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Saint Paisios of Mount Athos (+1994) is one of the greatest and most revered elders of the Orthodox Church in the 20th Century. He lived the monastic life in obscurity on the Mt Athos, but became a beacon of true life in Christ to faithful throughout the world.

His spiritual counsels to the nuns of St John the Theologian (Souroti, Greece) have now been published and translated in 6 volumes;

1. WITH PAIN AND LOVE FOR CONTEMPORARY MAN

• Part 1 Sin and the Devil

• Part 2 Modern Civilization

• Part 3 The Spirit of God and the Spirit of the World

• Part 4 The Church in our Times

The Blessed Elder Paisios was born on 25th July 1924. From the time that he was a child, Elder Paisios lived an ascetic life, and was nourished by the lives of the Saints, whose feats he sought to imitate with great zeal and admirable precision. He practised unceasing prayer, cultivating all along the virtues of humility and love. He led an ascetic life on Mount Athos, in the Holy Monastery of Stomion in Konitsa, and on Mount Sinai in Egypt. He lived in obscurity, giving himself completely to God, and God in turn revealed him and gave him to the whole world. He guided, consoled, healed and granted peace to multitudes of people who sought him. His sanctified soul overflowed with divine love and his saintly face radiated the divine Grace. All day long, he tirelessly gathered the human pain and imparted divine consolation. He is the founder of the Holy Monastery of Saint John the Theologian in Souroti of Thessalonik, Greece, which he also guided spiritually for twenty-eight years (1967-1994). After suffering excruciating pains, which, as he used to say, benefited him more than the ascetic struggles of his entire life, he fell asleep in the Lord on 12 July 1994.

2. SPIRITUAL AWAKENING –

Some of the subjects included are

“The Responsibility of Love,”

“Struggle and Devoutness,”

“Spiritual Bravery,”

“Dependence upon Heaven,” and

“Spiritual Weapons.”

3. SPIRITUAL STRUGGLE –

Topics covered in this volume include: the war of thoughts, righteousness and injustice, sin and repentance, the evil forces of darkness, and the power of confession.

"In our times, one of the greatest illnesses is the vain thoughts of worldly people...They are tormented simply through not facing up to things in a spiritual manner. When we accept whatever happens to us with a good and positive thought, we are helped; while on the contrary, we are tormented and come apart at the seams when negative and evil thoughts prevail." (St. Paisios)

4. FAMILY LOVE –

The Elder used to say that the majority of the letters he received were from people who had family problems. He attributed these problems to people having withdrawn from God and to their self-centreredness. “In the old days,” he would say, “life was more peaceful and serene; people had patience. Nowadays, everyone has got a short fuse - people flare up right away; no one can tell them anything. And then, automatically, they go straight for divorce.”

5. PASSIONS & VIRTUES –

6. ON PRAYER –

For Elder Paisios, prayer is the immeasurable potential which God has given us in order to communicate with Him, and ask for His help. The Elder actually felt pain when he observed people suffering as they struggled “with their limited human capabilities,” when they could have asked for help from God, Who “would have sent not simply divine help, but a whole variety of divine assistance; and then, of course, His help would not be called simply divine help, but a miracle of God.” It was why he had insisted that we understand prayer to be a necessity and honestly sought to help those who had not learned to pray “to make a start in order to get their heart working on prayer.” He also strengthened those who had acquired the good habit of praying to pray with even more philotimo and great fervour. To everyone, however, he emphasised repentance and humility as the main prerequisites for communication with God.