The Divine Flame Elder Porphyrios Lit in my Heart

By Monk Agapios

Published by The Holy Convent of the Transfiguration of the Saviour, 2003

St Porphyrios (1906-1991) was a monk from Mount Athos whose ill health forced him to leave his monastic community at a young age and serve as a spiritual father in the world. He was endowed with many gifts of the Holy Spirit which allowed him to provide spiritual guidance to the many faithful who came to him. The Divine Flame Elder Porphyrios Lit in My Heart is a short book recounting a series of conversations between St Porphyrios and the author, Monk Agapios, who often visited the Saint to receive spiritual counsel.

The conversations are short, often no more than a page, and they each have a clear and applicable teaching. Some of the topics discussed in the book include Prayer, the monastic life, our relationships with others, as well as stories that St Porphyrios recounts from his life on Mount Athos. St Porphyrios emphasises reading, especially studying the Fathers and the hymnology of the Church, and he frequently quotes various verses that he had memorised from the liturgical books to support his counsels to Monk Agapios.

Many times in the book, Monk Agapios reveals the clairvoyance of the Elder, who was able to spiritually experience events such as the author’s tonsure and other services, and was able to describe them, despite being physically absent. Ultimately, the book is easy to read and spiritually beneficial, and it gives insight into the saintly figure of Elder Porphyrios through his own words. The accounts of the author give an authentic impression of the Elder as a man of deep humility and simplicity, giving advice from his own experiences.

Source: Lychnos June 2018 / July 2018