From Paris to Mount Athos: The Athonite Journey of Saint Sophrony Sakharov
From Paris to Mount Athos: The Athonite Journey of Saint Sophrony Sakharov

Author(s): Alina Ana Nistor
Subject(s): Theology and Religion, History of Religion
Published by: Editura Doxologia
Keywords: Mount Athos; monasticism; prayer; hesychia;
Summary/Abstract: Saint Sophrony the Athonite is one of the most prolific spiritual personalities of the twentieth century. A hesychast monk and a theologian, he was a connoisseur of spiritual experience expressed throughout all his theological works. The present paper aims to introduce the readers into the Athonite period of Saint Sophrony's life. In 1925 he left Paris and entered the Russian monastery of Saint Panteleimon on the Holy Mountain. He then passed, over the course of 22 years, through all the stages of monastic life: novice, monk and hieromonk within the monastic community, hermit in the Athonite caves, hieromonk and confessor for the Athonite hermits and for the large monastic communities of Saint Paul, Gregoriou, Simonospetras and Xenophontes. On the Holy Mountain, monk Sophrony receives the vision of the Uncreated Light and lives in prayer for the whole world. In 1930, Hierodeacon Sophrony begins his apprenticeship with Saint Silouan, a monk of the monastery of Saint Panteleimon, who becomes his spiritual father. According to his own testimony, the seven years he spent with Staretz Silouan were the greatest gift God gave him. The Athonite path of Saint Sophrony, sealed by his providential encounter with Saint Silouan, will constitute the foundation for his later spiritual becoming and theology.

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