On Having No Possessions, and Voluntary Poverty


Beneath the tattered clothing and destitute appearance of the ascetics lie a wealth of hidden virtues, as well as a spirit which is contemptuous against, and victorious over the materialistic world. Within their forced deprivation and hardship is a treasure of humility and the visible philoso¬phy of life according to Christ.
True ascetics pursue this appearance: they do not wear new clothes, receive no money and deny themselves the pleasures of life. Their self-denial follows the teachings of the Eternal One: "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23). They do not pay attention to appearances, particularly to the outer shell—to beautiful clothes, shoes, face, hair and body. Attention is focussed on substance and the depth of the inner man, the adornment of mind and heart with uncreated loveliness, heavenly brightness and divine beauty.
The hermit Peter the Hosiopetritan had such a spiritual beauty—"not only meek in spirit but poor in body as well." This we were told by the reverend elder Gerasimos the Hymnographer, by the Danielites, by the Thomasites, by our reverend elder Paisios, and by Elder loakim and others.
Peter was a simple and primitive soul, tall in spirit and short in stature (for which reason he was called Petrakis— "little Peter"). He would climb Athos to collect mountain tea to sell along with the prayer ropes he had made to earn a living. At one time he was offered extra money but he refused to have any of it.
He had such gentleness and spiritual nobility such love and simple manner, that he once walked for many hours to the hut of a monk who requested to be under his obedi¬ence, to inform him: "I came to tell you not to trouble your¬self by coming to St. Peter's cave where I live, because I am going to die." When the other monk inquired about what he could offer him, Peter asked only for some boiled water in which he placed some of his mountain tea, added a bit of sugar which he kept in another pouch, and drank. For him, one kilogram of sugar was enough for the entire year and there was always some left for the following year.
At one time when he paid a visit to Elder loakim in Karyes when it was getting dark, the elder asked him to spend the night. "I am going to the monastery of Xeropotamou," he replied. "I will walk until dark, then rest under a chestnut tree until dawn."
That is what he did. That night, though, it poured tor¬rential rain. He was soaked through his clothes and caught a bad cold. He returned to his hut to say goodbye to all his neighbours. Shortly afterwards, he fell asleep in the Lord
There used to be a father confessor in Karyes, Father Germanos, who lived in a kavian, a room with a kitchen where the laymen stayed. There the monks who wanted to fight sleepiness while praying would suspend themselves by ropes, the "kavia." For this reason they were called Kaviotes. In this place Father Germanos received guests and work¬men from around the world for counselling and confessions. He offered his hospitality to all, fed them, and strength¬ened their life in Christ. He possessed nothing to such an extent that by sunset he did not want even a paras.'
An elder named Makarios had absolutely no possessions. He used a tool called a "kossa" to harvest greens and sell them to feed animals. He would not accept any gifts. He liked to be self-sufficient. His little dwelling sparkled with cleanliness and good order. He said, "Here on Mount Athos, we need two eyes to see with. But in the outside world you need four. ..."
Elder Niphon, who lived in Katounakia, loved festivities and had a delightful habit during the celebration of any feast: he would pay his respects to someone's house by al¬ways extending his blessings and good wishes.

Two hermits who were brothers, Orestis and Konstantine, lived in an almost empty hut. Konstantine, who reposed in the Lord at Krya Nera, was the embodiment of poverty. He never wore shoes in either summer or winter.
Two famous hermits, Sophronios and Gabriel, lived in the hesychastic cell Gioannakopoula. Also a Romanian ascetic lived in the Nativity cave where he led an angelic life. He did no craft but spent his entire life in prayer with a prayer rope. He lived entirely on the fathers' charity.
In the cave of St. Peter the Athonite, where even the mere presence of a person would interrupt the solitude, there once lived a totally impoverished hermit. He went about wearing no shoes throughout the entire year. He led a carefree life, not having even an axe or a pair of pruning shears. He did his obedience under Father Daniel, a visionary hesychast. If someone brought them some chick peas or dry bread, a few fava beans or a bit of fish, only then did he have something to eat.

There were several pious fathers who lived in Kerasia over time. Among them were Elder Kosmas (who was nicknamed "the garlic man" and who had a hesychastic cell in the for¬est), Father Neophytos, Elder Daniel the Romanian, and Father John, who was the elder of Father Daniel. They de¬voted their whole life to ceaseless prayer and other spiritual endeavours. When their relics were translated, they had a yellow, waxy appearance, a sign of sanctification. They ran the race with force and with constant prayer to Jesus.
Holy Dionysios of Olympus was born at the end of the fif¬teenth century at Platina of Trikala. Prior to the construc¬tion of the monastery of the Holy Trinity, he lived on Mount Athos where he loved and practiced the hesychastic life. In a small hut belonging to Karakalou he lived a life of angelic fasting, all-night vigils, and prayer. He fed. only on a few chestnuts each day, and those only after the ninth hour.
He was so poor, this blessed one, that he never locked his door. He owned nothing but a worthless, tattered raso. He stayed there only three years, praying to God. He never ac¬quired any material possessions, even to the time he came to be called by God to depart for heaven.
The spiritual father lakovos from Vigla used to say: "Look upon my humility and struggle, and forgive all my sins." He devoted himself entirely to hardship and ascetic labours. He used to carry sand on foot for five hours at a time, from the shoreline to where he built his chapel.

