10/16/2025
Sent by Metropolitan Moses:
Saint Ieronymos of Aegina
Blessed Elder Ieronymos (Apostolides) of Aegina was born Vasilios Apostolides in 1883 in the village of Galyveri, Cappadocia, in Asia Minor. His pious parents, Anastasios and Elizabeth, had six children. As a boy he was deeply impressed by the fervent prayers of both his mother and the secret ascetics who lived in the cave-churches of Turkish-occupied Cappadocia. As a young man he was ordained a deacon by Metropolitan Sophronios of Amisos in Asia Minor. Later, he visited the Holy Land and stayed for nine months in the Monastery of St. John the Forerunner near the River Jordan. On his return, he served as a deacon in the Church of St. George in Constantinople, where he was long remembered for his holiness, his zeal, and his wonderful voice. The Exchange of Populations in 1922 brought Fr. Ieronymos, as well as millions of his fellow Greeks, back to Greece as refugees, ending the 2000-year-old Greek Christian civilization in Asia Minor.
After suffering for two months from a painful disease, he died in an Athens hospital on Sunday October 3, 1966, at 12:33pm.Although not yet glorified as a saint by the Church, his relics repose in his Skete of the Annunciation (Evangelismos) above the town of Aegina.
Saint Ieronymos and the Good Turkish Judge
One time a Turk visited the Elder in his humble cell. He said that his master, a judge, invited him to his house. The Elder was somewhat worried. He was not used to invitations for social visits, and he thought that something bad must have happened, a new test. He prayed to God however, and then he followed the servant.
When they arrived at the Turkish Judge’s mansion, the judge himself received him with great cordiality. They sat in the living room and the judge began the conversation:
‘Your Reverence, I am a Turk, a Moslem. But from the salary I take, I keep what is necessary for me and my family, and the rest I spend in charities. I help widows, orphans and the poor, I give dowries to destitute girls who are ready to get married, I assist the sick. I keep strictly the fasts, I pray, and generally I try to be conscientious in my faith. Also when I judge, I try to be impartial. I am not bought by anyone, no matter how high of a position one might have. Do you think that these things that I do, are sufficient to gain for me paradise, as you Christians call it?’
Fr. Vasilios was impressed by what the Turkish judge had told him, and his mind went immediately to the Centurion Cornelius (Acts 10). He discerned in them both parallel lives. He understood that he had before him a righteous and good-willing man, and perhaps his mission was the same with that of the Apostle Peter toward the Centurion. He therefore decided to give testimony to his faith.
‘Tell me, efendi cadi [judge], do you have children?’
‘Yes I do.’
‘Do you have servants?’
‘Yes, I have servants also.’
‘Who obeys better your commands, your children or your servants?’
‘For sure my servants, because my children sometimes, with the confidence they have, disobey me and do whatever they want, but my servants do always whatever I tell them.’
‘I pray thee, efendi, when you will die, who is going to inherit your wealth -- Your servants, who obey faithfully your commands, or your children, who disobey you?’
‘My children of course. Only they have inheritance rights, not my servants.’
‘Well then, efendi, whatever you do is good, but it only puts you into the category of the good servant. If you want to inherit paradise, the kingdom of heaven, you must become a son. And this is accomplished only through baptism.’
The Turkish judge was impressed by the example that Fr. Vasilios related to him. They talked about many other things, and in the end he asked him to instruct him in the faith and to baptize him. Some time later the Turkish judge was baptized and became a Christian.
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The Elder Ieronymos
By Peter Botsis
Chapter 2
Father Ieronymos, whose secular name was Basil Apostolides, was born in 1883 in Asia Minor, the "great mainland," as Kontoglou so aptly put it, that fountainhead of holiness. His place of birth was Kelveri of Cappadocia, a region which showed forth some of the greatest Saints of our Church (Saint Basil the Great, Saint Gregory the Theologian, Saint Amphilochius of Iconium, etc.).
Kelveri, at the time that Father Ieronyrnos was born, was a small town of some 4,000 inhabitants. It was considered one of the major commercial centers of the area. Ecclesiastically, it was subject to the diocese of Iconium.
