{"id":24,"date":"2014-04-25T00:49:24","date_gmt":"2014-04-25T00:49:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jesusprayer.us\/elders\/?page_id=24"},"modified":"2014-05-01T01:17:03","modified_gmt":"2014-05-01T01:17:03","slug":"the-elders","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/jesusprayer.us\/elders\/?page_id=24","title":{"rendered":"The Elders"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"elderimagemasterREV5\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Elders featured are all ‘modern’ men of the 20th Century who lived in the ‘modern’ world but also in that the the world of timeless monasticism. \u00a0This page is meant as a brief introduction as to why they are our primary sources, not a detailed biography.<\/p>\n

Front Row Left – Right<\/p>\n

Seraphim Rose (1934-1962): \u00a0American Orthodox convert and founder of St. Herman’s Brotherhood in Platina, CA, he was a prolific writer introducing traditional Orthodoxy to the modern Western world. \u00a0Of all of those included he is less an elder in the traditional sense than a teacher and evangelist. \u00a0If we view most elders as giving us ‘meat’ to attain higher spirituality, then Elder Seraphim and his publishing house have provided the needed ‘milk’\u00a0of foundational Orthodoxy.<\/p>\n

Elder Joseph the Hesychast (1897 – 1959) \u00a0This Elder has perhaps made the widest\u00a0impact of all of the elders featured since all of those men\u00a0on the second row were his disciples. \u00a0Coming to Mt. Athos and finding if difficult to find a elder to guide him in noetic ‘prayer of the heart’ he and his companion Arsenios struggled severely and reached great heights of spiritual theoria. \u00a0A true staretz \u00a0(spiritual guide) he still guides us today through the letters he wrote and his direct formation of his disciples who were to literally tranform Mt. Athos in the decades after his death.<\/p>\n

St. Nikolai Velimirovich: (1880-1956) St. Nikolai can perhaps be called an ‘elder to the laity’ since his work and counsel was directed to everyday Orthodox men and women in Serbia, American and throughout the world. \u00a0 \u00a0Through his voluminous writings, \u00a0including the ‘Prologue of Ohrid’, we shows how to apply the teachings of Christ and the Church Fathers to everyday life.<\/p>\n

Elder Paisios: (1924-1994) The Elder loved stillness and solitude but sacrificed it to help the thousands who came to him with prayer and God-inspired advice. \u00a0He resided mostly on Mt. Athos \u00a0but due to the diligence and foresight of a Sisterhood in Souroti and others who wrote down much of what he said, we have a greater volume of his teachings and anecdotes than from\u00a0many other modern staretz.<\/p>\n

Back Row Left-Right<\/p>\n

Elder Ephraim of Arizona (1927-): \u00a0He is the only Elder still living . \u00a0After serving Elder Joseph the Hesychast until the latters passing in 1959, became Abbot of the Athonite Monastery of Philotheou in 1973. \u00a0After revitalizing Philotheou, he traveled to North America where he eventually founded 17 monasteries, residing in the desert today at St. Anthony’s Monastery in Florence, Arizona. \u00a0In addition to forming monks and nuns in the spirit \u00a0of Elder Joseph, he also helps the laity through personal counsel and through several books which detail the struggles and triumphs associated with the prayer of the heart.<\/p>\n

Elder Ephraim of Katounakia: (1912-1998) The Elder was a disciple of Elder Joseph’s but was technically not \u00a0a member of his Brotherhood. \u00a0 ‘Papa’ \u00a0Ephraim advanced rapidly in the prayer of the heart\u00a0\u00a0which Elder Joseph credited to his humility, purity and obedience. \u00a0Throughout his his life Papa Ephraim taught ‘obedience is life’. \u00a0This is also the title of a book that relates the anecdotes and teaching from his life.<\/p>\n

Elder Arsenios: (1886-1983) The Elder was such a humble monk \u00a0that he submitted himself to the guidance of Elder Joseph which the latter was still a layman. \u00a0For the next 40 years the two struggled together and advanced to great height of noetic prayer will engaging in extreme feats of asceticism. \u00a0After Elder Joseph’s repose in 1959 Elder Aresenios was regarded by the others the senior Elder even as they left and formed Brotherhoods of their own throughout Mt. Athos. \u00a0Elder Arsenios guides us through the spiritual \u00a0teachings passed on from those who knew him.<\/p>\n

Elder Joseph of Vatopedi: (1921-2009) After 1959 he was the ‘Elder’of Joseph’s Brotherhood but did so in great humility until 1987 when he relocated to the Monastery of Vatopedi. \u00a0Aside from direct counsel to many monks and laity, Elder Joseph also has written several books detailing the life and teachings of his Elder and fellow Brothers which shed light on the hidden lives and wisdom ff these great strugglers.<\/p>\n

Elder Haralambos: (1910-2001) The nephew of Elder Arsenios was trained in asceticism by Elder Joseph until his repose. \u00a0In 1964, the first small brother led by Haralamobos began to form and grew through the years. \u00a0In 1979, the Elder became Abbot of Dionysiou Monastery on Mt. Athos and led its revitalization. \u00a0The Elder’s teachings, passed on to his disciples and other have been recorded in at least one book for our benefit.<\/p>\n

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The Elders featured are all ‘modern’ men of the 20th Century who lived in the ‘modern’ world but also in that the the world of timeless monasticism. \u00a0This page is meant as a brief introduction as to why they are our primary sources, not a detailed biography. Front Row Left – Right Seraphim Rose (1934-1962): […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-24","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/jesusprayer.us\/elders\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/24","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/jesusprayer.us\/elders\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/jesusprayer.us\/elders\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jesusprayer.us\/elders\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jesusprayer.us\/elders\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/jesusprayer.us\/elders\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/24\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45,"href":"http:\/\/jesusprayer.us\/elders\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/24\/revisions\/45"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/jesusprayer.us\/elders\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}