there was a great tidal wave, you caused the stormy seas to cease by your prayers before the icon of the Mother of God, saying: "The water shall not go beyond this line." Therefore, we sing to you thus:
Rejoice, wondrous pacifier of the waters;
Rejoice, most glorious savior from a forest fire;
Rejoice, savior of the hierarch Innocent who called to you from the sea;
Rejoice, because of his prayer to you the wind at sea changed;
Rejoice, revealer of many miracles during your life;
Rejoice, revealer of many miracles even after your death;
Rejoice, our Blessed Father Herman of Alaska, America's most glorious doer of wonders. 
    

Kontakion 10

We bring to you a song of praise, O blessed father, concerning your righteous life. We sing praises of your honored death. You foreknew the day and hour of your blessed end. Most glorious also was your burial. For forty days a great storm raged at sea and your prophecy concerning your burial was fulfilled. Your disciple Gerasim, sensing a wondrous fragrance at the time of your death, sang to God: Alleluia!
  

St. Herman of Alaska (source)

  

Ikos 10

You were a most glorious doer of wonders during your life, O Father. At your death you manifested this wondrous miracle: your body remained incorrupt in the chapel for many days after your death. The Aleut people who saw a flaming pillar ascending to Heaven at the hour of your death, sang to you thus:
Rejoice, for your righteous end has assured us of your holiness;
Rejoice, for your ascension to Heaven was like a pillar of fire;
Rejoice, for your relics exuding an odor of sanctity are left as our inheritance;
Rejoice, for many miracles are made manifest at your reliquary;
Rejoice, giver to us of a source of holy water and healing;
Rejoice, for from this water many who are afflicted received healing;
Rejoice, our blessed Father Herman of Alaska, America's most glorious doer of wonders. 
    

Kontakion 11

O Holy Father, from your hermitage in the North, in the midst of the wilds of nature, you sang ceaseless praises to the Holy Trinity. Moved by the Spirit you foresaw the great flowering of this vineyard planted in the soil of America and you called out with the angels of Heaven: Alleluia!
  

Ikos 11

To all future members of the monastic order, you are a source of light and illumination. For you foretold, O Blessed One, the founding of a monastery and of an archbishop's throne in this land. Today a choir of hierarchs and of monastics glorifies you in these words:
Rejoice, instructor of monastics and converser with angels;
Rejoice, most glorious founder of the ascetic way in our land;
Rejoice, foreseer of the growth of this great vineyard of Christ;
Rejoice, fulfillment of this prophecy to the coming generations;
Rejoice, giver of a true image of the monastic way;
Rejoice, for your love is made manifest to all;
Rejoice, our blessed Father Herman of Alaska, America's most glorious doer of wonders. 
    

Kontakion 12

Seeing your grace and your great boldness before God, we entreat you, O blessed father Herman, to pray fervently to the Lord, that He will protect His Holy Church from faithlessness and schism, from false teaching and willfulness, that we may sing to God Who has dealt bountifully with us: Alleluia!
  

Ikos 12

We praise your glorification, O Blessed One, we bless you, O most powerful Intercessor and Protector of our Church, and with love we sing to you:
Rejoice, protector of all who honor you;
Rejoice, speedy responder and helper to all;
Rejoice, founder of Orthodoxy in our land;
Rejoice, strengthener of those who come to the Orthodox Faith;
Rejoice, most glorious protector of the Church in America;
Rejoice, her first saint and her wondrous Father;
Rejoice, our blessed Father Herman of Alaska, America's most glorious doer of wonders. 
    

Kontakion 13

O Most glorious favorite of God, Our Blessed Father Herman, Accept this humble prayer we offer up in praise to you. Standing now before the Throne of the Almighty Lord, ceaselessly pray for us. In joy we sing to God:
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

(Repeat Kontakion Thirteen 3 times)
(Then continue below)

   

St. Herman of Alaska (source)

     

Ikos 1

The Creator of the Angelic Hosts, called you, Father Herman, to proclaim the Orthodox faith in the new land and to be the founder of the monastic way in the remote lands of the North. You were sent, as was the Apostle Paul, to those sitting in darkness so that the light of Orthodoxy might brightly shine to all the ends of the world. We, the inhabitants of the American continents, bring you this thanksgiving and sing this song of praise to you, our heavenly protector:
Rejoice, our Father Herman, our glory, our adornment;
Rejoice, bringer of the light of the true faith to our lands;
Rejoice, gatherer of your own glory by your great spiritual effort;
Rejoice, most honored branch of Valaam Monastery;
Rejoice, praise and joy of the Church in America;
Rejoice, comforter and protector of all of us;
Rejoice, our blessed Father Herman of Alaska, America's most glorious doer of wonders. 
    

