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| Saint Joseph the Hesychast. |
Elder Sophrony of Essex heard about Elder
Joseph and found him on his own. Elder Sophrony visited him frequently because
he had great reverence for him. He later said that Elder Joseph was one of the
greatest ascetics of the Holy Mountain he had ever met. In a letter of his,
Elder Sophrony wrote the following about their meeting: “I wanted to hear the
words of this bearer of great grace. He spoke to me primarily about the
hesychastic life of a hermit and that he himself had seen the Uncreated Light
several times. My discussion with Geronda left a deep impression on me.... I
had the impression that I had in front of me a spiritual general.” Indeed, he
was “the teacher”—which is what pious monks of the wilderness of the Holy Mountain would call him out of reverence and
respect.
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| Saint Sophrony the Athonite. |
“Their hut was extremely isolated from the
other hermits so that they would have greater stillness. It was built with
large rocks and had very tiny, narrow rooms. That evening, Elder Joseph let me
sleep in a stone ‘sack’—the room of his brother Athanasios. Its dimensions were
about three feet by five feet. I have a small body and managed to sleep on a
tiny bed in there by stretching out my legs and resting my feet on a box that
was in a hole in the wall. In the morning, Elder Joseph led me to a slope
facing the sea quite far from their common hut where he had built a tiny hut
for himself for more stillness. It was barely large enough for him to stretch
out his feet inside. It had only one window, which he used also as a door.”
Reference:
https://orthochristian.com/125493.html
Reference:
https://orthochristian.com/125493.html