According to trustworthy testimony, Kelveri in ancient times was the site of a series of cells and monasteries, some perched like eagles' nests high up on the rocks, others carved out of the mountains round about. Ascetics lived there like herons in their nests, or like otherworldly beings in the dens and caves of the earth. The very name of the place confirms the above assertion: Kelveri is a corruption of the older "Kelivara," a mixed Greek-Turkish word signifying "a place of many cells." This view is supported by the fact that there used to be many churches at Kelveri: the evidence shows that last century there must have been over two hundred.
With the passage of time, the angel-like ascetics of the monasteries became fewer. And later, from fear of the persecutions and oppression of a conqueror holding to a different religion, the monasteries and hermitages closed down one by one. The rassa-clad occupants of the cells were replaced by layfolk, until finally what had been a monastic republic was reduced to a village.
The Saints, wherever they may be found, are not sanctified for themselves alone; they sanctify creation around them also. The power of their prayers, and the sweat of their ascetical struggles, affect all things around them and transmit to them their holiness. Even as we have icons that work miracles, because they were painted by holy men, in like manner the entire area where holy men lived is sanctified and their descendants live by their tradition and under their influence.
Kelveri was considered the most important Christian center of the whole region. From extant historical testimonies, and also from narrations and recollections of the blessed Elder Ieronymos, we shall mention a few details that will help us to come somewhat closer to the spiritual atmosphere that prevailed there in the Elder's day and age.
Tradition in Anatolia
Every home in Kelveri had a separate room, which was the special place of prayer. On the eastern side of this room they would make a niche, where they placed the icons, the censer, the religious books the Synopsis, the Psalter, the Gospels, the lives of the Saints, holy water from the feast of Theophany, and so forth. It was here that they all prayed together. They prayed privately also, when any felt the need. But there were also the pre- scribed hours of common prayer: in the morning, at noonday, in the evening when the church bell rang for Vespers, and in the evening for Compline. Many were they who awoke at midnight in order to read the midnight service, because at this time, they said, "the gates of Heaven open up." And, of course, there was always prayer before and after meals. It is noteworthy that before they commenced any work whatsoever, their lips whispered the prayer, "Lord, Jesus Christ ..." Such was their zeal for prayer that many said the Kelveriotes were the spiritual descendants of monks, and thus a sort oflegend took hold.
The keeping of Sundays and the other Christian feasts as non-work days was something sacred and inviolable. Not only would the stores and workshops remain closed, but even the women at home would stop every kind of work. It was the same with the fasts, which were observed with great strictness. They even made the little children, as soon as they were weaned, to begin keeping the fasts.
Many of the people of Kelveri, chiefly women, were in the habit of going in groups to country chapels to pray. This usually took place at night, early at dawn, or in the evening, especially during the period of the Great Fast. One of them would kneel in the middle of the church and would relate to the others, who stood, narrations from the Birth, the Crucifixion and whatever else they knew, whereupon all began to pray with tears. They attached special significance to tears. They would endeavor not to rise from prayer without shedding at least one teardrop because, as they said, tears have great power; "they put out the fire of hell."
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The monastic tradition of the Orthodox Church was maintained very energetically in Kelveri. Many abandoned the world and became monks. The women took the lead here also; once they had decided to consecrate themselves to God, they would go to a convent or would put on monastic clothing and live in a monastic way in the village, occupying themselves exclusively with the study of spiritual and ecclesiastical books, with prayer, with vigils and good works.
Almost all the inhabitants of Kelveri nourished within a deep desire to visit the Holy Places. Every year, around fall, small groups of men and women would gather, and once they had pre- pared all that was needed for their journey, which usually lasted for six months, they all set off together. These journeys had a festive character. And when the pilgrims returned to Kelveri, the inhabitants awaited them at the entrance of the village, in the so-called "ravine of the monastery." There they would have a doxology to God and then return all together.
Of the village's two hundred churches or so, those of the Holy Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian and Saint Gregory the Theologian stood out, because of the special reverence which the Kelveriotes had for these Saints. On the feast of the Holy Unmercenaries in particular, the first of November, a great festival took place in Kelveri which was attended by the whole village. The Holy Unmercenaries, the "doctors without money," were their patrons. Even the few Turks living in Kelveri believed in the miraculous power of the Saints. There are many incidents demonstrating the faith that the Turks nourished towards the Holy Unmercenaries and Saint Gregory the Theologian. We shall mention two characteristic incidents.