Kontakion 1

O Chosen Doer of Wonders, most glorious favorite of Christ, our God bearing Father Herman, Alaska's adornment, the joy of all Orthodox in America. We sing to you, our heavenly protector and powerful intercessor before God, these songs of praise. Cease not to pray for your children, who cry fervently to you:
Rejoice our blessed Father Herman of Alaska, America's most glorious doer of wonders.
  

---

St. Herman of Alaska (source)

     

Prayer to St. Herman of Alaska

O most wondrous, favorite of God, our blessed Father Herman, as a good laborer you did your great spiritual work in a harsh climate in this land. In your service to God, you were faithful in the little things. And, as the Lord said: "You have been faithful over a little, I well set you over much." Now, when this word has been fulfilled in you, the Lord has set you over our whole Church, as her heavenly protector. We all call to you in fervent prayer: Entreat the Lord to keep our Holy Church steadfast in Orthodoxy and to reveal her to be an adornment of our land.
May He protect her from all the dark powers of the enemy and drive out all adversaries. May He grant us purity of faith and beauty of soul. Pray He will grant us all the spirit of peace and love, the spirit of humility and meekness and drive out the sin of pride. Save us from self praise.
Be our guard from false teachings. Give healing to the sick; to the sorrowful be a comfort. To those who hunger for spiritual truth, give the heavenly food; that we may attain our true desire, and receive the good reward at the final Judgment. With all the saints we will praise with song: the Life creating Trinity, the Ineffable Father, the True and Only-Begotten Son, the Comforter, Holy Spirit, for ever.
Amen.
(source)
  

St. Herman of Alaska (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Saint Sophrony of Essex (+ July 11, 1993)

Elder Sophrony of Essex (1886 - July 11th, 1993) (source)

  
Archimandrite Sophrony was born in 1886, to Orthodox parents in Tsarist Russia. From childhood he showed a rare capacity for prayer and as a young boy would ponder questions heavy with centuries of theological debate. A sense of exile in this world spoke of an infinite always embracing our finitude. Prayer entails the idea of eternity with God. In prayer the reality of the living God is yoked with the concrete reality of earthly life. If we know what a man reverences, we know the most important thing about him- what it is that determines his character and behavior. The author of His Life is Mine was early possessed by an urgent longing to penetrate to the heart of divine eternity through contemplation of the visible world. This craving, like a flame in the heart, irradiated his student days at the State School of Fine Arts in Moscow. This was the period when a parallel speculative interest in Buddhism and the whole arena of Indian culture changed the clef of his inner life. Eastern mysticism now seemed to him more profound than Christianity, the concept of a supra-personal Absolute more convincing than that of a Personal God. The Eastern mystic’s notion of Being imparted overwhelming majesty to the transcendental. With the advent of the First World War and the subsequent Revolution in Russia he began to think of existence itself as the cause of all suffering and so strove, through meditation, to divest himself of all visual and mental images.
  

His studio was at the top of a tall house in a quiet part of Moscow. There he would labour for hours on end, straining every nerve to depict his subject dispassionately, to convey its temporal significance, yet at the same time to use it as a spring-board for exploring the infinite. He was tortured by conflicting arguments: if life was generated by the eternal, why did his body need to breathe, eat, sleep, and so on? Why did it react to every variation in the physical atmosphere? In an effort to break out of the narrow framework of existence he took up yoga and applied himself to meditation. But he never lost his keen awareness of the beauty of nature.

  

Saint Sophrony of Essex (source)

  
    Daily life now flowed on the periphery, as it were, of external events. The one thing needful was to discover the purport of our appearance on this planet; to revert to the moment before creation and be merged with our original source. He continued oblivious to social and political affairs- utterly preoccupied by the thought that if man dies without the possibility of returning to the sphere of Absolute Being, then life held no meaning. Occasionally, meditation would bring respite with an illusion of some unending quietude which had been his fountain-head.

