The beatitudes of Saint Paisios the Athonite

The beatitudes of Saint Paisios the Athonite

Saint Paisios wrote these beatitudes "as does the madman who writes his outbursts on the wall with charcoal." The reason for the initial craziness was five letters, one after the other, from various parts of Greece on a variety of subjects. While the events described were great blessings of God, those who wrote to St Paisios had fallen into despair because they dealt with them in a worldly way. "After replying accordingly to their letters, I took the pencil like a madman, as I have said, and wrote this epistle."

A prophecy of St Paisios

Saint Paisius, the Ecumenical Athonite - a Russian documentary

The Life of Saint Paisios (video)

Elder Paisios - full speech (27 min.)

Saint Paisios Athonite - Russian Film - English Subtitles

St Efimia and St Paisios the Athonite

St Efimia and St Paisios the Athonite
A TRUE STORY

The Elder (Paisios) was in the front yard of his retreat when he was visited by one of his spiritual children. He was repeating, from the heart, “Glory to You, o God”, over and over again.
“Can someone be rendered useless – in a good sense?” the Elder suddenly asked him.

“Who would that be, Elder?”
“Well, I was sitting in my Cell quietly, then she came here and drove me crazy… They are having such a good time, ‘up there’..”
“What’s troubling you, Elder?”
“I will tell you, but don’t you tell anyone.”
He went on to narrate the following:

Be the Bee and not the Fly -Saint Paisios-

-Saint Paisios-

Be the Bee and not the Fly

Some people tell me that they are scandalized because they see many things wrong in the Church. I tell them that if you ask a fly, “Are there any flowers in this area?” it will say, “I don’t know about flowers, but over there in that heap of rubbish you can find all the filth you want.” And it will go on to list all the unclean things it has been to.

Now, if you ask a honeybee, “Have you seen any unclean things in this area?” it will reply, “Unclean things? No, I have not seen any; the place here is full of the most fragrant flowers.” And it will go on to name all the flowers of the garden or the meadow.