The Greek island of Aegina is a holy place. A small
habitation of 87 km2 and 13,000 people, its map
is dotted everywhere with monasteries and churches to the
glory of God. Aegina is known for the two saints who
labored there—the sixteenth century bishop of
Aegina, St. Dionysios of Zakynthos, and especially the
great luminary of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries,
St.
Nektarios.
The icon of St. John Maximovitch in the church of the Entrance of the Theotokos
The church of the Entrance of the
Theotokos sits along the water at the port, and
inside hangs a beautiful icon of St.
John Maximovitch, welcoming all of us Americans
to the island. And just a few miles from the port the
relics of St. Nektarios lie in the convent of the
Holy Trinity. Many pilgrims testify that when they
lean against his tomb in prayer, they hear the saint
knocking from inside the tomb, making his presence
known. Pilgrims are also welcome to enter the room in
which he lived, from where so many prayers ascended
before the throne of God, sanctifying the space. This
monastery, and its massive cathedral named in honor
of St. Nektarios are the most popular pilgrimage
destinations on the island.
Prayer at the relics of St. Nektarios
One of the chapels in the vilalge of Paleachora
Just a few minutes down the road on
foot is located St. Catherine’s monastery,
where, among other treasures, is venerated an icon of
St. Spyridon with his eyes closed. Many pilgrims have
claimed to see his eyes open in the icon as they
prayed. Just up the road from Holy Trinity convent is
the ancient hillside village of Paleachora which at
one time was home to at least seventy churches. More
than thirty remain and are open to visitors, bearing
witness to the great faith of the Aegean people
through the centuries. A forty-five minute walk from
St. Nektarios brings one to the Monastery of Panagia
Chrysoleontissa (the Mother of God the Golden
Lioness), past a roadside shrine marking the spot
where the Theotokos leaned against the rocks as she
stopped to rest.
There are several other venerable monasteries and churches
on the island, but there remains yet one great treasure
which is perhaps comparatively unknown in the wider
Orthodox world—that is, the relics of the great
twentieth-century elder Ieronymos of Aegina. Even the
kindly shop owner at the port who eagerly directed me to
the Holy Trinity monastery to venerate St. Nektarios had
never heard of Elder Ieronymos and was clueless to help me
find his monastery. Thankfully I was able to find a cab
driver who knew the way to the small street on which sits
the Annunciation Monastery where the elder for decades
lived and labored.
It is said that several inhabitants of Aegina have
independently had the same dream in which three clergymen
appear: St. Dionysius, St. Nektarios and Elder Ieronymos.
The canonized saints are seen discussing between
themselves, and pointing to the elder they say: “He
is higher than we are.”[1] Thus, while the elder is as yet not as
well-known as his fellow Aegean saints, he offers to us
a life and teachings no less vital for modern Orthodox
Christians.
Not knowing any Greek I had no idea what to expect at the
elder’s monastery, but I was warmly greeted by the
one elderly nun who still lived at the monastery and a
frequent pilgrim to the monastery who was able to
translate between Greek and English for me. I was very
pleased to see as I stepped into the monastery and walked
down the entrance hallway an icon of the Royal Martyr
Nicholas II, and a picture of the holy Metropolitan
Philaret of New York (ROCOR), reminding me that the
saints are truly of one Spirit, be they Greek or Russian,
or any other ethnicity.
The church at Annunciation Monastery - the reliquary of the skull of Elder Ieronymos can be seen on the left
Mother Eupraxia spared no expense
in treating me to delicious Greek coffee and various
sweets, and despite her age and visible tiredness and
the fact that I had arrived unannounced, she did not
decline to offer me her time, and to allow me to
venerate the church and various other holy sites
within the monastery. Inside the church of the
monastery, on the left side against the wall is a
reliquary with the precious skull of the God-bearing
elder. Outside is situated his grave, and I was also
blessed to enter two cells where the elder stayed, as
well as the confined and unadorned cell to where he
would retreat for solitude in order to descend into
his heart in noetic prayer. Of course, when a saint
reposes, the Holy Spirit that fills him does not
suddenly depart, and so it is a great opportunity and
a blessing for any Orthodox Christian to make a
pilgrimage to such a place, and to try to enter into
the stillness and prayer that characterized the life
of Elder Ieronymos.
