Venerable Ephraim the God-seer: The Mysteries of the Spiritual Life According to Saint Ephraim of Katounakia

 

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

On a few occasions I had the great blessing from God to talk [with Papa-Ephraim of Katounakia] about matters of the spiritual life. He had read some of my books and wanted to reveal to me various obscure aspects, of the many, from the lives of the deified saints, so that I could write about them for the benefit of the brethren. I remember with nostalgia a unique day when Papa-Ephraim opened his heart and told me about the mysteries of the spiritual life. He told me about the importance and results of the tears of repentance, that all reasoning is cleansed by tears, that tears have nothing to do with the vision of God, since, when man sees the uncreated Light, tears cease; about the experience he had of the vision of God, when he saw three Lights, Lights which flooded the whole space of his cell and embraced him; about the posture of the body during the vision and so much more.

"When I Went to the Cave of Bethlehem, My Heart Broke There" (St. Ephraim of Katounakia)

By Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol

I remember the Elder, Saint Ephraim Katounakiotis, saying:

"I was moved everywhere in the Holy Land, but when I went to the Cave of Bethlehem, my heart broke there! It became a thousand pieces! And I said: how was God born in this place, in this cave, without consolation, cast out, outside of the city? This God, who could have done anything for Himself, and yet silently, away from all worldliness, in one night, the coldest night of the year, the longest night of the year, in a completely despised space, the One who created everything - heaven and earth - He was born in that space!

Katerina Derba, an Ascetic of the World (2 of 3)

...continued from part two.

Her Spiritual Work

Katerina lived an intense spiritual life, guided by patristic books, as if she were being taught by God. But she had good anxiety and was afraid of being misled. She told Fr. Methodios, a hieromonk she knew that would frequently go to Mount Athos, if an Athonite clairvoyant Elder was manifested, to take her to him to be counseled. When Papa-Ephraim Katounakiotis suffered a concussion and went to the hospital, she went to see him with Fr. Methodios. The Elder saw her in particular and, while many were waiting outside, he held her back and said to her: "Eldress, say more." He looked at her in amazement and with admiration repeated: "Eldress, say more." The Eldress told him: "I came here to ask and listen, not to speak." And the Elder said to her: “You will continue in this way. Do not be afraid. I will pray for you." He held her for over an hour, while the others waited outside and knocked on the door; he said to Fr. Methodios in particular: "The Eldress will repose in a few years." When he later went to Papa-Ephraim, he said to him again: "The Eldress will repose in a year. She will be the first in Paradise, in front of many Athonites. I have never seen such a soul in my life, nor could I imagine that there is such a soul in the world. It is a soul that has lived theology in practice and has transcended all spiritual stages. This grandmother with her simplicity, with her inner communion with God through prayer, with her great humility and her thirst and longing for Christ, reached such measures and she did not need to live in asceticism in a monastery. I will pray for her, but tell her to pray for me too."

Explanations and Clarifications of Ecclesiastical History and the Deontology of the Ukrainian Issue (Part 12)

 ...continued from part eleven.

* By the late Germanos Verykopoulos, a Bishop of the Old Calendarists, was ordained the late Elder Ephraim of Katounakia, a submissive of two zealots of Mount Athos, but of the stature of the venerable Joseph the Hesychast. In the 42 years of his priestly life, he always saw with his sense of sight divine Grace cover over the Holy Gifts (only once he did not see it). When, with the help of God, they returned to communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate and commemorated the Patriarch, he began to see more clearly this mystery of the perceptible presence of divine Grace. Previously, as long as he was attached to the zealots, he saw it dimly, as he himself said and catechized.

"The Bridal Chamber of Your Soul" (St. Ephraim of Katounakia)

A brother, distressed, approached Saint Ephraim of Katounakia (1912–1998), and begged him: "Elder, say a prayer for me for my sorrow to go away!" The Elder put his hands on his head and prayed, as usual.

Then the Elder said to him:
     
"Listen, my child. These days in my prayer God has revealed to me the 'bridal chamber' of my soul; as the troparion of Holy Week says: 'I see Your Bridal Chamber adorned, O my Savior, and I have no wedding garment that I may enter therein.' Moreover, He revealed to me the 'garment' of my soul."

The Elder's face as he said these words was overjoyed.

And he continued again:
     
"My child, ask God to show you the 'bridal chamber' of your soul!" 

Saint Ephraim of Katounakia Resource Page

 

St. Ephraim of Katounakia (Feast Day - February 27)

Verses

 
Obedience, prayer and harsh training,
In these you excelled, O Ephraim, in Katounakia.

