Venerable Euthymius the Great
January 20th
Speaking in low, somber voices, the grieving brothers who had lived for so many years under his kindly governance at the monastery asked the Holy Monastic, Euthymius, for a last bit of guidance.They wanted to learn as much as they could from their 96-year-old Superior, before his soul should depart this earth forever.
“Wise Father,” they implored him in words like these, “tell us, please, how we should live! Instruct us, O Holy One: What should we remember – before all else –if we are to fulfill our sacred duty as monks who dedicate themselves to the worship of Almighty God?”
From his deathbed, the Venerable Father Euthymius, one of the holiest monks and wisest teachers in the long history of the Holy Church, answered them with the following words, according to historians of the period:
“Every virtue is made secure by love and humility. The Lord humbled Himself because of His Love for us and became man. Therefore, we ought to praise Him unceasingly, especially since we monks have escaped worldly distractions and concerns.
“Look to yourselves, and preserve your souls and bodies in purity. Do not fail to attend the church services, and keep the traditions and rules of our community. If one of the brethren struggles with unclean thoughts, correct, console, and instruct him, so that he does not fall into the devil's snares. Never refuse hospitality to visitors.
“Offer a bed to every stranger. Give whatever you can to help the poor in their misfortune.”
Born around 377 in the Armenian city of Melitene, located near the Euphrates River, the Venerable Euthymius spent his entire lifetime struggling to follow the same advice he would give his beloved monks on the day of his death. The son of two aristocratic but virtuous Christians – Paul and Dionisiya – this humble and self-denying monk would not only live up to the spiritual guidelines he recommended for his followers . . . but would also become an immensely important fighter against dangerous heresies, as well as a defender of the sacred doctrines that provided the foundation for the spiritual authority of his beloved Holy Church.
Because she had been infertile before his birth, the faithful Dionisiya prayed fervently to God for His help in providing her with a son. And then, wonder of wonders, she experienced a vision in which she was blessed with a male infant – whom she immediately named Euthymius, which means “Great Cheer!” For the God-fearing Dionisiya, the arrival of this gift would be a source of lifelong joy.
As a youth who studied Sacred Scripture and prayed constantly under the direction of the Armenian Bishop Eutroius, the Venerable Euthymius dreamed of someday visiting the Holy Sites of Palestine, and even of becoming a monk and a desert-dwelling hermit. Both of his wishes began to come true on the glorious day when he finally visited Jerusalem at the age of twenty-nine, around 406 A.D., and found himself enchanted by the physical and spiritual beauty of the Holy Land.
Within a few months, the God-seeking visionary had settled down to a life of asceticism and prayer at the great Lavra located at Pharan, on the roadway that connected Jerusalem and Jericho. There he soon began to develop the qualities – intense piety and deeply rooted humility – that would define his entire life as a monk. While living at Pharan, and also sharing the austere grotto occupied at times by his beloved companion and fellow monk, St. Theoktistos, the Venerable Euthymius would begin to steel himself for the great wrestling match that is the life of the dedicated contemplative.
Soon he began to attract a steady stream of disciples . . . a group of contemplatives whose illustrious ranks would include such venerated figures as St. Cyriac the Hermit, St. Saba the Sanctified and the revered monastic teacher, Theoktistos. As the years unfolded one by one, the Venerable Euthymius would establish a reputation throughout Palestine and the Middle East as a miracle worker, as a healer of the sick and as a multiplier of bread for the hungry. Nor was he afraid of the demons that walked this desert landscape. Skilled at exorcism, he freed many from the torments of the Evil One, simply by invoking the loving and healing power of Almighty God. Again and again, he drove unclean spirits from the bodies of helpless sinners who were then free to worship God in gratitude and humility.
Just and prudent-minded in everything he did, St. Euthymius warned the monks under his charge that they should never fail to perform manual labor each day in the service of the Lord, Christ Jesus, while telling everyone who would listen: “If you eat bread, not of your own labor, know that you are eating of someone else's labor!”
So humble was he that he often commanded his monks to eat with the entire community at their communal table – so that they could avoid the danger of becoming prideful about their fasting. And he invariably recommended that the monastics he supervised should remain right where they were, in their sparsely furnished cells . . . rather than wandering the desert in a great show of piety and contemplation. Simple and down to earth, his advice to younger monastics was always the same:
“A tree frequently transplanted does not bear fruit. Whoever desires to do good, can do it from the place where he is.” He lived up to this creed himself by remaining for months at a time in a solitary cave near the monastery – a secluded spot that eventually became a large monastery full of monks who sought to emulate his example.
