Papouli told me one day: “My son Anargyros, I had a very good friend, a hieromonk, who was told to go to America to preach the Word of God. Both of us were sorry about our separation. But the Archdiocese was unrelenting. He had to leave immediately.
On the day of our farewell, we promised that for the rest of our lives we would pray for each other. From the very first night, I started praying for my friend. He wrote to me that he also did the same for me. However, in his next letters he referred to tremendous vibrations that he felt during his sleep. It was as if electric current of a high voltage passed through his body. And it was of such a high intensity that he couldn’t sleep. That phenomenon took place every night, and his sleep became a problem.
At first, he supposed that those disturbances were caused by the different climatic conditions of America. But he began to worry when he saw that, as time passed, these disturbances were increasing instead of decreasing. So he informed me by telephone and asked for my opinion.
‘It’s nothing,’ I told him. ‘You simply forgot the promise to pray for each other. At what time do you feel these vibrations?’ ‘During the night, while I sleep.’ And he told me the exact time of the disturbances.
‘Well, at that time, it is night there, but here it is morning. It is the time when I, the humble one, am praying for you. May the name of God be glorified, who lets my prayer reach you in America. Do the same for me because I am a great sinner,’ I told him, and we hung up.”
We must explain to the readers, who may wonder why Papouli’s prayer had an annoying effect on the hieromonk, that this was due to the fact that he forgot to pray at the time they had agreed. Apparently, this would not have happened if the hieromonk had been praying for Papouli as well.
We must also add something even more impressive, which we heard and cross-examined. One night, this hieromonk felt cold while sleeping. He woke up and saw that the door of his room was open. He got puzzled. He was sure that he had closed it, as he used to. After closing it, he slept again. A few days later, he talked on the phone with father Porphyrios, who told him that he came and saw him sleeping instead of praying. The hieromonk did not believe it thinking that it was impossible for Papouli to go to America and see him. Then, father Porphyrios told him simply: “Yes, I came and saw you and left your door open.” The hieromonk was dumbfounded as if struck by a thunderbolt! Great You are Lord, and wonderful are Your deeds! Who could doubt any more what Papouli said?
We have heard from many people that they felt Papouli’s prayer as serenity and solace, as relief and happiness, as a sense of bliss and peace, something that drove away every trouble and anguish, something that caused a feeling of safety and assurance, and a disposition to praying and glorifying God.
One lady, who had recently lost her husband, states in Klitos Ioannidis’ book Elder Porphyrios, Testimonies and Experiences[6] that in the afternoon of the same day that she announced the death of her husband to father Porphyrios, while at home, she suddenly felt all the burden lifted from her soul and a kind of happiness springing from her heart. This compelled her to make the sign of the cross and say, “My God! Is this reaction normal?” She learned later that at that time Geronda Porphyrios was praying for her.
Another lady told a reliable person that when she asked father Porphyrios to help her with a problem, he suggested praying together at 10 o’clock in the evening. She told him that it was impossible because at that time she was occupied with her family. Then, he suggested that they prayed (she would pray from her own house, of course) at 4 o’clock in the morning. And when she told him that she could not set the alarm clock at that time because she would wake her family up, he told her that he would come and wake her up. Well, she actually felt a light touch or push on the shoulder every morning at 4 o’clock, and she knew that it was the Geronda waking her gently. It was a pleasant reveille without agitation or disturbance.
Another person, a friend of ours, said that when father Porphyrios was praying for him at night, he had sometimes a feeling of peace in his soul and a lightness in his body as if he was about to rise in the air although he actually did not move.
However, in some cases Papouli’s prayer had other effects. Papouli narrated the following story to a friend of mine. There was someone who had borrowed a sum of money and did not want to give it back. After a request from the lender, father Porphyrios prayed God to inspire the borrower to pay his debt. Not willing to return the money, the man got upset by father’s prayer and asked him to stop praying for him. In that case, of course, it was not Papouli’s prayer that bothered him. It was remorse aroused by being reminded of keeping someone else’s money.
So, on rare occasions, the person for whom father Porphyrios was praying felt a kind of disturbance; a sort of intense reminder. This, of course, happened when the person had not done what he should have done.
Anyhow, let’s return to our story. In less than twenty days, Papouli received a call from his friend, the hieromonk, who begged him to stop praying for him. He was left sleepless at night and consequently consequently could not work during the day. He was in danger of being considered lazy and indifferent by the community. Papouli did what he had been asked. Actually, he stopped praying for him, and the hieromonk stopped feeling the effects of Papouli’s prayer, the range of which reached America!
