Our Venerable Father Athanasios the Athonite

St. Athanasios the Athonite (Feast Day - July 5)

Saint Athanasios of Athos, in holy Baptism named Abraham, was born in the city of Trebezond. He was orphaned at an early age, and being raised by a certain good and pious nun, he imitated his adoptive mother in the habits of monastic life, in fasting and in prayer. Doing his lessons came easily and he soon outpaced his peers in study.

After the death of his adoptive mother, Abraham was taken to Constantinople, to the court of the Roman Emperor Romanos the Elder, and was enrolled as a student under the renowned rhetorician Athanasios. In a short while the student attained the mastery of skill of his teacher and he himself became an instructor of youths. Reckoning as the true life that of fasting and vigilance, Abraham led a strict and abstinent life, he slept little and then only sitting upon a stool, and barley bread and water were his nourishment. When his teacher Athanasios through human weakness became jealous of his student, blessed Abraham gave up his teaching position and went away.

Chapel of Saint Athanasios the Athonite in Tsagarada of Pelion

The Chapel of Saint Athanasios the Athonite is located at an altitude of 820 meters, surrounded by oak and chestnut trees, in the village of Tsagarada in Pelion of Thessaly.

The construction date of the chapel was September 1888 as evidenced by the inscription above the main entrance. The cost was covered by Maria Demetriou Kapetanopoulou.

The Writing Style of Saint Athanasius the Great

"I myself visited this same Abba Kosmas when he was in the Lavra of Pharan, and I stayed there for twelve years. He was talking to me once for my soul's health and mentioned something from the sayings of holy Athanasius, Archbishop of Alexandria.

'If you come across something from the works of Athanasius,' he said, 'and you haven't got any paper with you to write it down on, write it on your clothing.' This was typical of how great was the zeal which this old man had for our holy fathers and teachers."

Saint Michael Maleinos (+ 962), Spiritual Father of Saint Athanasios the Athonite

St. Michael Maleinos (Feast Day - July 12)

Verses

You lived Michael as if fleshless in life,
Now you stand next to your homonymous intelligence.

Saint Michael Maleinos was born about the year 894 in the Charsianon theme of Cappadocia, and at Baptism he received the name Manuel. He was related to the Roman Emperor Leo VI the Wise (886-911). He was the brother of general Constantine Maleinos and uncle of Nikephoros Phokas, who was greatly influenced by Michael and became Roman emperor several years after Michael's death (963-969). At age eighteen Manuel went off to Bithynia, to the Kyminas Monastery under the guidance of the Elder, John Heladites, who tonsured him into monasticism with the name Michael. Fulfilling a very difficult obedience in spite of his illustrious lineage, he demonstrated an example of great humility.

Saint Athanasios the Athonite and the Monk Who Fell Into Fornication

A brother was dispatched by Saint Athanasios to perform a certain ministration. He became careless and negligent with regard to his salvation and fell into fornication. Afterwards, he returned to the Great Lavra and confessed it to the holy man who, as an experienced physician, guided and counseled him not to despair, but to place his hopes in God.

Saint Athanasios the Athonite and the Bed-Wetting Monk

There was a monk who was a most devoted and eager ascetic and struggler, who suffered from bed-wetting. His incontinence brought him so much sorrow and affliction that the all-wicked and knavish devil suggested that the wretched one hang himself. Yet, the all-good God did not allow that ascetic to lose his labors. He motioned his heart to have confession with his elder Saint Athanasios.

Saint Athanasios the Athonite and the Scandalized Monk

The Venerable Athanasios the Athonite was a tall man, large bodied and brawny, so much that he was able to drag large logs tied with a rope, when he as abbot was building the sacred and most-revered Monastery of Great Lavra, together with the other brothers.

In the Dining Room of the Monastery, the Venerable One saw that one of the brothers observed him with reproach because, while the other brothers ate a plate of food, he was eating two.

One day the Venerable One invited this monk to sit with him, and he asked the waiter to bring them one plate of the food of the day each. The he ordered a second plate, as well as a third and a fourth. And while the Venerable One consumed one dish after another, right down to the seventh, the monk was not able to even finish the fourth.

"You see, brother," said the abbot then, "by eating two plates I abstain; for I could have eaten twelve and not just stopped at seven. Yet you were not even able to complete the fourth."

From the book The Cuisine of the Holy Mountain written by the Athonite monk Epiphanios Mylopotaminos. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

The Celebration of the Feast of St. Athanasios of Athos at Great Lavra (video)