July 12 - Repose of Elder Païsios the New of the Holy Mountain (1994)

Elder Paisios and St. Euphemia:
“Father Paisios was going through a very difficult time. At that time a problem had arisen in the Church and many bishops had gone to him asking for his help. However, it was a very complicated problem and even if he wanted to, he was unable to help them. As he himself said, no matter from which angle you look at the problem, you come face to face with a spiritual impasse. So, he decided to turn his efforts in solving the problem into prayer. Father Paisios constantly prayed for God to give a solution to the Church’s problem; he prayed especially to St. Ephemia:
“St. Euphemia, you who miraculously gave a solution to the serious problem the Church was facing in the fourth century, take the Church out of its current difficulty!”
One morning, at nine o’ clock, when Father Paisios was reading the service of the third hour, he suddenly heard someone discreetly knocking on his door. The Elder asked: “Who is it?”
Then, he heard a woman’s voice answering: “It is me, Euphemia, Father.”
“Which Euphemia?” he asked.
There was no answer. There was another knock on the door and again he asked: “Who is it?”
The same voice was heard saying: “It is Euphemia, Father.”
There was a third knock and the Elder felt someone coming inside his cell and walking through the corridor. He went to the door and there he saw St. Euphemia, who had miraculously entered his cell through the locked door and was venerating the icon of the Holy Trinity, which the Elder had placed on the wall of his corridor, on the right hand side of the church’s door.
Then the Elder told the saint: “Say: Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
St. Euphemia clearly repeated those words and immediately Father Paisios knelt and venerated her.
Afterwards, they sat and talked for quite a while; he could not specify for how long, as he had lost all sense of time while being in the presence of the saint. She gave the solution for all three matters he had been praying about.
In the end he said to her: “I would like you to tell me how you endured your martyrdom.”
The saint replied:“Father, if I knew back then how eternal life would be, and the heavenly beauty souls close to God enjoy, I honestly would have asked for my martyrdom to last for ever, as it was absolutely nothing compared to God’s gifts of grace!”
“Towards the end of June, the doctors informed [Elder Paisios] that he had about 2-3 weeks left. On Monday, July 11, on St. Ephemia’s day, Father Paisios received Holy Communion for the last time, kneeling in front of his bed. During the last 24 hours, he was very serene, and even though he suffered, he did not complain at all. He did not wish to take any more medication. The only medicine he accepted was cortisone, because, according to the doctors, it would not prolong his life span, but it would only give him some strength. On Tuesday, July 12, Elder Paisios humbly and peacefully rendered his soul to God, whom he had deeply loved and served since his early childhood.”