Once, when we were at New Skete, we were hosting a
Catholic monk who had come to Mt. Athos to learn more about how the monks
live, the ascetic life and the general polity of Mt. Athos. We told him about
Elder Porphyrios and when he went to Athens he went to meet him. When Elder
Porphyrios saw him, without asking him anything, he began to describe this
monk’s monastery in Italy and their way of life there. He even described a
neighboring convent. He saw all the monks and nuns there and mentioned each one
of them in specific detail. The monk was literally dumbfounded because it was
the first time in his life that he had met such a man. When he returned to Mt.
Athos, he told us, “If someone had told me about these things; that he had seen
and heard these things, I would never believe it. How is it possible for this
person who lives in Greece to describe our monastery in Northern Italy in
detail, to tell me all those details, to tell me about the monks, to tell me
about the nuns, each one of them individually?” As this monk told us, when he
asked Elder Porphyrios how he was able to see all these things, he answered
him: “God’s grace reveals the mysteries to us, the Orthodox.”
Joannidis, Klitos . Elder Porphyrios Testimonies
and Experiences . The Holy Convent of the
Transfiguration of the Savior. Kindle Edition.
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