Geronta Pavlos of Sinai
The Elder Pavlos of Sinai falls asleep in the Lord
I received the following email this morning from
Sister Joanna, the nun who accompanied the Elder on his visit to our monastery,
back in May of 2012:
“We rejoice in the knowledge that holy Geronta Pavlos
of Sinai, having reposed in the Lord, now enjoys the reward of the enormous
martyrdom he underwent during the past three years of severe illness without so
much as a sign of protest.
May we have his blessing by keeping his counsels,
following Christ with our lives as he wished. The great Spiritual Father who
devoted himself to the Mystery of Confession entered into genuine Life, shortly
before dawn, on the Sunday of Forgiveness.”
This photograph of Elder Pavlo that is in our library,
was taken by me in our monastery’s courtyard during his visit. I remember
apologizing to him during my private time with him in our library, after one of
my monks ask him, “How does one know if he is in the right monastery?” His
reply to this monk, who left without a blessing, was, “you are in the right
place if this is the place of your tonsure”.
I proceeded to tell Elder Pavlos that I was a poor
excuse for a spiritual father, and that we were not the monastery that we should
be. His reply surprised me, but also uplifted and encouraged me. He said, “Oh
no, I sense the love of the Sinai here”.
I later heard from Sister Joanna, that he told people
in Southern California, that our monastery was the favorite place he’d visited
during his trip to America. To this day, I am comforted by the memory of those
words, and uplifted by the knowledge that we now have a new heavenly
intercessor.
As I am with the memory of my own late spiritual
father, Blessed Dimitry of Santa Rosa, I am gratified that the Lord has seen
fit to visit me, in my unworthiness, with such illumined monastic saints as
Geronta Pavlos of Sinai, and Gerontissa Markella of Life Giving Spring
Monastery in Dunlap, CA. By their holy prayers and example, I may actually become
a holy monk myself, one day.
The Elder Pavlos of Sinai, who spent a Saturday
afternoon with us, recounted something about my own late Spiritual Father,
Blessed Dimitry of Santa Rosa, that I’d forgotten. Archimandrite Dimitry, who
had escaped from Communist Russia, having suffered beatings and imprisonment,
never spoke against them, nor ever uttered a word in judgement regarding his
former tormentors. In fact, Elder Dimitry never spoke a word in judgement
against anyone.
This demonstration of holiness is within the realm of
possibility of us all, for it simply requires commitment on our part, and a
willingness to never allow ourselves to utter a word of judgement against
anyone. If we do this, we will learn we can love everyone, for when we decide to
judge no one, love can enter our heart, and everyone will be the recipient of
our love, and kindness, and mercy.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
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