Saint Euthymius of Opso

This accident thus turned to the glory of Euthymius and drew to him general esteem. But his modesty was alarmed by it, and it is perhaps to prevent the snares of vainglory that he changed his dwelling and placed himself under the guidance of another elder named John, renowned for his union with God. The new master initiated Euthymius into the practices of religious life, and some time later, he conferred upon him the angelic form (this is what the religious habit is called in the East), and gave him the name Euthymius, in memory of the great Saint who had borne this name and who has remained so illustrious in the annals of Eastern asceticism. When the disciple was sufficiently versed in religious exercises, he was sent to the monastery of Possidinion, where they led a cenobitic life, so salutary for beginners and so well suited above all to form them in solid virtues. The hegumen of this convent was named Nicholas, a religious man highly commendable for his attachment to the Catholic faith, as much as for the prudence with which he directed his disciples in the ways of the interior life. Applied to low and humiliating offices, Euthymius performed them with admirable submission, considering himself happy to have found there an effective remedy for the perverse inclinations of nature, and a weapon against the memories of the past by which the demon sometimes came to disturb his peace. By thus rushing, in the footsteps of the divine Master, into the paths of voluntary humiliations, Euthymius advanced with rapid strides and merited signal favors from heaven. Among other gifts, the Lord granted him a great attraction for prayer, and, what is usually its fruit, an ardent desire for a more rigorous retreat, a desire whose fulfillment was hastened by the sad events that occurred at that time in the Church of Byzantium.

After the death of Saint Methodius, Patriarch of Constantinople, who had contributed so much to destroying the iconoclast heresy, the patriarchal see was occupied by Saint Ignatius. The cruel persecutions that this generous Pontiff had to suffer at the hands of Emperor Michael the Drunkard and his worthy satellites, the futility of the efforts he made to bring back these deeply corrupted hearts, and the love of peace threatened by ever-increasing troubles, all this determined Ignatius to leave his see and seek in the silence of retreat the rest he could not find in the midst of greatness. He therefore renounced his office after having exercised it for ten years. This was to the detriment of the Church; for he had as his successor Photius, so sadly famous for his ambition even more than for the extent of his learning. But as the retirement of Ignatius was not entirely spontaneous, a great number refused submission to the new patriarch, whose legitimacy they contested. Hegumen Nicholas was among them. Seeing his community without a pastor and exposed to the dissensions of the parties, Euthymius, who shared the views of his beloved master, took refuge on Mount Atho s, which l mont Athos A major monastic center where Euthymius lived as a hermit and recluse. ater became the main center of asceticism in the East, but where, at that time (around the year 863), monastic life was only just being born. Before going there, the Blessed one desired to receive the Great Habit, symbol of the religious perfection to which one pledged to strive; to this end, he returned to Olympus to the famous ascetic Theodore (the elder John having died), shared his desire with him, and was admitted to the profession. Eight days later, he said goodbye to Mount Olympus, where he had stayed for about fifteen years in all, and set off, accompanied by a monk named Theocteristus.

Upon arriving at Mount Athos, Euthymius immediately began to climb the arduous path of the evangelical counsels, generously dedicating himself to the practice of the virtues required by the solitary life. His companion, not feeling strong enough to follow him, was obliged to return to Olympus. Euthymius then found another companio n, nam Joseph Monk of Armenian origin, companion in asceticism to Euthymius on Mount Athos. ed Joseph, who had come to settle on the Hagion-Oros long before him, and who can be counted among the first Athonite religious. He proposed to him that for forty days they should take no other food than herbs, in order to attract the graces of heaven through this rigorous fast and to atone for past sins. The proposal was accepted and generously executed. Animated by this first success, Euthymius proposed to his companion another trial, more difficult than the previous one: it was to remain locked in a cave for three years, without ever leaving it, except to gather acorns, chestnuts, and herbs to serve as their food, and to have no communication with the other solitaries who lived on the mountain. Joseph accepted the new proposal, for he had an upright and simple soul, even though he was, the biographer notes, Armenian by origin. To recount all the austerities to which they condemned themselves during this long retreat would be a difficult task. It suffices to say that their prayer and fasting were almost continuous; silence was interrupted only by rare conversations on purely spiritual matters; they suffered from the cold, for lack of clothing to cover themselves sufficiently. The bare earth served as their bed; in addition to countless genuflections, they imposed upon themselves other bodily mortifications, which a host of insects came to multiply with zeal.

Thus, the first year had barely ended when Joseph, at the end of his strength, left his retreat and went to join the other monks whose number was growing, although it is not known for certain whether they lived in community or separately. As for Euthymius, he redoubled his fervor, both because he saw himself in perfect solitude and because he needed to further protect himself against the assaults of the demon who tempted him in various ways. Sometimes this enemy of salvation suggested thoughts of pride and discouragement, sometimes he inspired in him regret for having lost his companion. Euthymius was not even safe from visible enemies; thus one day, in broad daylight, while he was at prayer, a band of corsairs invaded the cave, and, upon his refusal to leave, they dragged him to the edge of a nearby precipice, and, had it not been for an intervention from heaven, would have thrown him over. To this must be added the scorpions whose bites, without being fatal, caused him cruel wounds. Despite all these trials, the servant of God persevered in his initial resolution, and, when the term of his voluntary reclusion had arrived, he reappeared in the midst of the other ascetics who were waiting for him with impatience; he was received as a messenger from heaven, for they had been informed by Brother Joseph of the manner in which he lived in his solitude.

