On Unknown Saints and Hermits

In the kyriakon of Kafsokalyvia there is a mural of an unknown saint with the inscription "Sanctified Euphrosynos of the monastery of Iviron who has passed away." On his right hand he is holding an unfolded scroll which is inscribed "Having a simple heart and living amidst turmoil, he has slept in the Lord." He is wearing a monk's tunic, kneeling in prayer.

The biographer of St. Akakios, the Kafsokalyvitan Father Jonas, at the end of his works writes about the holy martyrs contemporary with St. Akakios: "These martyrs are like precious jewels, departed to the Lord." Such was the blessed Euphrosynos, who shone like another sun in the holy monastery of Iviron. Because he had a simple manner and was clairvoyant, he would speak figuratively and be capable of revealing anyone's hidden inner state of being.
His relics were not found in the tomb on the day set aside for their translation. And still living on Mount Athos are monks like him.

The elder Germanos, who did his ascetic labours near a Romanian elder in Chairi, one night dreamed of three worthy elders who said to him: "Be careful, we three are staying here. Do not disturb us, and tell the others not to bother us either. "

Father Germanos told this revelation to his famous spiritual father, Neophytos the Karamanlian who laboured on the Karmelion mountain, on a peak west of Kerasia in St. Basil's desert. Father Neophytus searched persistently with great zeal and desire in all the caves and deserted hermitages of the area, but could not find the holy relics of the hermits. Soon after, the three deceased ascetics revealed themselves to the Romanian elder like this:

Once as he was going toward St. Neilos' cell to receive Holy Communion , he smelled a holy fragrance, as many other fathers had previously done (including the present writer, unworthy and least of all as he is). This particular time, however, the pious ascetic Father Neophytos had the very strongest sense of the fragrance. So he decided to search for its source and prayed to the saints to show him where their holy relics lay; There was a ledge at that location. As he put aside the rocks with which the ledge was built, behind the pile of stones he saw a cave opening. It was from this place that the fragrance of myrrh was coming. He attempted to enter the cave, but was startled by a voice which said: "Do not disturb us. We are three. We used to live here. We do not wish anyone to disturb us."

The kind and pious elder blocked the opening of the cave and left praising God and those obscure saints, rare desert lilies of the Holy Mountain. He revealed the opening of the cave only to his disciple Ilarion.
The Romanian elder Gerasimos, who recounted this story,
lived on Mount Athos for forty years.

Many years ago in the hut below the central church of Kafsokalyvia, a novice from Bulgaria named lakovos was in training under obedience to a very strict Greek elder. lakovos wished to lead a greater ascetic life, and for this reason would come at night to the narthex of the church to pray beneath the icon of the Holy Trinity.

One night during a full moon, while he was praying, he heard the footsteps of a man. He carefully hid himself. Then he saw the man entering the narthex, naked and with long white hair and a very long beard. The man blessed the door of the church, which had opened by itself, with the sign of the cross. He went into the church, venerated the icons, and then exited, blessing the door again with the sign of the cross as it shut itself by divine power. Then he began to go uphill, taking the path from the skete toward Kerasia.

The novice lakovos, overwhelmed with admiration and curiosity, followed this unknown hermit quietly step by step. Soon they reached the location of the Cross, made a right turn, and followed one behind the other, taking the path leading to the top of Athos. When the hermit reached the church of Panagia, the novice quickened his step and jumped in front of him, making a prostration and pleading with him to receive him under obedience "You cannot stay here, my son," the unknown hermit replied. lakovos insisted, wetting the ground with his tears.

"Return to your elder, be obedient, and you will be saved. No one can endure this place without having divine grace, and you should also know that you will soon die." lakovos went back, told his elder all that had happened, went to his confessor, prepared himself for his departure, and three weeks later fell asleep in the Lord.

