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[[Image:Elderjosephhesychast.jpg|thumb|Elder Joseph the Hesychast]]
Elder '''Joseph the [[Hesychast]]''' was a [[monk]] and [[elder]] on [[Mount Athos]]. He reposed in 1959, and he has wide acclaim for being the spiritual father or grandfather of Elders [[Ephrem of Philotheou]], Joseph of Vatopedi, Charalampus of Dionysiou and others<!--names?-->, who are directly credited for revitalising six of the twenty [[monastery|monasteries ]] on [[Mount Athos]].
==Biography==
===Early life===
Francis was born in Paros to George and Maria in 1898. In his teens, he went to work in Piraeus. At twenty-three he began to read the lives of the Fathers, a spiritual turning point for him. These lives, particularly those of the strict ascetics, and a dream he had, gave him the desire to enter into [[monasticism]]. He responded to this desire by fasting and praying in the nearby countryside, which was uninhabited, and then going to Mount Athos.
===Athonite===
The future Elder yearned to pray unceasingly, but had great troubles - he could not find a spiritual father, and the indifference of many monks [[monk]]s towards unceasing prayer.
:''I was inconsolable because I was longing so ardently to find what I had set out for in search of God; and not only was I not finding it, but people would not even being helpful.''
After approximately 13 years, the large amount of physical labour required to live there became too much, making most of the fathers ill. Elder Joseph moved the community further down the mountain, nearer the sea, to New Skete.
Elder Joseph reposed on [[August 15 August ]], 1959.
==Writings==