However, we must digress again to clarify our subject in order to avoid any misunderstanding. Here, a great mystery is hidden, which needs explanation. It is the mystery of toil which reposes and of comfort which destroys. Very characteristic are the words of a monk in Gerondikon: “I lead myself where there is toil, and there I find rest.” And Abba Isaac writes, “God and His angels rejoice in need; the Devil and his workers rejoice at rest.” And somewhere else it is said, “Nobody ascended to Heaven in comfort.”
It is like the athlete who wants to win the races. He likes the toil of training because he looks forward to the prize of victory. Father Porphyrios was aware of that out of experience. And, due to his love, he wanted to lead his friend, the hieromonk, to the heavenly peace that passes through temporary toil. So he was reminding him disturbingly the time of prayer as if he was saying to him, “Leave sleep alone, my poor fellow, and come to pray together, as we have agreed. Through that you will enter the mysteries of God, and you will feel another kind of rest.”
Of course, that hieromonk, thinking manwise, had the idea that it was necessary for him to rest in order to be able to work the next day. But father Porphyrios’ secret was that when Grace comes, tiredness does not count. We can rather say that the greater the toil performed with divine love, with love for our Lord Jesus Christ, the greater the grace God endow us with. Thus, the person who stays awake praying can work better for his fellowmen in church despite his physical fatigue. On the contrary, the one who has rested sleeping will work only with his own restricted strength.
Therefore, that hieromonk, who did not understand Papouli’s message and preferred the second point of view, is like an athlete who prefers sleeping to training in order to do well in the races. Everyone understands how unreasonable this is. Nevertheless, God does not force anyone, and that is why father Porphyrios retreated when his offer was not accepted. Of course, the hieromonk was left alone working with his human strength. We do not know how he developed. We hope that later he understood the meaning of Papouli’s disturbance and benefited from it.
Papouli found himself obliged to tell me the above story because during that summer, about twenty five years ago, I underwent the same torture by the prayers of my beloved Papouli. It was in August, I remember, when we and another couple, friends of ours, decided to spend our holidays in the baths at Aedepsos. Before leaving I went to say goodbye to Papouli and have his blessing, as I used to. I asked him if he foresaw how I was going to spend my holidays. He said that everything was to be fine because he would pray continuously.
In the afternoon, we found ourselves in Aedepsos and settled in a luxurious hotel. We began enjoying ourselves having forgotten everything about praying and our other religious duties. At night, we went to bed late. As soon as I fell asleep, I felt my bed moving so much that I thought it was an earthquake. I woke up frightened and started shouting loudly, “Earthquake! Earthquake!” I was holding tightly on the bed so as not to fall down. However, I noticed that nobody else in the hotel had woken up. That increased my anxiety I stayed sleepless for a long time. When I fell asleep again, the same thing happened. Moreover, I felt as if my body was being shaken by something alike to electric current! This happened again and again.
In the morning, I asked my friend and his wife whether they had felt the earthquake. They laughed at me! The same thing happened the following nights, and my holidays became mere torture. One night, I dreamt that I was at st. Nicholas’ church probably at Callisia. Beams from millions of multi-coloured, divine rays were being emitted on me from the icon of the Saint. That most splendid light filled me with indescribable divine pleasure.
After that dream, I was compelled to communicate with Papouli and inform him about what was happening. “Don’t worry! It’s me disturbing you with my prayers. When did you dream of st. Nicholas’ church?” he asked me. I told him the time. “Yes, at that time I was praying to the Saint for you. Go on with your holidays, but don’t forget to pray.”
Then, joking, I told him: “Papouli, if you want me to continue my holidays, I beg you to stop praying about me. Otherwise, this is not holidays; this is torture…”
He smiled with kindness and infinite benevolence. In that way, he wanted to lead me to spiritual life. But I was …in deep sleep. He reminded me of that event two hours before leaving for his last journey to Mount Athos, and we both laughed heartily with special satisfaction.
My only wish is that he prayed for me now from Heaven as ardently as he did when he was alive! This would be the most pleasant torture for me…
Ref: Kalliatsos, Anargyros. Father Porphyrios: The Discerning, the Foreseeing, the Healer (pp. 35-41). The Holy Convent of the Transfiguration of the Savior, Milessi. Kindle Edition.
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