I personally met Fr. Joseph on Mount Athos, where he was a hermit, in 1956. He was very devoted to prayer. He had progressed, he had made great progress. He prayed for a long time, day and night. And if he didn't have time, he would create it; he loved prayer so much. In fact, he would set the alarm clock somewhere, to go off after six hours. And he had the blessing, this grace from God, to devote himself to prayer for six hours continuously, and with the grace of God he would not simply say the prayer, as we do today, but he would sink into his heart and there in the depths of his heart he would say the prayer. "And then - he says - the alarm clock rings and I come to my senses from all this devotion and do my work". He had a special grace. And although he was almost completely illiterate, he emerged as a great saint and theologian, advanced empirically in spiritual matters.
Archimandrite Symeon Kragiopoulos († September 30, 2015)
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