The skull of the elder
After I venerated the church and relics, Mother Eupraxia,
who had known the elder in her lifetime, sat down to speak
to me about his life and what she recalled of him. A
thorough biography of him is available, but it is one
thing to read of a saint, and it is another to hear of him
from the lips of one who knew him, and experienced him.
Mother Eupraxia is a living link to Elder Ieronymos, who
himself knew many great elders such as Joseph the
Hesychast, and in him she experienced the life of Christ
that the saints acquire.
One of the elder's cells
Mother Eupraxia related to me,
through our translating friend, that the elder, born
Vasilieos in 1883, had always been pious and
prayerful, from his youngest years. While other
children were interested in games, he wanted to go to
the caves outside his town of Kelveri in Cappadocia,
where countless ascetics had labored over the years.
There was a great ascetic living there at that time
named Missael, with whom Vasilieos became
well-acquainted, and from whom he learned the mystery
of noetic prayer of the heart. Missael was a married
man, toiling all day to support his family, and
retreating at night to the caves, there to commune
with Christ.
Through Missael’s example young Vasilieos was
inspired to dedicate his entire life to Christ, and in
time he would do so as both a priest and a monk. From an
early age he would preach in church and his words, full of
zeal, inflamed the hearts of many around him to turn more
fully to Christ our Savior. Of course, as is often the
case in the lives of the saints, this also earned him some
enemies who tried to keep him from attending the divine
services and even tried to kill him. Humbly accepting that
his ministry was not appreciated by all, he went to
venerate the holy places in Jerusalem where he met the
future Elder Arsenios the Cave-Dweller, and stayed for
several months, before returning to Constantinople.
In 1922 he left Asia Minor due to the upheaval there and
went to Greece, and later to Aegina, where he remained for
the rest of his life, until his repose in 1966. During his
time on the island he obediently accepted ordination to
the priesthood and he consoled countless who were
suffering in soul and body, even building a hospital
church named for St. Dionysios. In serving the Divine
Liturgy his soul was elevated to the heavens and he
desired ever more to devote his life entirely to God in
ascetical seclusion.
The tiny cell where he entered into the prayer of the heart
One incident occurred soon after
his ordination which exemplifies the whole life of
the elder: while serving the Liturgy on the fortieth
day after his ordination he was vouchsafed a
frightful vision. He beheld, in the chalice, suddenly
the Body and Blood of Christ taking on the visible
form of flesh and blood, which left him
understandably shaken. With much fear and trepidation
he finished the Liturgy, and he remained in the altar
for many hours, tearfully entreating the Lord to
return the Gifts to the appearance of bread and wine
that he might finish consuming them. The elder took
this vision as a sign not of his greatness, but
rather of his unworthiness and after many hours of
prayer he was able to communicate of the precious
Body and Blood of Christ. A few months later another
priest came to serve at the hospital and Elder
Ieronymos never again served the Divine Liturgy,
feeling himself wholly unworthy.
Of course there is much more that
could be told of the elder, who spent his remaining
years continuing to console his spiritual children as
their elder, pouring himself out for the sake of
their salvation, retreating often to his tiny cell to
speak to the Lord. By this point Mother Eupraxia had
grown tired, and I had to make my way to the port to
catch a boat back to Piraeus. The atmosphere of the
Annunciation Convent was one of joy, peace, humility,
and servitude—the atmosphere instilled in it by
the sanctifying life and presence of Elder Ieronymos.
His life was one of humility, which led him to the
heights of the spiritual life, of which we are given
the slightest glimpse in the recounting of the vision
he beheld during the Liturgy. The life of humility is
the life of Christ, and in return he experienced the
very life of Christ in visions of the living Christ,
becoming even greater than Sts. Dionysios and
Nektarios, in their own words.
While I knew little more than his name and his reputation
as a holy elder before visiting Aegina, I left with a
greater respect and feeling of connection with him, which
often happens when one makes the effort to visit a holy
site. The saints continue to live in Christ, and there can
be no doubt that Aegina continues to be the home of St.
Dionysios, St. Nektarios, and also, the great elder
Ieronymos, and may we know the benefit of his prayers.
The grave of the elder
The icon of St. John Maximovitch in the church of the Entrance of the Theotokos
Prayer at the relics of St. Nektarios
One of the chapels in the vilalge of Paleachora
The church at Annunciation Monastery - the reliquary of the skull of Elder Ieronymos can be seen on the left
The skull of the elder
One of the elder's cells
The tiny cell where he entered into the prayer of the heart
The grave of the elder