In the meantime, Euthymius received a message from his former spiritual master, Theodore, who begged him to come and fetch him from Mount Olympus to bring him to the Hagion-Oros. Yielding to the prayer of the pious old man, he took the road to Olympus again in the company of the messenger, Theoceterist, the very one mentioned above. But, as Theodore's strength was weakened by long austerities, and his body needed certain comforts that a stay on Mount Athos hardly offered, Euthymius found him a place that was both pleasant and solitary, had a modest cell built for him, and served him there with filial devotion. This place was called Macrosina.

However, great as his solicitude was, it did not preserve Theodore from a cruel illness, from which he died soon after in Thessaloniki, where he had been transported. He was buried i Thessalonique City where Euthymius exercised his ministry as a stylite and where his relics rest. n the church of Saint Sozon. At the news of his death, Euthymius left the mountain to go and pray at the tomb of his venerated master, and to implore his intercession. The inhabitants of Thessaloniki, who had heard of the brilliant virtues of the blessed one, came in crowds to meet him and received him with great honors. As the influx continued, and the zeal of souls prevented him from ever completely avoiding it, Euthymius devised a way to satisfy his attraction for solitude, without however frustrating the faithful of his word. To this end, he withdrew into a tower, located outside the city, towards the East, and from there, a new Simeon the Stylite, he instructed those who came to hear him. After having lived for quite a long time in this tower and performed several extraordinary healings, which will be mentioned later, he resolved to return to Mount Athos. Before leaving, he received the diaconate from the hand of the Archbishop of Thessaloniki, Theodore, which caused him great joy; for he could henceforth commune himself, a precious advantage for an inhabitant of solitude. However, this joy was not without a mixture of apprehension; he soon noticed, in fact, that the sacred character with which he was adorned attracted even greater numbers of visitors. This forced him to seek a safer asylum elsewhere, and he took refuge with two other companions, John Colobos and Simeon, on the New Island, today called Saint Eustratius. This island was, it is true, entire ly deserted, but it did not offer, because of it île Nouvelle, aujourd'hui dite de Saint-Eustrate Place of refuge for Euthymius to escape the influx of visitors. s very isolation, enough security; thus, they were once attacked by corsairs and would have been dragged into captivity, had Our Lord not rendered the ship that was taking them away immobile and forced the pirates to ask for forgiveness from their captives.

This accident served as a warning to the blessed Euthymius. In order not to expose himself to the same danger again, he withdrew with his disciples to the land called Vrastama, while John Colobos settled in Siderocapsa and Simeon in Hellas, as Mount Athos no longer offered the same security as before. At Vrastama there lived at that time the venerable elder Joseph, of whom mention has been made more than once in this account; he died there soon after the arrival of Euthymius, at a very advanced age. We who write these Basile Disciple of Euthymius, future archbishop of Thessalonica and author of his biography. lines, says the biographer Basil, saw his body in the very cave where he passed away; we touched it with our own hands, and great was our astonishment to see it incorrupt and exuding an oil whose fragrance we smelled for three days. Euthymius built cells there for his companions, among whom was also the famous ascetic Onuphrius, to whom he assigned a separate cell. As for himself, he chose as his dwelling a deep ravine, which he only left to visit his nascent community or to converse with God on the mountain. It was during one of these intimate conversations with the Lord that he heard a voice saying to him: "Euthymius, go to Thessalonica, and there, to the east of the city, you will find a high mountain, called Peristera, from which a spr ing of wa Péristéra Monastery founded by Euthymius on the ruins of a church dedicated to Saint Andrew. ter gushes and where there is a sheepfold, formerly a splendid temple of Saint Andrew, the Apostle. Purify it and make it a monastery. I will be your helper. It is enough to live in solitude and fight demons that have long been defeated." Docile to the voice of heaven, Euthymius left the retreat of Vrastama and embarked for Thessalonica in the company of two brothers, Ignatius and Ephrem. Arrived in this city, where he was received like an angel descended from heaven, he went with guides to Peristera, indeed discovered the traces of the church, and thanks to the assistance of the Thessalonians, surprised by this discovery, he erected a new church in honor of the holy Apostle, adding two side chapels, one of which (on the right side) was dedicated to Saint John the Forerunner, the other to Saint Euthymius the Great, his beloved patron. The convent and the church were completed in 863, the fourth year of the reign of Emperor Basil the Macedonian. T l'empereur Basile le Macédonien Byzantine emperor under whose reign the monastery of Peristera was completed. he Saint had taken an active part in the construction of these buildings, helping the workers and thus encouraging them in their work by his example; to which must be added the prayers to which he devoted entire nights. Thus, the work was blessed by God: the desert was changed into a city; people of all ages and conditions vied with one another to place themselves under the guidance of the Blessed one. Offerings flowed from all sides: some brought livestock, others brought sacred vessels and various objects no less necessary for the use of the community, asking in return only the alms of prayer. The holy founder, for his part, never ceased to commend to God the souls under his direction, and as he knew the dangers to which one is exposed at the beginning of the religious career, he took care to warn his religious against the attacks of the invisible enemy, by communicating to them the fruits of his long experience in instructions that breathed at the same time a heavenly wisdom.