Only God knows how hermit Dionysios, a fool for Christ's sake, maintained himself and where he found oil to burn in the lamps in his hut. The main reason for this was that he had never asked for charity. Only near the end of his life did he accept any. He arrived on Athos in 1842 and reposed in 1880. So much did he desire to be a non-possessor, to have a carefree life and poverty, that he was almost kicked out of Lavra for not taking care of his Holy Apostles cell in Kerasia. His vineyard and orchard were full of weeds. All this man's efforts were directed toward the tending of another kind of field: the one where spiritual vigilance is cultivated and maintained.
His name was lakovos. He came from Chimara of Northern Hiperos, and he had served the country during the war of 1912. With immense effort and sacrifice, he had built and dedicated a church in honour of the Three Hierarchs. He was destitute, and his hut consisted of one room only. For a mattress he used a bale of hay. He also kept another one, in the event of the rare visitor's staying overnight. A cape was his blanket, and in the morning he would stow his straw bed in a corner. Usually he ate only greens and dry bread.
. * * *
Elder Chrysostomos was an innocent and possessionless hermit. Wearing no shoes, he struggled ascetically in the cave of Holy Peter the Athonite. His food was chestnuts, greens, and dry bread.
I met also another one who was indeed a Chrysostomos because of his sweet utterances and Christ-like meekness. He lived in a barren hut in Kafsokalyvia's skete. I met him one time while I was with my elder who was his contempo¬rary and had learned the craft of woodcarving in that bar- ren hut. This is mentioned in his book Memoriesfrom Panagia's Garden.
What can one say about the ascetic elder Georgios who resided in the tiny Lavriotan kathisma of St. Konstantine? He dressed in a tattered robe, went barefoot, and always prayed in a standing position, like a continually burning oil lamp. He had only a wooden stool for sitting or sleeping. Such was Elder Georgios.


Like two lonely birds, peaceful together, were the hermits Antonios and Simeon. They had come originally from Ath¬ens. One took care of the household and the other of the garden, for which he had to bring water from far away. They lived on very little. They never spoke evil of anyone. Their hut was a small, simple one near the monastery of Pantokratoros, and it resembled a bird's nest.
Simeon died first; a few years later Antonios followed, approximately one hundred years old. After Simeon died, Antonios had struggled to endure loneliness. So they took him to live in the monastery of Koutloumousiou to be looked after, but for only a short time; for soon he returned to his beloved hut, dragging his feet and bent over almost to the ground, but nevertheless happy and rejoicing. Finally he was delivered from his ascetic labours and voluntary depriva¬tion. Because he had had no one to dig up his relics after the customary three years in the ground, he appeared to many, pleading with them and persuading them to do so.
One monk in a cenobitic monastery lived for sixty years in the same raso that he had worn on the day of his tonsure.

A proven athlete of poverty, simplicity and deprivation was Elder Kallinikos, a Cypriot who did his ascetic labours with his brother Gregorios in St. Anne's Skete. He continued his ascetic endeavours in Stavrovounion on Cyprus. At his re¬pose he left behind only a rotten mattress infested with bed¬bugs, a wooden box full of mites and stuffed with rags, suit¬able only for firewood, a pair of shoes mended a thousand times, and two or three forgotten paras in a wooden box.
To those gathered around, the elder's natural brother, Hegumen Barnabas, said with tears in his eyes: "Look, Fa¬thers, at Kallinikos' wealth which he acquired during his life as a monk. Truly 'A monk is the one who possesses noth¬ing during his present life on earth, except Christ Himself."
Bishop Hierotheos of Militoupolis, who stayed in the hut of St. Eleftherios at Anne's Skete, owned absolutely noth¬ing. In addition to all the other virtues he had of self-con¬trol, patience, and meekness, he was also particularly known for his love toward destitute monks, to whom he distrib¬uted every bit of his monthly income. He fell asleep in the Lord at the age of eighty-eight.


In the hermitage of Elder Neophytos nothing else could be found but a bag full of dry bread. Only on weekends would he visit the Danielites, who were and still are a comfort in the desert, to eat with them at their trapeza. Then he would vanish for the whole week. It was rumoured that when he fell asleep in the Lord at the monastery of Lavra, his coun¬tenance shone.

