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The future elder and saint Paisius was born on [[December 20]], 1722, in the city of Poltava into a pious family of [[priest]]s. He was [[baptize]]d with the name Peter. His father John was the [[rector]] of Dormition [[Cathedral]]. His mother Irina became a [[nun]] later in her life. Peter was a quiet boy who loved to read. At an early age he read every spiritual book at home and in the cathedral library.
Peter entered the [[Kiev Theological Academy|Kiev Theological School]] when he was thirteen. After two years, his interest in his studies waned, and he found that his interest in monasticism had grown stronger. He was intent on entering a monastic life even over the objections of his mother. He wandered, visiting a number of elders, before entering the Medvedovsky [[monastery]], where he worked at many simple tasks. In time he was [[tonsure]]d to the rassa with the name Platon. Conflicts with the [[Eastern Catholic Churches|Uniates]] caused the [[monastery]] to close, and Platon traveled to the [[Monastery of the Kiev Caves|Kiev Lavra]], to work in its printing shop.
Still in a search of [[ascetic]] labor and a life as a [[hermit]], Platon journeyed to the monasteries in Moldovlachia that had been influenced by the spiritual life of the monasteries of [[Mount Athos]]. At the age of twenty-four, Platon traveled to Mount Athos, there to reside in the [[Pantokrator Monastery (Athos)|Pantocrator Monastery]] for the next four years, living in a life of ascetic poverty. In 1750, Platon was tonsured to the mantle with the name of Paisius by his spiritual father, Schema-monk Vasilius, who had come to Mount Athos from Moldavia.