St Kallistos I, Patriarch of Constantinople.

Commemorated June 2 in the Orthodox Christian Menaion

From the Prologue

He lived the ascetic life for twenty-eight years as a disciple of Gegory the Sinaite on Mount Athos, in the skete of Magoulaattached to the monastery of Philotheou. He later founded the community of St Mamas there. He was elected Patriarch of Constantinople in 1350. After four years, he left the patriarchal throne to return to Athos, but, in the reign of John Paleologus, he was again called to the throne, where he remained until his death. He died in 1363 on the way to Serres to meet the Serbian Queen Helena, who was seeking help against the Turks. He wrote the Lives of St Gregory the Sinaite and St Theodosius of Trnovo, as well as numerous homilies. It is interesting to note how St Maximus of Kapsokalyvia foretold the death of Patriarch Kallistos. On his way to Serbia, Kallistos called in at the Holy Mountain. St Maximus saw him and said: 'This elder will not see his flock again, because I hear behind him the hymn over the grave: "Blessed are those that are undefiled in the way ...".

From The Prologue From Ochrid by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich
©1985 Lazarica Press, Birmingham UK