The turmoil of the post- Revolutionary period made it increasingly difficult for artists to work in Russia, and in 1921 the author started to search for ways and means of emigrating to Europe- to France, in particular, as the centre of the world for painters. En route he managed to travel through Italy, looking long at the great masterpieces of the Renaissance. After a brief stay in Berlin he finally reached Paris and flung head, heart and soul into painting. His career made a satisfactory start: the Salon d’ Automne accepted his first canvas and the Salon des Tuileries, the elite of the Salon d’ Automne, invited him to exhibit with them. But on another level all was not going as he had expected. Art began to lose its significance as a means to liberation and immortality for the spirit. Even lasting fame would be but a ludicrous caricature of genuine immortality. The finest artifact is worthless when considered against the background of infinity.

Little by little it dawned on him that pure intellection, an activity of the brain only, could not advance one far in the search for reality. Then suddenly he remembered Christ’s injunction to love God ‘with all thy heart, and with all thy mind’. This unexpected insight was as portentous as that earlier moment when the Eastern vision of a supra-personal Being had beguiled him into dismissing the Gospel message as a call to the emotions. Only that earlier moment had struck dark as a thunderclap, while now revelation illuminated like lightning. Intellection without love was not enough. Actual knowledge could only come through community of being, which meant love. And so Christ conquered: His teaching appealed to his mind with different undertones, acquired other dimensions. Prayer to the Personal God was restored to his heart- directed, first and foremost, to Christ.

  

Elder Sophrony (rear), depicted with his spiritual father, St. Silouan the Athonite (source)

  
    He must decide on a new way of living. He enrolled in the then recently opened Paris Orthodox Theological Institute, in the hope of being taught how to pray, and the right attitude towards God; how to overcome one’s passions and attain divine eternity. But formal theology produced no key to the kingdom of heaven. He left Paris and made his way to Mount Athos where men seek union with God through prayer. Setting foot on the Holy Mountain, he kissed the ground and besought God to accept and further him in this new life. Next, he looked for a mentor who would help extricate him from a series of apparently insoluble problems. He threw himself into prayer as fervently as he previously had in France. It was crystal-clear that if he really wanted to know God and be with Him entirely, he must dedicate himself to just that- and still more entirely than he had to painting in the old days. Prayer became both garment and breath to him, unceasing even when he slept. Despair combined with a feeling of resurrection in his soul: despair over the peoples of earth who had forsaken God and were expiring in their ignorance. At times while praying for them he would be driven to wrestle with God as their Creator. This oscillation between the two extremes of hell on the one side and Divine Light on the other made it urgent that someone should spell out the point of what was happening to him. But another four years were to pass before the first encounter with the Staretz Silouan which he quickly recognised as the most precious gift Providence ever made to him. He would not have dared dream of a such a miracle, though he had long hungered and thirsted after a counselor who would hold out a strong hand and explain the laws of spiritual life. For eight years or so he sat at the feet of his Gamaliel, until the Staretz’ death when he begged for the blessing of the Monastery Superior and Council to depart into the ‘desert’. Soon after, the Second World War broke out, rumours of which (no actual news filtered through to the wilderness) intensified his prayer for all humanity. He would spend the night hours prone on the earth floor of his cave, imploring God to intervene in the crazy blood-path. He prayed for those who were being killed, for those who were killing, for all in torment. And he prayed that God would not allow the more evil side to win.

  

Elder Sophrony with various pilgrims to his Monastery, including Elder Joseph of Vatopedi, Metropolitan Athanasios of Lemesou, Elder Zacharias of Essex, and Elder Kirill (source)

  

During the war years the desert felt remarkably more silent and withdrawn than of wont, since the German occupation of Greece bared all traffic on the sea around the Athonite peninsula. But the author’s total seclusion ended when he was urged to become confessor and spiritual father to the brethren of the Monastery of St Paul. Staretz Silouan had predicted that he would one day be a confessor and had extorted him not to shrink from this crucial form of service to people- service which necessitates giving one-self to the supplicant, accepting him into one’s own life, sharing with him one’s deepest feelings. Before long he was called to other monasteries, and monks from the small hermitages of Athos, anchorites and solitaries turned to him. It was a difficult and heavily responsible mission but he reasoned to himself that it was his duty to try and repay the succour which he had received from his fathers in God, who had so lovingly shared with him the knowledge granted to them from on High. He could not keep their teaching to himself. He must give freely of what he had freely received. But to be a spiritual counselor is no easy task: it involves transferring to others attention hitherto destined for oneself, looking with imaginative sympathy into other hearts and minds, contending with my neighbour’s problems instead of my own.