When he died at the age of 96, the Patriarch of Jerusalem hurried to the site of his passing in order to bless his remains and pray for his swift entry into the Kingdom of Heaven. So great were the crowds that pressed forward to reverence this great spiritual leader that the Patriarch could not complete his orisons until dark, after services that had filled the entire day. While Holy Men from across the Middle East gathered to touch his relics and the monks who had shared their lives with him wept unashamedly, the funeral of this revered holy man unfolded throughout a moving hour of grief.
The Holy Father and God-seeking ascetic had left his earthly body behind, but he had not yet departed from his brothers in Christ. Only seven days after his death at the monastery, his spirit appeared to his beloved friend and fellow monk, the youthful Domentian, whom he advised and comforted at great length. Described by many of his loyal followers as a “Son of Light,” and honored each January 20th anew, the Venerable Euthymius went to be with God around the year 473 A.D.
Among the many miracles that made St. Euthymius such a figure of legend in the Holy Church, none seemed more remarkable than his healing of a gravely ill child whose father – mighty Aspebetos – was the ruler of a great tribe of wandering Arabians. When the Arab chieftain saw how the Holy Man from Pharan had healed his cherished son, he quickly converted to the Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ and commanded that all the members of his immense tribe should do the same. After taking the Christian name of “Peter,” this powerful prince would cap his astonishing conversion by eventually becoming a wise Christian bishop who was known throughout the Middle East as The Bishop of the Tents.
These miracles were made possible by the grace of God, and played a major role in converting many who witnessed them. But the Holy Monk Euthymius also provided a service of inestimable importance to the Holy Church by opposing three different heresies that threatened her true doctrines.
At various times during his long and holy life, this humble cave dweller and teacher of monks would risk his social stature (along with his life) in resisting the theological errors that were being advanced by the Nestorians, the Eutychians and the Manichaeans.
Most valuable of all, perhaps, was the great gift St. Euthymius made of his wise teaching, during many years of instructing his fellow monks on the essential steps required for proper monastic living. Among his grateful students was the holy monk and teacher of desert hermits, Saint Saba the Sanctified, who never stopped praising the kind wisdom of his friend and fellow monastic, Venerable Euthymius.
Beloved among the monks of Palestine for his great wisdom, this remarkable thinker frequently described the task of the religious contemplative as a continuing and strenuous effort to live according to the will of God. As he often said:
“Know, that one desiring to lead a monastic life ought not to have his own will, he is always to be found in obedience and humility and to be mindful of the thought of death, to fear the Judgment and the eternal fire and to desire the Heavenly Kingdom.”
Because he was a man of such great faith, St. Euthymius was often rewarded with extraordinary miracles that flowed from the infinite abundance of a loving God. On one occasion that describes the life of this holy monk perfectly, more than 400 pilgrims arrived unexpectedly at the monastery en route to the Holy Sites. Footsore and hungry, they were disappointed to learn that the monks had only a little food. These weary travelers were at the point of starvation. Would they go hungry on this cold, rainy night in Palestine?
No! Moving quickly, the trusting St. Euthymius called for his steward and instructed him to “feed our visitors immediately.”
When the steward protested that the monastery larder was bare, and did not contain enough food for ten visitors, let alone 400, the kindly monk simply waved his words away and asked him to hurry to the kitchen for a closer look. The servant obeyed . . . and found an immense quantity of bread, wine and oil that filled the room from floor to ceiling! What followed was a joyful feast in which the monks and their guests alike praised the beneficence of God with every bite.
After the guests had eaten their fill, enough food remained in the larder to meet the needs of the monastery for more than three months. Responding to the greatness of Almighty God in sending this boon, the grateful St. Euthymius prayed with fervent gratitude for the miracle that had taken place that day among his fellow monastics.
This marvelous incident speaks volumes to us about the great gift from God that was the life of the Venerable Euthymius the Great. Because his faith was so great – and because his nature was so inherently generous – he has helped to nourish the world of the Holy Church and all who believe in her for nearly sixteen centuries. To this day, his prudent and loving words of wisdom to all who wish to praise Almighty God still resonate with the wisdom of the ages.
Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
Be glad, O barren one, that hast not given birth; be of good cheer, thou that hast not travailed; for a man of desires hath multiplied thy children of the Spirit, having planted them in piety and reared them in continence to the perfection of the virtues. By his prayers, O Christ our God, make our life peaceful.
Kontakion in the Eighth Tone
Creation found delight and joy in thine august nativity and the good cheer of thy numberless miracles on thy divine memorial. Now bestow thereof richly on our souls and wash clean the stains of our every sin, Euthymius most-righteous, that we may chant: Alleluia.
