by —
chrissie “apples” nicolles
small schema monastic
🌁Elder Paisios was the greatest Saint of 20th century! Today July 12th, is his Feast Day because after receiving holy communion, Geronda Paisios left his body for Paradise…
It was 1994, as he lay dying people witnessed seeing the beloved monk floating above the church in Souroti, blessing them!!
After his death, miracles continued – even a sweet fragrance of roses, frankincense, myrrh + lilies pervaded his tomb, and on his clothes + in his cell on Mount Athos; this phenomenon ‘Odour of Sanctity’ is when the dead smell divine… aka a supernaturally, pleasant aroma, an indication of spiritual superiority — having its roots from early Christian Greece and Egypt.
In the world St. Paisios was born Arsenios Eznepedes; and on July 25th we honor his early birthday here.
He was named Arsenios after his parents’ elder, Saint Arsenios who baptized him and exclaimed in shock “this baby will be an Agios!”
As adult, Paisios went from being an Army signalman to a legendary saint known throughout entire Eastern Orthodox world, where despite having only a grammar school education, thousands of pilgrims flocked from all over to see this ascetically, thin little monk; even PhDs + statesmen would visit Athos, the “Holy Mountain” just to bask in his presence or be healed… for these men, Elder Paisios became an oasis from their burdens in a Godless, secular world.
In my humble opinion, nobody is truly Christian Orthodox unless they’re intellectually cognizant of Geronda Paisios — so I encourage those new to order + read the most extraordinary book: “St. Paisios of Mt. Athos, by – Hieromonk Isaac.”
Of course, all books about him are wonderful, but this one by his disciple Isaac – is just phantasmagorical… You will discover how rich the Orthodox faith is!
In the Russian Orthodox world, the biggest agios is the remarkable Saint Seraphim of Zarov, but I remember my Russian Hierarch elder, Hilarion, keeping a framed photo of St. Paisios on his writing desk. He also learned to speak excellent Greek.
Hmm… I think Paisios spiritually bonded us,
after all, His Eminence Hilarion granted me Paisios’ name at my small schema tonsure… by the way, few know my monastic name is — Paisia.
(So, thanks to my holy friends texting me a happy name-day today!)
Tokens of Geronda Paisios seemed to appear everywhere once I entered his spiritual sphere, like dreaming of him while writing my piece on him for TNH in 2016 (link provided) + being gifted posters of his image by the superlative orator priest, Fr. Panteleimon – former Deacon for Archbishop Demetrios.
I’m in awe of those blessed to have met Paisios or other gems like the extraordinary Elder Ephraim of AZ… or Mother Gavrilia of Greece. It’s like they’re a key to another dimension.
One of my favorite quotes from St. Paisios:
“Every person has a right to speak and register his mind; no one should refrain from speaking out of fear in order to flatter a superior or because he wants to be on good terms with the archbishop or the abbot.”
&
“One who doesn’t have a crazy streak cannot become either a Saint or a hero.”
*May It Be Blessed 🌁
My favorite quote from this Saint.
“What I see around me would drive me insane if I did not know that no matter what happens, God will have the last word.”
God is wondrous in His saints indeed!
I followed the words of his matins service today and the hymnology captured a wide spectrum of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in this saint who according to his words ” he simply allowed God to work inside of him””
I met him in September of 1988 but unlike my friend sister Paisia(Apples) I haven’t managed to imitate any of his virtues…
🦋Thank you dear theologian +
friend Constantine Zalalas!
Your videos + books always edifying… keep it coming🦋
The use of the term “Ascension” in the article title is misleading and controversial, and should be corrected, because the term is reserved for specific theological meaning. I’m sure St. Paisios will also agree.
On the comment about the book by elder Isaak, it has long been regarded as the “more accurate” version of many biographies are out there. Even 6 years after St. Paisios’ falling asleep, I encountered some of his contemporary monks that were extremely upset about exaggerations and “non-truths” about “what Paisios supposedly said” being published in various books that started circulating starting in the 1990s… things got worse in the 2000s, when the Greek population suddenly started learning about St. Paisios…thats when “new quotes by geronda Paisios” appeared, and were in direct contrast with “other quotes” that were published in the 1990s…
It’s unfortunate some people are trying to twist the Saint’s original words and try to present a different reality that fits their own psychology or desired narrative, but it has been happening for 3 decades now, and the further away we get historically from the day of his falling asleep, the more difficult it becomes to figure out what is accurate and what is not. Again, the book written by elder Isaak is considered to be one of the most solid and balanced with no controversial statements or claims included.
🦋Thank you Markos for confirming best book on Geronda Paisios is indeed by his disciple Isaak. Sad he died 4 years later.
“Ascension” for me means rising to a higher plane – well he certainly did by leaving his body + entering Heaven.
And he’s in the highest heaven, that’s paradise!🦋
Great article Adelphe Paisia… since we are on the topic of editorial remarks, I would agree with Markos that Ascension is an incorrect term to talk about the passing, koimisis, departure of Saint Paisios and any other beloved brother and sister in Christ for that matter who departs from this world. Also the term disciple to characterize his biographer is also incorrect. Some Saints (for example Saints Constantine and Helen) have been honored to be called “Isapostolos” (i.e equal in gravitas and importance as the Disciples of Jesus Christ) but not Saint Paisios… Continuing the editorial comments you describe the book on Saint Paisios as”fantasmagórical”. That’s a beautiful Greek word but it can’t be applied to describe a book since the word applies to visual spectacles that create a surreal fantom effect which additionally shouldn’t be used to characterize the effect of a Saint such as Saint Paisios which is far from surreal but rather tangibly real! Last editorial comment the great Russian Saint Sepaphim is from Sarov not “Zarov”.