  

Elder Sophrony as a young monk on Mount Athos (source)

  
    After four years spent in a remote spot surrounded by mountain crags and rocks, with little water and almost no vegetation, the author assented to a suggestion from the Monastery of St Paul to move into a grotto one their land. This new cave had many advantages for an anchorite-priest. There were many hermits in the desert and they tended to settle close to one another, though hidden from sight by bounders and cliffs. Here, besides being completely isolated, there was a tiny chapel, some ten feet by seven, hewn out of the rock-face. But winter was a trying time. The first downpour would flood the previously dry cave and then every day for perhaps six months he was obliged to scoop up and throw outside some hundred buckets of water soaking his cough. Only the little chapel stayed dry. There he could pray, and keep his books. Everywhere else was wet. Impossible to light a fire and warm up something to eat. In the end, after the third winter, failing health compelled him to abandon the grotto which had afforded the rare privilege of living detached from the world.

It was now that the idea came to him of writing a book about Staretz Silouan, to record the precepts which had so helped him to find his bearings in the wide expanses of the spirit by instructing him in the ways of spiritual combat. To carry out this project he would have to go back to the West- to France, where he had felt more at home than in any other country in Europe. His first intention was to stay for a year but then he found that he would need more time. Working in difficult conditions, he fell dangerously ill and a serious operation left him an invalid, causing him to lay aside all thought of returning to a desert cave on Mount Athos.

The preliminary edition of his book concerning Staretz Silouan he roneo-typed himself. A printed edition followed in 1952. Thereafter the translations began: first into English (The Undistorted Image), then German, Greek, French, Serbian, with excerpts in still other languages. The reaction of the ascetics of the Holy Mountain was of extreme importance to the author. They confirmed the book as a true reflection of the ancient traditions of Eastern monasticism, and recognised the Staretz as spiritual heir to the great Fathers of Egypt, Palestine, Sinai and other historic schools of asceticism dating back to the beginning of the Christian era.

  

Elder Sophrony of Essex (source)

  
    Archimandrite Sophrony felt convinced that Christ’s injunction, ‘keep thy mind in hell, and despair not’, was directed through Staretz Silouan to our century especially, drowned as it is in despair. (Are not the ‘perilous times’ come, ‘when men shall be lovers of their own selves…unthankful, unholy…trucebreakers, false accusers…despisers of those that are good…lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof…ever learning, and never able to come to knowledge of the truth?). He believed, too, that as Staretz had prayed for decades with such extraordinary love for the human race, entreating God to grant all mankind to know Him in the Holy Spirit, so men would love the Staretz in return. The Russian poet Pushkin claimed that no monument would be necessary to keep alive remembrance of him- his fellow countrymen would no long cherish his memory for he had sung of freedom in a cruel age, of mercy to the fallen. Had not the Staretz in his humility rendered a still nobler service to humanity? He taught us how to drive away despair, explaining what lay at the back of this terrible spiritual state. He revealed to us the Living God and His Love for the sons of Adam. He taught us how to interpret the Gospel in its eternal aspects. And for many he made the word of Christ real, part of everyday life. Above all, he restored to our souls a firm hope of blessed eternity in the Divine Light.    

Throughout the book “His Life is Mine”, Archimandrite Sophrony reflects the teaching of his spiritual father. Not all of it will be intelligible at first perusal- in fact, it is not easy reading on any reckoning. Form must be sacrificed to content when the translator is caught in the uncomfortable limbo between languages; and in a work of this kind the author is so often speaking across a semantic chasm. Few of us have any inkling of the life described in these pages. But close study will make us familiar with the Athonite ascetic’s manner of living, and then we can with profit try to apply some of the lessons learned to our own case. Grace, which is God’s gift of holiness, depends upon man’s attempt at holiness.

  

The Katholikon of the Monastery of St. John the Baptist founded by Elder Sophrony in England. Many of the icons were painted by Elder Sophrony's own hands (source)

  
    In 1959, accompanied by his disciples, he left for England, where he founded the Monastery of Saint John the Baptist. Having been a coenobitic monk and a hermit, he was now ‘a witness to the light’ (cf. John 1:7,8) at the heart of the world. In 1993, 11th July, Elder Sophrony humbly and peacefully rendered his soul to God.