 

Synaxarion of Saint Ephraim of Katounakia

 

Blessed Elder Ephraim Katounakiotis (+ February 27, 1998)

 

Elder Ephraim of Katounakia  (+ February 27, 1998)

 

Venerable Father Ephraim of Katounakia in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church
 

Venerable Ephraim the God-seer: The Mysteries of the Spiritual Life According to Saint Ephraim of Katounakia

 

Elder Ephraim of Katounakia (Documentary)

The Skull and Grave of Saint Ephraim of Katounakia

 

Monk Moses the Athonite on Contemporary Elders

 

Athonite Neo-Hesychast Fathers (3 of 3)  

"When I Went to the Cave of Bethlehem, My Heart Broke There" (St. Ephraim of Katounakia)

 

A Stunning Revelation About Saint John the Baptist to Saint Gerasimos Mikragiannanitis

 

Even Great Saints Have Human Needs

 

Select Sayings of Saint Ephraim of Katounakia

 

"Impartial Judge" (Saint Ephraim of Katounakia)

"The Bridal Chamber of Your Soul"

 

A Theologian Is One Who Converses With God 

 

Lay People and the Prayer of the Heart (St. Ephraim of Katounakia) 

 

Elder Ephraim Katounakiotis: On the Priesthood (1)

Elder Ephraim Katounakiotis: On the Priesthood (2)

 

Saint Joseph the Hesychast Explains Why an Icon "Spoke" to Saint Ephraim of Katounakia

Two Holy Fathers on the Calendar Issue: Elder Ephraim of Katounakia and Elder Joseph the Hesychast

 

The Ecumenism That Stinks 

 

Rotting Like A Tomato  

A Prayer to the Panagia by Saint Ephraim of Katounakia for a Group of Children That Visited Him in 1993

 

Orthodox Christian Youth and Suicide (St. Ephraim of Katounakia)

 

The Theotokos as a Harbor 

 

Seek Patience, Not Deliverance (St. Ephraim of Katounakia)

The Dream of Elder Ephraim of Katounakia

 

A Letter of Elder Ephraim of Katounakia To A Monk Suffering With Cancer

 

Elder Ephraim Katounakiotis Relates A Miracle of Saint Paraskevi  

 

Saint Nektarios and the Nun Who Was Noetically in Church (St. Ephraim of Katounakia)

 

Elder Ephraim of Katounakia on Saint George of Karslides

 

When Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Met Saint Ephraim of Katounakia

 

Upcoming Canonizations of Orthodox Elders 

 

Ecumenical Patriarch Announces the Canonization of Four 20th Century Athonite Elders  

Three Athonite Fathers - Joseph the Hesychast, Ephraim of Katounakia and Daniel of Katounakia - Officially Canonized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate

 

Official Announcement of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Regarding the Canonization of the Three New Athonite Saints 

 

Synaxarion of Saint Ephraim of Katounakia

 

By Dr. Haralambos Boussias

 

Synaxarion

 
On this day [February 27th], the commemoration of our Venerable and God-bearing Father Ephraim, who just now lived in asceticism in Katounakia.
 
Verses

 
Obedience, prayer and harsh training,
In these you excelled, O Ephraim, in Katounakia.

Our Venerable and God-bearing Father Ephraim, who lived in asceticism in Katounakia of Athos in a God-pleasing manner, was born on December 6th, 1912 in Ampelochorio of Thebes. A child of parents with four children, John and Victoria Papanikitas, he received in holy baptism the name Evangelos.

The Skull and Grave of Saint Ephraim of Katounakia

In 1996 our Venerable Father Ephraim of Katounakia suffered a stroke and was left immobile until he reposed in the Lord on February 27, 1998. Having lived 65 years on the Holy Mountain, he was buried in the gardens of his cell at the Hut of Saint Ephraim the Syrian in Katounakia, in a grave he had dug with his own hands. His grace-filled skull is kept in the church of the same Hut.

 

Katounakia

 

Hut of Saint Ephraim the Syrian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rotting Like A Tomato

 

By Dr. Konstantinos Vardakas

Years ago a friend of mine went to his today well-known Elder, Venerable Ephraim of Katounakia, and asked him a question:

"Elder, it has been suggested to me to get involved in politics. What do you think? Do I have your blessing?"

And the always meek Saint answered him:

When Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Met Saint Ephraim of Katounakia

It was the year 1989 (from 22 October till 3 November), when a three-member Patriarchal Exarchy, under the late Metropolitan Maximos of Stavroupoleos, which included Metropolitan Bartholomew of Philadelphia (later Ecumenical Patriarch) and Metropolitan Athanasios of Elenoupolis (later Metropolitan of Chalcedon) visited Mount Athos, with the purpose of establishing the Brotherhood of the Monastery of Vatopaidi.

Official Announcement of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Regarding the Canonization of the Three New Athonite Saints

On Monday, 9 March 2020, there gathered, under the presidency of His Most Divine All-Holiness, the Holy and Sacred Synod in their programmed three-day working session.

After the reading of the Minutes of the preceding session, the endorsement of the order was signed.

More precisely, the Holy and Sacred Synod, accepting the recommendation of the Regular Committee, included in the List of Saints of the Orthodox Church the blessed Hagiorite Elders who in many ways are full of grace by God and are recognized for their venerable life and conduct:

Three Athonite Fathers - Joseph the Hesychast, Ephraim of Katounakia and Daniel of Katounakia - Officially Canonized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate

Today, Monday 9 March 2020, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate officially numbered among the Saints of the Orthodox Church a beloved and very influential Athonite Father of the 20th century - Elder Joseph the Hesychast.