"Touched by his sublime teachings, I too," says Basil the biographer, "placed myself under his guidance, and I had the happiness of receiving the tonsure from his hand, at Ormylia, in the church of the great Saint Demetrius, martyr and wonderworker. Following his advice, I remained for some time in an isolated cell, devoting myself to contemplation and the study of the divine law. Later, the attraction of glory made me prefer the noisy and agitated life of cities to the silence of solitude. It was then that, animated by the zeal of this Blessed one, I burned the heretical book of an apostate monk named Anthony, who taught Manichaeism and lived at Cranéa.

"I will mention here the prediction that the Saint made concerning my person, which testifies to the gift he had of knowing the future. According to the custom received among monks to remain in the church during the seven days following the tonsure, I was making my retreat and was already on the fourth day, when the Blessed one entered the church around midday, and taking me aside, said to me: 'However unworthy I may be to receive the light from above, nevertheless, Basil, since you have entrusted yourself to my direction solely for the interest of your soul, the divine Goodness has deigned to communicate to me a ray of its grace which has revealed to me what must happen to you one day. Know then that the love of science will make you leave the monastery and that you will become an archbishop; remember then me, who am your father in Jesus Christ, as well as your former brothers in religion and the whole community.'

"This is the place to report some of the miracles performed by the servant of God. Thus, one day when I and another brother, John, surnamed the Silent, had lost our way in a completely deserted place, where we were dying of hunger and exhaustion, suddenly the Saint appears, who offers us food and allows us to continue the journey. Another time, when the Blessed one and I were quite far from the monastery, in a place called Cranéa, he let me know of the departure of the two brothers John and Anthony, who could not get along with the rest of the community! — In Thessalonica, while he was staying in a tower, a man possessed by a demon was delivered by the prayer of the holy stylite and by means of the anointing he gave him. Likewise, at Peristera, he delivered from the demon a monk named Hilarion, who was later retaken by the evil spirit for having blamed the conduct of the Saint. These two miracles happened before my eyes. I will add a third which happened on Mount Athos: one day his disciples wanted to climb to the summit of the mountain, without having a serious motive for doing so, and without listening to the advice of the Blessed one, who dissuaded them from it. Now, while they were going there, snow fell in such great abundance that the imprudent travelers ran a great risk of perishing, when the tender father ran to their rescue, thus sparing them the torments of hunger and cold."

After having governed his flock for fourteen years, he finally had the opportunity to see his own people again after an absence of forty-two years. The result of this meeting was that the men entered his monastery, while the women took the veil in a convent built on land he purchased for this purpose, where they had as abbess the Blessed one's own sister, called in religion Euthymia. Both convents being thereafter entrusted to the care of the Metropolitan of Thessalonica himself (who was Methodius), and Saint Euthymius seeing himself thereby delivered from administrative cares, he resumed his life as a stylite in the tower near the city, where he remained, however, only a short time, because of the great influx of visitors. He took refuge again in the Hagion-Oros, in the part of the eastern slope that extends from the hermitage of Saint Anne to the laura of Saint Athanasius, a true desert where even today one sees only a few cells scattered here and there and a single hermitage (that of Kausokalyvia). It was in this solitude that he spent the last years of his life. Knowing in advance the day of his death, he wished to prepare for it early, far from all commerce with men, who penetrated even into his retreat. On the day of the feast of the translation of Saint Euthymius the Great, he invited all his companions to his table, and after having celebrated with them the memory of his patron saint, he bade them farewell. The next day, May 8, he left Mount Athos, without telling anyone, and, accompanied by only one monk named George, he headed toward the Holy Island. This was his last dwelling; at the end of five months, he ended his life there, following a slight illness, on October 15 of the year 886.

Two months later, the religious of Peristera sent two of their brothers, Paul and Blaise, charged with bringing back the venerable remains of their founder. The envoys found the body of the Saint in the very place where he had rendered his soul to God and without the slightest corruption. These precious remains were brought on January 13 to Thessalonica, and deposited with honor in this city, so rich in relics of the holy servants of God. From this comes the surname of Thessalonian that has been given to the blessed Euthymius, although it was not his native land. The Greek Church celebrates his memory on October 15.

The author of this Life is Saint Basil, Archbi shop of Thessalonica, whose memory the Gr saint Basile, archevêque de Thessalonique Disciple of Euthymius, future archbishop of Thessalonica and author of his biography. eek Church celebrates on the first day of February. Having been unable to find the original text anywhere, we were obliged to content ourselves with a Russian translation, made from a Greek manuscript kept on Mount Athos, and published in the Pouterion of that mountain (Saint Petersburg, 1869). We have provided it here almost without modifications.