[There are a number of possible reasons as to why Elder Sophrony left Mt Athos. It may have been due to his deteriorating health, or to publish St Silouan's works, or to complete his theological education; it may simply have been due to the problems of being a non-Greek on Mt Athos after the close of World War II. Nonetheless, Elder Sophrony felt compelled to move to Paris, where Balfour helped him gain a passport. The faculty of St Sergius Institute allowed Elder Sophrony to sit the examinations of the whole course and provided for his needs; however, upon his arrival, the faculty insisted that Elder Sophrony deny, by silence, the grace present in the Moscow Patriarchate. Elder Sophrony refused to do so and therefore did not reenter the Institute. Elder Sophrony settled in Russian House, an old-age home, in St Genevieve-des-Bois, where he assisted the local priest and acted as the father confessor. He had a major operation on a stomach ulcer.
  

Elder Sophrony of Essex (source)

  
The next year, Elder Sophrony produced the first mimeographed edition of Staretz Silouan on hand-roneo. Within this text, Elder Sophrony outlines St Silouan's principles of theology, and he explains many fundamental concepts, among them prayer for the whole world, God-forsakenness and the idea of all humanity being interconnected.

1950 sees Elder Sophrony working with Vladimir Lossky on the Messager de l’Exarchat du Patriarche Russe en Europe Occidentale, which he did until 1957. Lossky influenced Elder Sophrony's thought on many contemporary issues while complementing Elder Sophrony's work on Trinitarian thought and its application to the Church and humanity; however, Lossky would not talk about a deified human nature, nor about the idea of God-forsakenness in a positive view, as Elder Sophrony did.

In 1952, Elder Sophrony produced a second edition, professionally done, of Staretz Silouan, bringing much fame to both St Silouan and Elder Sophrony. Based on Lossky's criticism that he could find no theological value in the saint's works, Elder Sophrony included a theological introduction to St Silouan's writings.

By 1958, Elder Sophrony had a number of people living near him, seeking the monastic life. A property at Tolleshunt Knights, Maldon, Essex, England was inspected, and the next year the Community of St John the Baptist was formed at this site, under the omophorion of Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom) of Sourozh. The monastery had both monks and nuns, something that has continued to the present, and originally had six members. In 1965, the monastery would move under the omophorion of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, adding the title 'Patriarchal' to its name. Later, the Ecumenical Patriarchate elevated the monastery to 'Stavropegic'.
  

Elder Sophrony of Essex (source)

  
In 1973, a more complete translation of the life of St Silouan, under the title Monk of Mt Athos, was published, followed by the publication of Wisdom of Mt Athos, the writings of St Silouan. Elder Sophrony seemed to move to his own works after this, publishing His Life is Mine in 1977 and We Shall see Him As He Is in 1985. This last book, a very frank, open spiritual autobiography, was published to mixed reviews: where the West generally enjoyed the book, the Russians generally criticized it. Some of the criticism was so stinging that it, along with increasing illness, discouraged Elder Sophrony from writing again.

In 1987, the Ecumenical Patriarchate glorified St Silouan the Athonite, no doubt assisted by his fame from Elder Sophrony's works.

The monastery had been informed that the only way that it could bury people on its property was to build an underground crypt, which it proceeded to build, and to which Elder Sophrony said that he would not repose until the crypt was ready. Then, having been told of the expected completion date of July 12, Elder Sophrony stated that he "would be ready". On the 11th, Elder Sophrony reposed; and on the 14th was his funeral and burial, attended by monastics from around the world. At the time of Fr Sophrony's repose, there are 25 monastics in the monastery, a number that has remained steady since then.
  

Icons of St. Silouan the Athonite and Elder Sophrony of Essex (source)

  
Mother Elizabeth, the eldest nun, reposed soon after, on the 24th. This was in accordance with Elder Sophrony's words that he would repose first, and she would repose soon after.
On Prayer, a book containing Elder Sophrony's writings on prayer, particularly the Jesus Prayer, was published posthumously. (source)]

Today, the Monastery of Saint John the Baptist is a place where hundreds of pilgrims from all over the world are welcomed; it is not only one of the main centres from which Orthodoxy is radiated in the West, but also one of the strongest affirmations of the universality of Orthodoxy.

 

The grave of Elder Sophrony in the Monastery of St. John (source)

     
Archimandrite Sophrony Sakharov (2001) (2nd ed.) His Life is Mine. Introduction. New York: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press.

