Our Holy Father Paisius the Great.

Commemorated June 19 in the Orthodox Christian Menaion

From the Prologue

He wasan Fgyptian by birth and by language. After a vision in a dream, his motherdedicated him to the service of God, and he went to St Pambowhile still a youth. Pambo accepted him as a disciple, and he was a fellowdisciple there of St John the Dwarf, who wrote Paisiu's life. To the joy of his spiritual father, Paisius piled labour upon labour one ascetic feat upon another. The Prophet Jeremiah, whomhe especially revered and read frequently, appeared to him often, and alsothe Lord Christ. 'Peace be to thee, My beloved in whomI am well-pleased!, the Lord said to him. By God's great grace, Paisius had the particular gift of being able to abstain completely from food. He would often not eat bread for a fortnight, even more often for a week, and once, according to the testimony of John the Dwarf, he went for seventy days without tasting a thing. He waged a tremendous war against evil spirits, that sometimes appeared to him in their own form and sometimes as angels of light. But God's servant, filled with grace, never once let himself be deceived and led astray. He was a seer and a wonderworker famed throughout the whole of Egypt. He went to the Lord in the year 400. Isidore of Pelusium took his relics to his own monastery and buried them there.

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