We are also informed that the Holy Synod is moving forward with officially including Elders Ephraim of Katounakia and Daniel of Katounakia among the Saints as well.

When the news was brought to the attention of Vatopaidi Monastery on Mount Athos after the completion of Compline, they began to joyfully ring their bells and chanted a dismissal hymn (apolytikion) to each of the three new Saints of the Orthodox Church, which can be heard below (first is to Elder Joseph, then Elder Daniel, then Elder Ephraim).

This is in fulfillment of a promise made by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to the Athonite Fathers upon his visit to Mount Athos on 20 October of 2019. He has already fulfilled his promised of canonizing Saint Sophrony of Essex.

Ecumenical Patriarch Announces the Canonization of Four 20th Century Athonite Elders

This morning, 20 October 2019, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew announced during his sermon at the Protaton Church in Karyes of Mount Athos, the canonization of four Athonite Elders beloved throughout the Orthodox world: Hieronymos of Simonopetra (+ 1957), Daniel of Katounakia (+ 1929), Joseph the Hesychast (+ 1959) and Ephraim of Katounakia (+ 1998).

Elder Ephraim of Katounakia (Documentary)

Elder Ephraim of Katounakia was one of the greatest and most memorable elders of the twentieth century. He was a giant of Athonite hesychasm, renowned for his obedience and his gifts of clairvoyance. The Elder began his life on Athos in 1933 at Katounakia, the desert of Mount Athos, and remained there until his repose in 1998. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1936. Even though he did not live in the brotherhood of Elder Joseph the Hesychast, Elder Ephraim was wholeheartedly devoted to Elder Joseph.

The Theotokos as a Harbor

By Metropolitan Seraphim of Kastoria

The popular Salutations Service, that is chanted during the period of Holy and Great Lent, gives us all the opportunity of communicating with Heaven through prayer and seeking divine mercy, of which we have so much need.

If we ought always to pray, if prayer must be our every breath in our lives, this should especially be true during the period of fasting. This is why the God-bearing Fathers of the Church link prayer with fasting, stressing that through fasting, vigil and prayer people receive heavenly graces.1

It also gives us the opportunity to communicate with the Most Holy Theotokos. For us she is the Mother of Christ, as well as our own mother.

The Ecumenism That Stinks

There are various forms of ecumenism, some more acceptable than others. This should be kept in mind when reading the narration of Elder Ephraim of Katounakia below, to whom was revealed that an ecumenism that betrays Orthodoxy by only stressing the common elements between confessions while not acknowledging differences, is in fact an ecumenism that stinks.

Athonite Neo-Hesychast Fathers (3 of 3)

...continued from part two.

Elder Daniel the Katounakiotis from Smyrna (+ 1929) had as beloved saints John Climacus and Isaac the Ascetic, as well as the Kollyvades. After living as a monastic in the Monasteries of Saint Panteleimon and Vatopaidi, he went to the very pleasant Katounakia, where he gave himself over to asceticism, study and the prayer. Poverty became his wealth and quietness his friend and the occasion for spiritual gladness. The external silence became internal and he cultivated the garden of a good heart with the prayer of Jesus, which filled him with joy. His correspondence with holy figures and writers indisputably reveal his divine illumination and grace, his discernment and wisdom, such as his letter to a monk about noetic prayer, where he demonstrates his patristic knowledge, the acquisition of the prayer, discernment and insight.

Blessed Elder Ephraim Katounakiotis (+ February 27, 1998)

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

On the night of the 26th to 27th of February [1998] according to the new calendar there reposed in the Lord at holy Mount Athos, the Holy Mountain, "that revered place, the dwelling place of virtue", as Saint Gregory Palamas calls it, a sanctified and fragrant flower from the Garden of the Panagia, and even from the garden of the wilderness of the Holy Mountain, Papa Ephraim of Katounakia.

It was slow for the repose of this blessed and holy Elder to become known, because Papa Ephraim belonged to the category of those monks who did not seek to be promoted, but he remained within the mystery of silence, which is the biggest boast for those who can understand the Spirit. Unfortunately, the modern science of communication is concerned with people who live within the system of informed public opinion, while it ignores heroic figures who live in the freedom of the spirit, since they became exempted from the law of corruption and createdness.

The Dream of Elder Ephraim of Katounakia

In a dream I saw that I went to my village, where I was born.

I didn't go to my paternal home, but I went to the church.

Upcoming Canonizations of Orthodox Elders

May 6, 2014

Agioritiko Vima

Elders Paisios, Iakovos Tsalikes, Amphilochios, Ephraim of Katounakia and Sophrony of Essex are sure to be included in the diptychs of the Church. This has entered the conscious of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, according to a Hierarch of the Ecumenical Throne to Agioritiko Vima.