Saint Paisius Velichkovsky was born in Poltava in Little Russia on
December 21, 1722, and was the eleventh of twelve children. His father
John was a priest, who named him Peter at his Baptism, in honor of St
Peter the Metropolitan of Moscow, on whose Feast he was born.
After
the children’s father died, their mother Irene raised them in piety.
Peter was sent to study at the Moghila Academy in Kiev in 1735. After
four years, Peter decided to leave the world and become a monk. At the
age of seventeen, he went in search of a monastery and a good spiritual
Father. For seven years Peter visited various monasteries, including the
Kiev Caves Lavra, but he did not feel drawn to any of the monasteries
of Ukraine.
After being made a rassophore monk (one blessed to
wear the rasson, but not yet tonsured “into the mantle”) at the St
Nicholas Medvedevsky Monastery with the name Platon, he found that there
was no experienced Elder there who could teach him obedience or give
him spiritual direction. Not wishing to begin his monastic life without
such guidance, he left the monastery a week after his tonsure with the
blessing of his Elder.
At first, he went to Kiev, where he
happened to meet his sister-in-law, the widow of his older brother
Archpriest John. She informed him of his mother’s sorrow when he left
Kiev, and her mind seemed to be affected by her grief. Then one day an
angel appeared to her and told her that instead of loving the Creator
with her whole heart and soul, she loved His creation (her son) more.
Because of this excessive love, the angel went on, she was thinking of
starving herself to death, which would result in her eternal
condemnation. The angel said that by God’s grace, her son would become a
monk, and that she should also renounce the world and become a nun.
After this, she became calm and accepted God’s will. She entered a
convent and was tonsured with the name Juliana. After about ten years,
she departed to the Lord.
While at Kiev, Platon met two monks from
Romania who were about to return to their country. After crossing the
border into Moldavia, they came to Vlachia and the Skete of St Nicholas,
which is called Treisteny, around 1745. The Elder of the Skete,
Hieroschemamonk Michael, was away on business in Ukraine, so Platon and
his companions were welcomed by the Superior, Fr Demetrius. Platon was
placed under a general obedience and given a cell near the Skete, from
which the church was visible.
As he was sleeping one night, the
semantron was sounded calling the monks to Sunday Matins, but Platon did
not hear it. He woke up and ran to the church, only to find that the
Gospel had already been read, and the Canon was being sung. In his grief
and shame, he did not enter the church, but returned to his cell and
wept bitter tears. After the Liturgy, when it was time for the meal, the
Superior and the Elder were surprised that Platon had not been seen at
the services. The Elder ordered that the meal be delayed while he sent a
Fr Athanasius to find out what had happened to Platon. Fr Athanasius
found him and asked why he was weeping. With difficulty, Platon was able
to tell him the cause of his sorrow. Fr Athanasius tried to console him
and urged him to come to the Skete, where the others were waiting for
him. Finally, he was persuaded to go.
Seeing the brethren at table
but not eating, Platon fell down before them weeping and asking
forgiveness. The Elder and the Superior lifted him up and heard from Fr
Athanasius the reason for his sorrow. The Elder told Platon not to
grieve so over something that had happened involuntarily, and did his
best to console him. From that time, however, the saint would not sleep
lying down in bed, but sitting up on a bench.
One day the Elder
Onuphrius of Kyrkoul visited the Skete and spoke about his Skete at
Kyrkoul. Platon long to see Kyrkoul, and so he returned there with Fr
Onuphrius. He remained there for a time, conversing with Fr Onuphrius
about overcoming the passions, the struggle with demons, unceasing
prayer, and other soul-profiting topics. This seed fell on good ground,
later bearing spiritual fruit a hundredfold.
The time came when
Platon was filled with a longing to visit Mount Athos. He asked the
brethren of the Skete, and those of other Sketes, for their forgiveness
and blessing for the journey. He also thanked them for their kindness
and their paternal instruction. They blessed him and let him go in
peace. At that time he was just twenty-four years old.
Platon went
to Mount Athos in 1746, arriving at the Great Lavra on July 4, the eve
of the Feast of St Athanasius of Athos. His traveling companion,
Hieromonk Tryphon fell ill and died after four days. Platon would have
died from the same illness, if not for the care of the Russian monks. He
recovered and lived in solitude in a cell called Kaparis near the
Pantokrator Monastery. He went around visiting the ascetics and
solitaries, looking for a spiritual Father, but was unable to find
anyone suitable.