Truly he was a superstar.
Saint Paisios bless us!
🌅Also noteworthy:
when the author + disciple of St. Paisios book Fr. Isaak died
4 years later, a hospital nurse
he talked to + revealed to her a personal secret she kept. But hearing this from Fr. Isaak liberated her.
She also reported immediately after his death an unusual lovely fragrance permeated entire hospital room + she kept his precious bed linen as fragrance stayed on.
Salutations to Saint Paisios!
2024 is his 100 year birthday anniversary!
Unlike Elder Porphyrios when Elder Paisios left his old life to live on Athos he wrote a goodbye letter to his mother telling her the Theotokos was his mother now & would no longer see her on earth.
He also did same to his siblings despite their attempts to visit so it’s interesting to read his quote =
“If one wishes to live peacefully he must be especially careful with his relatives & friends”
Chrissie~
You have captured the essence of St. Paisios! Lovely article and thank you for his remembrance on this anniversary!
For those who aren’t aware, there exists a lesser known controversy surrounding St. Paisios’ grave:
In 2000, I personally saw the physical grave (pit) that St. Paisios had dug for himself outside his Mt. Athos “keli” of Panagouda. It was on that day that I found out about this “controversy”… Apparently st. Paisios went through the effort of digging his own grave ahead of time because he didn’t want anyone to become “tired on his behalf”. However, his actual grave in 1994 ended up in Souroti. The nuns of Souroti claim they had his blessing and his permission to bury him there. I encountered monks on Mt. Athos in the year 2000 that were extremely skeptical of this assertion, pointing to the evidence of the grave on Mt. Athos that he dug for himself, as well as personal accounts of discussions with the saint himself. Skeptics also point out that Souroti benefited and grown a LOT, and was “put onto the major Orthodox pilgrimage & donation map” since the 1994 burial…the numbers of pilgrims and donations to Souroti would have been a lot lower without St. Paisios’ grave, for sure…this detail also adds fuel to the fire. Souroti’s claims to having “hundreds of hours of recorded conversations with the saint”, but simultaneously not providing public access to those recorded conversation archives for verification by the public has only added additional controversy and suspicion over the last 30 years. :)
Thus, this interesting controversy lives on, but nevertheless, it is true that Orthodox faithful are certainly also benefiting from being able to access and visit St. Paisios’ grave outside of Mt. Athos, which is not necessarily a negative thing at face value, but that’s the way it is for the time being…time will tell in the future if the Saint’s actual burial wishes were ultimately changed from Mt. Athos to Souroti. A saint knows how to reveal details like that at a time of his choosing… :)
🦋Yes Markos it’s interesting… but I read somewhere, Geronda changed his mind about his grave location bc he wanted the nuns + other pilgrims to have easy access to his tomb.
*btw: my friend Stella is visiting Thessaloniki right now + praying by St. Paisios grave for recovery of our beloved President Trump who just got shot!
PRAY for our man!
Trump 2024!! 🇺🇸
That’s exactly the angle that Souroti is presenting…with little evidence of this supposed “change of mind”, and St. Paisios isn’t among us to confirm of dispute this narrative. Hence the controversy… like I said, he did show intent by digging his own grave, with his own hands, on Mt. Athos…that’s an indisputable truth.
Superlative take Apples —
on both your articles on this towering spiritual legend, well researched and revered. My sister you’re becoming Ambassador of Starets Paisios of Athos –
without setting foot on Athos.😋Good for you!
Thank you Apples. This was a great article about a truly great Saint!
I’m proud you’re on our team Apples [no matter your wardrobe of names – Right?] Chrissie, Paisia, stay valiant in shedding light on the BEST in Orthodoxy.
God bless all Orthodox blogs keeping the faith and spreading the faith+
Where can I buy a Saint Paissios icon online?
Amazon Spartacus. There are many options. Just type in St. Paisios Icons for sale.
https://www.athoniteusa.com/products/saint-paisios-of-mount-athos-with-cap
🦋Spartacus – call St. Anthony monastery AZ or
St. Nektarios monastery NY.
Yes do it for Geronda’s birthday July 25!🦋
Great, interesting, and insightful article as always. St Paisios is definitely a special Saint and his life is definitely a testimony of the Orthodox faith to our century. Great work!
Kalimera Paisia
Happy and blessed belated name day. I did not know or remember that you are a Paisia.
Beautiful article on our dearly beloved Saint Paisios.
Have a blessed Lord’s day and every day.
May this precious new Saint of our Orthodox Church be our intercessor to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Very informative and beautifully written- thank you for sharing this wonderful article about St Paisios. May we all be blessed and protected by enlightened souls.
Paisia, What a wonderful article and blessing. The saint was truly a gift from God to walk amongst us. He is an intercessor beyond measure. That you are graced to bear his name is a treasure. Truly a gift. In Christ, fr n
Paisia: Thank you for that reflection on a truly inspirational Saint. You were blessed to receive his name at your tonsure. May God help all of us to imitate his holy life. Fr David
AXIOS. I applaud Chrissie’s editorial. which attempts to enlighten us of our spiritual ancestors. Who exemplify the foundation of magnificent Orthodox faith.
Monk Paisios is example. of the Desert Fathers. Paisios is by product of great traditions of the 7 churches of Asia Minor.
Viva Apples!!! ❤️And you and St.Paisios are both Leo’s! This is a great article. I loved it. The one thing that bonds us together is that we both share in the mystical experience. Happy Birthday early August and remember your elder Hilarion is with you always, especially on your Birthday ~ Sharon