Archimandrite Sophrony Sakharov (1998) Words of Life- preface. Essex: Stavropegic Monastery of St. John the Baptist.

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On November 27th, 2019, Elder Sophrony was officially canonized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
  

Saints Sophrony of Essex and Silouan the Athonite (source)

Selected Quotes of Elder Sophrony

"No one on this earth can avoid affliction; and although the afflictions which the Lord sends are not great men imagine them beyond their strength and are crushed by them. This is because they will not humble their souls and commit themselves to the will of God. But the Lord Himself guides with His grace those who are given over to God's will, and they bear all things with fortitude for the sake of God Whom they have so loved and with Whom they are glorified for ever. It is impossible to escape tribulation in this world but the man who is giver over to the will of God bears tribulation easily, seeing it but putting his trust in the Lord, and so his tribulations pass."

  

"There are three things I cannot take in: nondogmatic faith, nonecclesiological Christianity and nonascetic Christianity. These three - the church, dogma, and asceticism - constitute one single life for me." - Letter to D. Balfour, August 21, 1945.

  

"If one rejects the Orthodox creed and the eastern ascetic experience of life in Christ, which has been acquired throughout the centuries, then Orthodox culture would be left with nothing but the Greek minor [key] and Russian tetraphony." - Letter to D. Balfour.

  

"There are known instances when Blessed Staretz Silouan in prayer beheld something remote as though it were happening close by; when he saw into someone's future, or when profound secrets of the human soul were revealed to him. There are many people still alive who can bear witness to this in their own case but he himself never aspired to it and never accorded much significance to it. His soul was totally engulfed in compassion for the world. He concentrated himself utterly on prayer for the world, and in his spiritual life prized this love above all else." -- St Silouan the Athonite, p.228.

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Additional Quotes of Elder Sophrony from his book His Life is Mine

Elder Sophrony of Essex (source)

  

"In Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit God gave us the full and final revelation of Himself.  His Being now for us is the First Reality, incomparably more evident than all the transient phenomena of this world.  We sense His divine presence both within us and without: in the supreme majesty of the universe, in the human face, in the lightning flash of thought.  He opens our eyes that we may behold and delight in the beauty of His creation.  He fill our souls with love towards all mankind.  He indescribably gentle touch pierces our heart.  And in the hours when His imperishable Light illumines our heart we know that we shall not die.  We know this with a knowledge to prove in the ordinary way, but which for us requires no proof, since the Spirit Himself bears witness within us.

"For us, Christians, Jesus Christ is the measure of all things, divine and human.  "In Him dwelleth the fulness of the Godhead" (Col 2:9) and of mankind.  He is our most perfect ideal.  In Him we find the answer to al our problems, which without Him would be insoluble.  He is n truth the mystical axis of the universe.  If Christ were not the Son of God, then Salvation through the adoption of man by God the Father would be totally incomprehesible.  With Christ man steps forward into divine eternity."

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Elder Sophrony of Essex (source)

  

"We Christians accept the wondrous gift of life with thanksgiving.  Called by Christ, we strive for the fullest possible knowledge of the Primary source of all that exists.  From our birth onwards we gradually grow and enter into possession of being.  Christ is for us "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).  With Him our path lies through a great and intricate spiritual culture: we traverse cosmic chasms, more often with much suffering but not seldom win rapture as understanding increases.  For a while the growing process is bound up with our physical body; but the time soon comes when, liberated from terrestrial chains, mind and spirit can continue their progress towards the Heavenly Father.  We know  that He loves us and because of this love reveals Himself to us without limit.  It may still be only partly, but we know that in Him is our immortality; in Him we shall arrive at everlasting Truth.  He will grant us with indescribably joy of sharing in the very Act of the Divine creation of the world.  We hunger for complete unity in Him.  He is Light, Beauty, Wisdom, Love.  He gives the noblest meaning to our life and the bliss of boundless gnosis.

 

"...true contemplation begins the moment we become aware of sin in us... To apprehend sin in oneself is a spiritual act, impossible without grace, without the drawing near to us of Divine Light.The initial effect of the approach of this mysterious Light is that we see where we stand "spiritually" at the particular moment.  The first manifestations of the Uncreated Light do not allow us to experience it as light.  It shines in a secret way,  illuminating the black darkness of our inner world to disclose a spectacle that is far from joyous for us in our normal state of fallen being... We become acutely conscious of sin as a sundering from the ontological source of our being.  Our spirit is eternal but now we see ourselves as  prisoners of death.  With death waiting at the end, another thousand years of life would seem but a deceptive flash.  