In 1750 St Basil of Poiana Marului (April 15)
visited the Holy Mountain and spent some time with Platon, who asked him
for monastic tonsure. Elder Basil granted his request, giving him the
name Paisius. Then Fr Basil returned to his Skete at Vlachia. About
three months later, a young monk named Bessarion came to the Holy
Mountain from Vlachia. He went around to the monasteries searching for
an instructor, but did not find one. He also came to Fr Paisius and
asked him to tell him something about saving his soul. Fr Paisius sighed
and told him that he himself had been looking for an instructor without
success. Yet, feeling compassion for Fr Bessarion, he talked to him a
little about the qualifications necessary for a true instructor, and
about the Jesus Prayer. After hearing him, Fr Bessarion said, “What more
do I seek?” He fell down at the feet of Fr Paisius, entreating him to
be his Elder. Fr Paisius did not want to be anyone’s Elder, wishing
instead to be under authority himself. Fr Bessarion remained for three
days weeping until Fr Paisius agreed to accept him as a friend, and not
as a disciple. For about four years they lived together fulfilling God’s
commandments, cutting off their own will and obeying one another as
equals.
Other disciples began to join them, and their number
continued to increase. Since they needed a priest and a confessor, they
begged Fr Paisius to accept ordination. He did not want to hear of this,
and repeatedly refused to consent. They did not give up, however. They
asked him how he could expect to teach the brethren obedience and
cutting off their own will, when he disobeyed the tearful entreaties of
those who wanted him to accept. Finally, he said, “May the will of God
be done.”
In 1754 Fr Paisius was ordained to the holy priesthood
and was given the Skete of the Prophet Elias, where he began to accept
even more disciples. St Paisius remained on Mt Athos for a total of
seventeen years, copying Greek patristic books and translating them into
Slavonic.
In 1763 Fr Paisius went to Moldavia with sixty-four
disciples, and was given the Dragomirna Monastery near the city of
Sochava and on the border between Bukovina and Moldavia. Here he
remained for twelve years, and the number of monks increased to three
hundred and fifty. His friend Hieromonk Alexius came to visit him from
Vlachia, and Fr Paisius asked him to tonsure him into the Schema. Fr
Alexius did so, but without changing his name. While at Dragomirna, Fr
Paisius corrected the Slavonic translations of patristic books by
comparing them to the Greek manuscripts he had copied on Mt Athos.
The
Russo-Turkish war broke out in 1768, and Moldavia and Vlachia saw many
battles. Dragomirna and the forests around it became filled with
refugees from the villages near the battlegrounds. Another catastrophe
appeared in 1771 with the outbreak of plague. When Dragomirna and
Bukovina came under the control of Austrian Catholics, St Paisius and
his flock fled to Moldavia. In October of 1775, he went to Secu
(“Beheading”) Monastery, which was dedicated to St John the Baptist,
with many of his monks.
Secul was too small for the number of
brethren, who were crowded with three to five monks in a cell. In the
spring, more brethren were due to arrive from Dragomirna, so new cells
had to be built. After three years of labor one hundred cells were
completed, and everyone had a place. Still, the numbers increased and
they had to look for a larger monastery.
Prince Constantine Muruz
wrote to the Elder saying that there was no larger monastery than
Neamts, about two hours from Secul. On August 14, 1779, St Paisius moved
to Neamts Monastery where he spent the last fifteen years of his life
translating the writings of the Holy Fathers. He organized the community
according to the Typikon (Rule) of Mt Athos. He gathered about a
thousand monks in the monastery, instructing them in the unceasing
prayer of the heart.
Archbishop Ambrose visited St Paisius at
Neamts in 1790, staying for two days to converse with the Elder. During
the Sunday Liturgy, he raised St Paisius to the rank of Archimandrite.
He remained two more days, then departed after blessing everyone.
St
Paisius fell asleep in the Lord on November 15, 1794 at the age of
seventy-two. It is possible that God revealed the date of his death to
him beforehand, for he stopped translating books. He only reviewed and
corrected what had already been translated.
He was ill for four
days, but felt well enough to attend the Liturgy on Sunday. After the
service, he asked everyone to come and receive his blessing. He said
farewell to them all, then returned to his cell and would not receive
anyone. A few days later, on November 15, he received the Holy Mysteries
again and surrendered his soul to God. His funeral was conducted by
Bishop Benjamin of Tuma, and was attended by multitudes of priests,
monks, laymen, nobles and ordinary people.
The holy relics of St Paisius were uncovered in 1846, 1853, 1861 and 1872, and were found to be incorrupt.
St
Paisius has had an enormous influence, not only in Romania, but
throughout the Orthodox world. His disciples traveled to Russia,
sparking the spiritual revival of the nineteenth century with Slavonic
translations of the PHILOKALIA and the tradition of eldership which they
had learned from St Paisius. This influence has been felt even in
America through St Herman of Alaska (December 13). St Herman was taught
by Elders whose spiritual formation was guided by St Paisius. He first
met Fr Nazarius, who became his Elder at Valaam, at Sarov, then followed
him to Sanaxar when St Theodore (February 19) was their igumen.
One
of the books that St Herman brought with him to America was the
Slavonic PHILOKALIA, printed in 1794. He absorbed the spiritual wisdom
that it contained, and imparted it to others.
Source-Oca.org
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