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Elder Joseph the Hesychast and
his disciple Father Ephraim of Arizona.
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Elder Joseph
the Hesychast was
a monk and elder on Mount Athos. He reposed in 1959,
and he has wide acclaim for being the spiritual father of
Elders Ephraim of Philotheou, Joseph of Vatopedi, Charalampus of
Dionysiou and others, who are directly credited for revitalising six of the
twenty monasteries on Mount Athos.
Even the demons know quite well who Elder Joseph was!. When
exorcisms were being read over a possessed woman in Thessalonica, she began
shouting: "That Joseph! He went to Philotheou. He's protecting Philotheou
monastery, and I can't do anything to them!". Everyone who heard this,
wondered how she knew about elder Joseph and that his skull was at Philotheou.
She herself, of course, didn't know anything, but the demon inside her did!.
In 1982 Father Stephanos Anagnostopoulos in Athens was reading the
exorcism prayers for another possessed woman. He described what happened as
follows: "While I was reading the second exorcism prayer, I noetically
invoked the intercessions of Elder Joseph and my spiritual father, Elder
Ephraim. At that moment, the possessed woman began bellowing like an ox. She
began to foam at the mouth and said with groans: "It's Joseph's fault!
He's the one who gave power to the two pale Ephraims to snatch souls out of my
claws. You filthy scoundrel; you have one of them as your father and the other,
the one at the dry river, as your brother. The demon was referring to
Xeropotamou Monastery, where a disciple of Elder Ephraim(also named Ephraim)
was the abbot. Xeropotamou derives its name from the dry riverbed beside it!.
Once, a possessed man came to Saint Anthony's monastery in Arizona
for an exorcism. when we brought out the Holy relics, the demon inside him
began shouting: "You're burning me!". But Geronda's relics burned him
the most. He screamed: "I can't bear to see that Panagia of Arizona! And
that Joseph, he's the one that planned this monastery". This man was
talking about Geronda, even though he himself didn't know him!.
The devil hates Geronda. Why doesn't the devil swear at people who
have diplomas and theological degrees, but instead he has it in for this
unlettered old man who lived in obscurity?. Because Geronda is the one who
fought him and burned him with his prayers.
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| Panagia of Arizona. |
Elder Joseph has been "locally" canonized in several
places, including the Holy mountain, Greece and Romania. However, this is not
the official canonization of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. This
"local" recognition of being a saint is a prelude to the full
canonization. Archimandrite Sophrony(+1993) knew Elder Joseph well and in his
book about Saint Silouan the Athonite, Elder Joseph is one of the monks mentioned
who was granted the gift of the "Uncreated Light".
The relics of the Elder's head is kept in St.Anthony's monastery,
in Arizona(USA),while the rest of his relics are kept in the Vatopaidi
monastery. Many visitors to Athos report that his relics give off a divine
fragrance. The abbot of Vatopaidi monastery, F.Ephraim, spoke publicly in
Athens about miracles performed through the intercessions of Elder Joseph the
Hesychast, and even about miraculous appearances of him.
Saint Joseph the Hesychast pray for us..!!. Amen.
Reference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DljK5HMjhwI