Today, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate officially included in the calendar of the Church the Saints Joseph the Hesychast (Elder Joseph), Ephraim of Katounakia and Daniil of Katounakia.
This act does not only recognize the holiness of some people, it also recognizes the sanctity of a school—which is a school of humility, awakening, and the incorporation of the Jesus’ prayer, intertwined with obedience to one’s elder.
In the olden days, obedience was something taken for granted. Today, due to “progress” (or rather to the regress) of people as personalities, due to the arrogance that comes from the impression that we know something, it is necessary to re-emphasize the importance of listening by the apprentice to the elder for his experience.
However, it is also necessary for the elder to listen to the apprentice because of the apprentice’s incapacities and needs.
These saints have shown that zeal and prayer come and are preserved through the unity of the brotherhood around the abbot, achieved through the earnest and loving obedience of each member of the brotherhood.
Days of celebration
All three saints fell asleep in the Lord on special days on the Holy Mountain calendar (the old-style calendar):
- Saint Joseph the Hesychast, on the Dormition of the Virgin Mary (and so, will be celebrated a day later on the Holy Mountain);
- Saint Ephraim of Katounakia, on the Holy Saturday of the Ascetic Saints (the last Saturday before Great Lent—which is a holiday with a mobile date); so, it is very likely that he will be celebrated with Saint Ephraim the Syrian;
- Saint Daniil of Katounakia reposed on the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. His brotherhood asked for him to be celebrated on the Holy Mountain the day before, on September 7th (20th—according to the new calendar), when the relics of the saint were exhumed.
May we have their prayers and intercessions!
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