Elder A., of the holy cell of Saint Charalambros in Karyes, was so poor that he wore no other raso but the one which belonged to his elder.
Elder Nektarios from Romania lived above the skete of St. Anne near the hut named for St. Artemios, which belonged to the monastery of St. Panteleimon. He never left Mount Athos from the time he was tonsured. He was poor, having absolutely no possessions. He sold to the other fathers sticks which he had cut for use with climbing bean plants. Near the end of his life he spent his entire days in total solitude and prayer.
Elder Chrysanthos of St. Anne's recounted that after the repose of the pious elder Chariton of St Anne's, the only thing found in his hut was a clay urn for water.


Father Avvakoum from the day of his tonsure to the day of his death went barefoot, with only one exception: on the feast day of St. Athanasios of Athos he would put shoes on.

The ever memorable Father Auxentios the Gregoriatan was never seen wearing new clothes. He wore mended undershirts, and he owned one pair of shoes which he put on while he was within the monastery. At other times he went barefoot everywhere — along all the roads and paths and rocks of Mount Athos. His bed was a wooden bench; he had a small table and some simple icons above his bed; and there were only a few utensils on his shelf, the only interior decorations of his cell.
Crippled Michael the Lavriotan had nothing in his cell, ab¬solutely no possessions. The day he reposed he received the same honours as a bishop. His face shone and had a yellow, waxy appearance.
An elder with no possessions said: "There was a little aged monk who led a simple life. He owned nothing. This is the way a person can be free. All the things that we today call conveniences, even a tiny sponge, can be a hindrance. The only convenience for anyone is to simplify his life, to limit himself to what is absolutely necessary. Only then can he be free."




Poor hermit Anatolios, who died in 1938, earned his living by gathering mountain tea and wild flowers at Athos' moun¬tain top. They would ask him, "Don't you endanger your¬self climbing on the ravines and cliffs?"
He would reply: "Not at all, Blessed Ones. I fasten my¬self with ropes. I am used to it because before I became a monk 1 used to be a sailor."
He lived near the kyriakon of Holy Cross in Kafsokalyvia Skete. He was one of the most destitute and most pious of monks. He used to ask the skete's miller for the milled flour which was unsuitable for use, containing as it did sand from the mill stones. On days of the week when oil was allowed, he would eat food mixed with oil which he measured with a small saucer. Into this oil he dipped an onion or a piece of bread. What an ascetic race he ran with dignity and perse¬verance! He ate cooked food only when he was invited as a guest.
He loved the icon of the Crucifixion, before which he offered his tearful and ceaseless prayers, and frequently from the icon itself would flow tears. He also revered Panagia greatly. At night when lying on his bed, turned on one side and until he fell asleep, he would chant with all his might "It is truly fitting to bless you." He knew very little music but with a deep, loud voice would chant this hymn in the second tone, the one in which the Archangel had originally sung it to the Mother of God. Often he could sing it up to ten times a night. His obedient subordinate at first was both¬ered by it, but later got used to it.
Any time he went to Karyes to sell his tea, he would go to the cell called Axion Esti, which is named for the magni¬fication of the Theotokos and in honour of the appearance of the Archangel to her when the hymn was first sung. After he venerated the icon, he chanted the hymn to the Theotokos with great piety. While he was chanting, the oil lamp would sway. The fathers thought that this occurred because of his thunderous voice. He then went to the narthex to sing. And again the lamp would sway. When the other fathers sang, the lamp remained motionless.
These are wonders worth mentioning, worked by such a simple and child-like soul, in which dwelt the grace of the Lord Who is "great in His will and marvellous in His works."

Elder Theophylaktos, also worth mentioning, lived in the skete of Xenophontos as an obedient monk. He kept God in his heart, and God looked after him. He came from a wealthy family, but he left behind the vain and pleasurable things of this world and placed himself under obedience to the simple elder Kosmas. His mother wanted to send him a
hundred lira at that time, but he refused it.
While praying he always stood up throughout the night.
His countenance was like that of an angel.
Elder Euthymios lived in the same skete in a small goat pen hut named for the Holy Archangels. In the centre of his hut he used to hang a big sack filled with dry bread, the food he ate all through his life.
A hermit said: "Fast, vigilance, and prayer: anyone who prac¬tices these virtues can succeed in anything. One should lead a simple life. You see my hut is empty. In any household only the necessary things should be there. Too many things are a hindrance to the spiritual life."
New Skete's ever memorable elder Theophylaktos reposed in the Lord peacefully in the year 1986. He was a simple, humble, guileless monk, enduring all trials and tribulations coming from either men or Satan. Near the end of his life he lost his sight, but he never complained about his blind¬ness.
He was particularly known for his apostolic lack of pos¬sessions and his carefree attitude in relation to the material things which are needed for sustenance. He cared neither for an occupation nor for money. He unceasingly prayed and thanked God for everything. He did his obedience un¬der blessed loakim Spetsieris (of whom he spoke frequently to me, the least of all). Later on he became a student of Elder Joseph the cave-dweller.
Before the loss of his sight, his obedience tasks were to distribute all mail for the skete, and to light the oil lamps for all the prayer stands, which he visited twice a day, no matter what the weather conditions were.

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