During World War I, in 1914, a certain Kelveriote Turk took part in a major battle, which lasted for two days. The battle was fierce and his life was endangered. In those difficult hours he found no other refuge except in the Holy Unmercenaries, whom he knew to be great wonderworkers. He implored them to save him and he would give whatever they requested of him. Then during a respite in the battle, when he had been overcome by a little sleep, he saw the Holy Unmercenaries who said to him, "We will save you, but as soon as you return to Kelveri offer our church a vessel of oil." The Turk in fact was saved and he immediately gave his wife word to fulfill his vow to the church.
Another Turk related that before the exchange of populations in 1924, a certain young girl fell from her house into the void and was not harmed. During her fall Saint Gregory held her by her hand and saved her. After the exchange, the daughter of a certain Turk fell from the same house and was killed. According to the refugee Turk, "Saint Gregory had become a refugee in Macedonia (the place where the Christian inhabitants of Kelveri were resettled after the exchange) and was no longer there to save her."
The Church's presence in Kelveri was conspicuous; not only did it have the spiritual leadership, but it was also foremost in preserving the Greek language, and it endeavored to keep the national consciousness thriving and flourishing. In the rough and trackless path that the Greek faithful of Asia Minor traversed, in their life-or-death struggle for their religious and national survival, it was their attachment and devotion to the Church, their worshipful and sacramental life, their prayers and seething faith in their miracle-working Saints that helped them preserve their tranquility of soul and the hope for a better tomorrow.
Angel-like Ascetics
We should make special mention of certain holy persons, who towards the end of last century extraordinarily helped in the spiritual uplifting of the inhabitants of Kelveri and
deeply influenced the formation of Father Ieronymos's personality. Two of these persons were:
1. MISAEL
Misael, a patriarchal personage, was an ascetical type, one of those whom we only encounter in the lives of the Saints. Austere yet meek, he was like unto a Prophet who bears in himselfa whole age-old tradition. He combined the type of the austere Prophet with the introspective ascetic who spends all his days and nights in prayer. He was a dynamic personality who played the part of spiritual guide to all the inhabitants of the village. As the Elder Ieronymos used to say, "Misael was another Abba Isaac. So much had he progressed in prayer."
Misael was married but he did not live with his wife; they were like brother and sister. He worked for his family and provided for them, but did not live with them. By day he worked alone in the fields, not wishing to work with others lest they observe him as he prayed. The nights he passed praying at some country chapel, or if he returned home he remained by himself. He had a great love for stillness and a burning desire for prayer. When he prayed, his heart was so enflamed that he forgot himself. He had the strength to remain kneeling in prayer with his hands upraised for two days.
He had especially given himself over to so-called "compunctionate" prayer. This "compunctionate" prayer, as they called it in Kelveri, was nothing other than noetic prayer (that is, prayer of the heart). He would kneel before an icon or in the open air outdoors and set his soul free to overflow before God. He would bring to mind his sins and pour forth abundant tears, from which he awaited deliverance. He often went up into the mountain and remained there praying till nightfall. And when he finished, the sweat of his agony was so great, that as the Elder Ieronymos would say, "If you wrung out his undershirt, you'd get three pints of water."
When he went to church, during the Divine Liturgy, he would not enter the nave, but stood in the narthex or behind some column. He would have his head resting on his chest and prayed noetically. Oft times when the priest made the exclamation "Especially our all-holy, immaculate, most blessed, glorious Lady Theotokos and Ever-virgin Mary;' he would quietly leave and disappear. As it became evident later, he would go to some chapel to continue his prayer into the night.
Many seeing him leave before the Divine Liturgy ended thought it strange and wondered where he went and what he did. One Sunday, therefore, as soon as Misael left the church, some women followed him discreetly from a distance in order to see where he went. He took a footpath and in a short time arrived at one of the many chapels. A little later the women following him arrived also and stood quietly outside. Misael, who had not noticed them, began to pray aloud with sobs, tears, and groanings that cannot be uttered. He prayed different prayers, known and extemporaneous, whatever helped to bring his heart to compunction. In this manner, with Misael praying aloud inside with tears and the women outside listening to his divine occupation, several hours passed with holy exaltation and contrition of heart.
As soon as Misael finished, he came out. When he saw the women, he was very upset, almost angry. He left without speaking to them. But they, transported by this divine mystagogy which they experienced so many hours near him, were envious, and they said among them, "Does God hear only Misael? Why don't we try to pray like him too?"