 

"Live-giving faith consists in unquestionaling belief in Christ as God.   Only when Christ is accepted as perfect God and perfect Man does the plentitude of spiritual experience described by the apostles and fathers become possible.

 

"Of all approaches to God prayer is the best and in the last analysis the only means."

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Elder Sophrony of Essex (source)

  
Elder Sophrony (+1993) of Essex, spiritual child of St Silouan the Athonite, gave this prayer to his own spiritual children, to be said ‘on rising from sleep.’ This version of the prayer is adapted from Hesychia and Theology by Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos, who writes, ‘If someone reads this prayer in the morning with contrition and attention, the whole day will be blessed.’
  

Prayer at Daybreak
to be said each day on rising from sleep

Eternal King without beginning, You who are before all worlds, my Maker, Who have summoned all things from non-being into this life: bless this day that You, in Your inscrutable goodness, give to me. By the power of Your blessing enable me at all times in this coming day to speak and act for You, to Your glory, in Your fear, according to Your will, with a pure spirit, with humility, patience, love, gentleness, peace, courage, wisdom and prayer, aware everywhere of Your presence.

Yes, Lord, in Your immense mercy, lead me by Your Holy Spirit into every good work and word, and grant me to walk all my life long in Your sight without stumbling, according to Your righteousness that You have revealed to us, that I may not add to my transgressions.

O Lord, great in mercy, spare me who am perishing in wickedness; do not hide Your face from me. And when my perverted will would lead me down other paths, do not forsake me, my Savior, but force me back to Your holy path.

O You Who are good, to Whom all hearts are open, You know my poverty and my foolishness, my blindness and my uselessness, but the sufferings of my soul are also before You. Wherefore I beseech You: hear me in my affliction and fill me with Your strength from above. Raise me up who am paralyzed with sin, and deliver me who am enslaved to the passions. Heal me from every hidden wound. Purify me from all taint of flesh and spirit. Preserve me from every inward and outward impulse that is unpleasing in Your sight and hurtful to my brother.

I beseech You: establish me in the path of Your commandments and to my last breath do not let me stray from the light of Your ordinances, so that Your commandments may become the sole law of my being in this life and in all eternity.

O God, my God, I plead with You for many and great things: do not disregard me. Do not cast me away from Your presence because of my presumption and boldness, but by the power of Your love lead me in the path of Your will. Grant me to love You as You have commanded, with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my mind, and with all my strength: with my whole being.

For You alone are the holy protection and all-powerful defender of my life, and to You I ascribe glory and offer my prayer.

Grant me to know Your truth before I depart this life. Maintain my life in this world until I may offer You true repentance. Do not take me away in the midst of my days, and when You are pleased to bring my life to an end, forewarn me of my death, so that I may prepare my soul to come before You.

Be with me then, O Lord, on my great and sacred day, and grant me the joy of Your salvation. Cleanse me from manifest and secret sins, from all iniquity hidden in me; and give me a right answer before Your dread judgment-seat.

Amen.

(source)
  
Here one can find many books written by and about Elder Sophrony.
  

Saint Sophrony of Essex (source)

 
Hymns to Saint Sophrony

Apolytikion in the First Tone. The three great lights.
O pure rose from your Mother Russia, O Father Sophrony, the protector of your British Garden of love and grace, who wisely moves those pure in heart like babes against the darkness, illumining them with fiery stylus of the Spirit, the great theologian and standing first with good deeds, teaching and writing divine and universal translations. As he is a friend of the Lord, let us honor him, as His holy disciple and Saint, that he might protect those who love him as an offering.

Kontakion in the First Tone. Your tomb, O Savior.
As a queen bee, O Father, you gave birth to the rational bees gathered around you into the honeycomb of Light, O Father, and gathered the honey of incorruption and the pure beeswax fashioned by your God, exalting the isle of Britain, O Venerable Sophrony.

Megalynarion.
O universal Father Silouan, come and teach the Truth to the people, together with Sophrony, and intercede on behalf of all and together with all the Saints of Athos.

Taken from a Greek devotional Paraklesis to Elder Sophrony here.

Icon of The Mystical Supper painted by Elder Sophrony in his Monastery in Essex (Source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!