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Ephraim (Moraitis) of Philotheou

768 bytes added, 08:09, October 30, 2013
Monastic life
On September 26, 1947, Ioannis arrived at Mt. Athos to the St. Anna's skete. Elder Joseph got to know about his arrival from the patron saint of both Ioannis and of the keliya of elder Joseph - St. John the Baptist. As elder Ephraim recalls in his book, at the pier he met elder [[Arsenios the Cave-Dweller|Arsenios]] who said: "Are you Iannakis from Volos?" - "Yes, how do you know me?" -"Elder Joseph knows that from the Fair Forerunner. He appeared to him today and said: I brought to you one sheep. Place it in your fence."
So Ioannis became a disciple of Elder [[Joseph the Hesychast]] who [[tonsure]]d him in 1948 and gave him the name Ephraim. Elder Ephraim was subsequently [[ordination|ordained]] a [[deacon]], and then a [[priest]]. The life in the brotherhood under Elder Joseph was very austere and [[asceticism|ascetical]], and Elder Ephraim made great spiritual progress under his holy Elder.  In his book, Elder Ephraim thanks Elder Joseph for his severe but very proficient teaching. Only after leaving the world, Ephraim understood his very strong pride. In the world, he lived a chaste and pious life and was thinking high of himself. Only with Elder Joseph he began to see it, especially when Elder made comments about his behavior. During 12 years, Ephraim heard his name from the Elder only twice - all other times he used only abusive nicknames. But behind his back, the elder constantly blessed him - Ephraim got to know this later from other people. Also during confession of thoughts, Elder Joseph never spoke sharply. He described in detail the origin of thoughts and mistakes, so Ephraim thought that Elder knows him better than he knows himself. After Elder Joseph's repose in 1959, Elder Ephraim continued to live in asceticism for many years until he became the abbot of the Holy Monastery of Philotheou in 1973, where he was able to revive the spiritual life there in a short time. Due to the reputation of Elder Ephraim, the monastery's brotherhood grew rapidly. Elder Ephraim was asked by the council of Mount Athos to revive and expand several other monasteries on Mount Athos which had a dwindling number of monks. These monasteries were [[Xeropotamou Monastery (Athos)|Xeropotamou]], [[Konstamonitou Monastery (Athos)|Konstamonitou]], and [[Karakalou Monastery (Athos)|Karakallou]]. He was also asked to repopulate the [[Great Lavra (Athos)|Great Lavra]] but declined. These monasteries are still under his spiritual guidance today. Along with the monasteries on Mount Athos, there are several other monasteries in Greece under Elder Ephraim's spiritual guidance, including the monastery of St. [[John the Forerunner]] in Serres, that of [[Panagia]] the Directress in Portaria (Volos), and that of the [[Archangel Michael]], a formal [[metochion]] of Philotheou on the island of Thasos.
==Present day==
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