Tag Archives: Asceticism

I know a layman who became holy with the asceticism he practiced. Yes, not many years ago there was a man and his son who worked for years on the Holy Mountain. Later, a good job opportunity presented itself back in his homeland, and the man decided to leave and take his son with him so that the entire family could be together again. His son, however, had been greatly affected by the ascetic life of the monks; and remembering the worldly life with its many pressures, he didn’t want to follow his father and return to the world. “Father, since you have other children,” he told him, “leave just one of them in the Garden of the Panagia.” Because he insisted, his father was forced to leave him. That little warrior was illiterate, but he was very softhearted and had much philotimo and simplicity. He considered himself totally unworthy to become a monk because he thought that he wouldn’t be able to fulfill his monastic duties. Read more →