It has been said that during the translation of his relics, a fragrance was sensed coming from them.
It was fifty years ago when the following event took place. A devout pilgrim from Crete started out to visit Mount Athos to see his cousin, Father Euthymios, a hesychast who lived in a hut situated at the southern end of the monastery of Little St. Anne's. From the dock of St. Anne's he started walking through unfamiliar paths, rocky cliffs and ravines until he reached the location called Hunger (Pena). There was a dead end. He was forced to continue by climbing up until finally, with great difficulty, he reached the hesychasts' place of the Archangels, the location where the Cretan Agapios Landos wrote The Salvation of Sinners. From that point, he reached his relative's hut.

When he had caught his breath, and after such an adventure was received with hospitality, he said to Father Euthymios: "Cousin, tell me when you are going to bury the body I saw up there on the cliffs in a cave? I would like to witness how a burial is done on Mount Athos."

When Father Euthymios heard about the dead man in the cave he, along with his cousin and the elder Kyprianos the Goldsmith, started to search the entire area inch by inch; but they did not find anything. Only around sunset did they smell a fragrance of incense coming from the direction of the cliffs, an aroma which Father Kyprianos had smelled before.

In the meantime the pilgrim told his story: "Next to this tree was the cave. I entered, and there on his death bed a reverend elder was sleeping. In the beginning I did not realize that he was dead. Then I came closer and saw that he had a cross on his head; next to him was an icon of the Mother of God and a lit lamp. I crossed myself, bowed three times and smelled incense. I left thinking that you had no time to bury him that day."

In the year 1977-78 the dikaios of the St. Anne's Skete was Monk Kyrillos. During the month of September he received as a guest a Lebanese Orthodox Christian, a refugee to Greece because of the war in Lebanon

This devout Lebanese had a strong desire to climb to the top of Athos. So early in the morning, with directions given by the dikaios, he began his long and exhausting ascent. On the same day during the evening, he returned to the skete's kyriakon. The following day after the Divine Liturgy, he was able with the little Greek he knew to relate the following marvellous incident:
In the location known as Babyla, below the mountain peak where the great slope begins, he stopped to rest for a moment and then continued climbing. While he was searching for a place to rest, suddenly he saw in front of him a house out of which two venerable hermits came. As soon as they saw him, they welcomed him and gave him fresh figs, which had a flavour and sweetness that he found impossible to describe, and cool water. His fatigue disappeared completely.

He also saw ten more respectable monks in the hut, each of whom was leaning on a curved "lazy stick" and praying with a prayer rope. They replied to his questions that they had been living there for a long time and did nothing else but pray for the entire world.
All these things and more filled the pilgrim with astonishment and admiration. He said that they were all of the same age. When the dikaios and the others heard, they were surprised and gave praise to God for his wonders through his saints.

In the area between the Great Lavra and Kafsokalyvia, a long time ago there lived an aged monk named Panaretos. At one time he decided to start a garden in front of his hut in order both to get some exercise and to receive comfort in the inconsolable desert from the supply of garden vegetables.

After toiling and sweating for many days, digging that rocky spot, he hit a flat stone. He lifted it with great effort and there he saw a tomb with a body in it, dressed in the holy robes of a priest, as if it had been buried yesterday. This body was emitting a wonderful fragrance. Father Panaretos had been an ascetic there for over fifty years, but he had never heard about the life or death of any famous solitary like the one in the tomb.
After his first shock, he began to cry, praying: "Saint of God, reveal to me who you are and how many years you have lived in this desolate place. I thank you for revealing your sainthood to me, the unworthy."

Father Panaretos, devout elder that he was, remained awake all night long, praying and contemplating, because he planned to report his finding to the holy monastery of Great Lavra. Early in the morning, though, after he fell asleep, he dreamed of the unknown saint who spoke to him sternly:
"What are you contemplating doing, Abba?" "Saint of God, I thought to notify the monastery of Lavra to come and take you, for you are forgotten and neglected here" he replied, stricken with terror.
"We did not do our ascetic labours together, so why are you transferring my body? I strived here for more than fifty years. Put me back, please. Place the tombstone on the grave and you will not reveal anything to anyone during your lifetime."

Elder Panaretos woke up, covered the tomb, and felt better. He always prayed to this unknown saint. After he became quite old and came to live in Kafsokalyvia, just before his passing, he told the fathers what had happened without revealing the location or other details.

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