Mt. Athos, July 1, 2021
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The holy relics of Elder Charalambos of Dionysiou Monastery of Mt. Athos were recently exhumed.
The Elder is widely known throughout the Orthodox world as a spiritual child of the great St. Joseph the Hesychast and later the spiritual father and abbot of Dionysiou, and a teacher of noetic prayer in his own right. He reposed in the Lord in December 2000.
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The uncovering of his remains took place in the presence of the abbot, Elder Petros, the monastic brotherhood, pilgrims, and His Eminence Metropolitan Pavlos of Drama, who also served a memorial service for the repose of the soul of Elder Charalambos, reports agapwtonxristo.com.
Presumably, his remains will be placed in a common ossuary, according to Athonite tradition.
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Elder Ephraim of Arizona wrote of Elder Charalambos in his preface for the book Abbot Haralambos Dionysiatis: The Teacher of Noetic Prayer:
Elder Charalambos (my spiritual brother) and I are children of holy Elder Joseph the Cave-dweller. Our Elder’s blessing imparted a lot of grace and many of the Holy Spirit’s blessings to Elder Charalambos.
Elder Charalambos was, by nature, a man of simple ways. He received grace mainly because of his guileless and pure obedience. Our great Elder Joseph loved him dearly because of his simplicity, inoffensiveness, and the guilelessness of his soul and so imparted him noetic prayer and spiritual forecefulness in all things. That’s why I—who am last in the spiritual life and youngest among my brothers in our brotherhood—watched him and marveled at his astonishing spiritual ascent. I loved him a lot for this progress. His soul shone with the grace with which he was endowed.
I, the most worthless and pitiful, humbly believe the Lord of mercy and compassion will number him among His elect servants, through the intercessions of our great Elder Joseph, our shining saint.
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