Elder Ephraim of Arizona Born in Volos, Greece in 1927 on the eve of the nativity of St John the Baptist, Elder Ephraim was given the name Ioannis and raised with a deep love for God. At the age of nineteen with nothing more than his mother’s blessing he left home for the Holy Mountain. Upon his arrival at Mt Athos, St John the Baptist appeared to Elder Joseph the Hesychast informing him that he was entrusting him with a lamb called little Ioannis. He remained in Elder Joseph’s care for twelve years. Ephraim followed a stricter ascetical life than [...]

St Gabriel Urgebadze St Gabriel was born in 1929 at Tbilisi, Georgia, which was governed by the Soviet Union. The young Goderdzi Urgebadze was dedicated in prayer from his childhood and pursued an ascetical life beyond his years, piously enduring ongoing attacks from demons. When at the age of 12 his mother requested him to prioritise family over faith, he left home and roamed from monastery to monastery. He eventually returned home and completed his compulsory military service in 1949. Following this, he continued with his ascetical labours and at the age of 26, in 1955, was ordained presbyter and [...]

Elder Cleopa of Romania (1912-1998) Elder Cleopa was born Constantin Ilie in Sulița, Romania in 1912 into a pious family. Uninterested in the things of the world from a young age, he entered the monastery of Sihastria together with two of his brothers at the age of seventeen. He was tonsured with the name of Cleopa in 1937. Against his will, he became abbot of Sihastria in 1942 at the age of thirty. He was not abbot for long when the political situation worsened in Romania with the rise of communism. He was repeatedly arrested by the secret police, and [...]

Elder Gervasios Paraskevopoulos Abbot Holy Monastery of Saint Anthony the Great Yet another holy elder who was a spiritual child of St Nectarios of Aegina is elder Gervasios of Patra. He was instrumental in reviving, with much zeal, the Orthodox faith among young and old. In 1923, he founded the first catechetical schools of Patra. His students numbered in the thousands. “I remember him”, writes Professor Panagiotis Trembelas, “surrounded by a multitude of children … with what patience, what approachability, with how much love and calmness he stood!” He paid great attention to the girls because he believed that the [...]

Elder Placide Deseille Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Saint Anthony the Great Archimandrite Père Placide Deseille was an outstanding and inspiring French cleric and theologian who was renowned for his intelligence, his consistency and his modesty. He was born on 16 April 1926 in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France. At the age of 16 he became a monk at the Roman Catholic Cistercian monastery of Bellefontaine. In 1966 he founded a Byzantine-rite monastery in Aubazine en Corrèze, together with some monastic friends. Because of his broad education, he directed the publication «Sources Chretiennes», publishing the Holy Fathers of the Church. After a [...]