And they gave themselves over to the endeavor of prayer. But it is not as easy as that to devote yourself to noetic prayer without someone to teach you. The women soon understood this and began to approach Misael beseeching him to teach them the art of prayer. Though he taught them, and told them what to do, he would not show them, and would not pray with them. They then began to pray to God that He enlighten Misael to reveal to them the secrets of prayer by actual deeds.
The answer was not long in coming, and even came in a wondrous manner. Soon after, a monk appeared to Misael and said to him, "Misael, take the women who followed you to the chapel, and as many others as you wish, and at night come to such and such a house which is suitable and spacious. Only do not invite indifferent and superfluous people. I shall be there also and I shall teach you compunctionate prayer."
Misael, although he avoided people and did not wish to pray with others, obeyed. He invited the women and a few others, among whom was also the Elder Ieronymos, then a small child, and at night they all assembled at the appointed place. The monk then began to pray with sobs and many tears, which made everybody else weep also. He uttered various prayers and compunctionate sayings, which came from his heart with yearning and faith and revealed the great love that he had for God. This lasted all night and was repeated for a second time and a third. Towards the end of the third night, as soon as he had finished his prayer, and was counselling Misael to continue to teach the Christians, he disappeared before their eyes. Evidently he was an Angel of God or a Saint. From that time on Misael began to teach "compunctionate" prayer and at night all would gather at different houses and pray.
Misael had a daughter, who had a great calling to the spiritual life. Her father's genuine child, she inherited from him all his virtues and had a special devotion to compunctionate prayer. And even though she was quite young, little by little various women began to gather around her, and she taught them, she guided them, and all together they prayed with compunctionate prayer. With time, when this assembly gathered in a certain house to pray, it separated into two groups. Misael with the men would pray in one room, and his daughter with the women in another. And so Misael's daughter was the consolation of all the women of Kelveri, even as he was for the men.
When Misael's daughter reached the age of eighteen or twenty, she fell seriously ill. All the inhabitants of the village, especially the women, began to be alarmed. If something happened to her, they would lose their only consolation. What could they do? They all began to pray. They implored God day and night to make her well, because in the difficult times in which they found themselves, she was their singular consolation, the person who instructed and guided them, their bond with God. But her condition only worsened.
In their despair they thought to have recourse to her father, Misael. They knew well the power of his prayer and the audience he had before God, and they pleaded with him to pray for his daughter.
"We implore you," they said, "pray to God that He make her well. We're not asking you to make special supplication because she is your daughter, but for our own sake, because if we are deprived of her, we'll be left without any consolation. We have so many woes and so many troubles, that if we lose our only help and our support, despair will overwhelm us:'
Misael at first did not wish to yield to their entreaties, lest it be misconstrued that he had a special weakness for her as his daughter. His mind was bound exclusively to God; all other people he held equal in his heart. Nevertheless, to the women's insistent pleadings, his heart at last inclined. Thus, according to his custom, one Thursday morning, before it dawned, he went up into the mountain.
He knelt, lifted his hands on high and began his prayer. Set afire with divine love, he remained in "prayer and supplication," from "the morning watch until night." While the sweat was running down his face, he spoke to God, and among other things, he spoke about his daughter also, not that he was pained for her as a father, but because they told him that she was the support and consolation of the Christians.
Suddenly, as he stood absorbed in prayer, estranged from all that is worldly, and his soul was caught up into things celestial, he heard within himself a gentle voice, a divine voice saying, "Do you give surety for your daughter?"
"No, Lord, I am not able to give surety. I am a sinner and I know the fickleness of man. Today my daughter is struggling and working Thy will. But tomorrow? How can I give surety? May Thy will be done!"
This visitation, which God deemed him worthy of receiving, calmed him. He was entirely flooded with a heavenly tranquility and continued his holy pursue it with even greater zeal. Towards the end of the day a messenger came to inform him that his daughter had reposed and he should hurry back for her burial.
Having been previously informed, Misael received the message calmly and even with a certain relief. He had deep faith in God and in the resurrection of the dead, and he did not permit himself to mourn for the temporary separation of his daughter. His joy for her salvation, which God had revealed to him in a wondrous manner, gave him the strength to transcend even this sorrow over her death. After offering a prayer of thanksgiving to God, he set out with the messenger for the village.
This in short was Misael, from what the Elder leronymos related to us about him from time to time, and for whom he cherished a very great reverence. "Such men you do not find today," he would say, "he was another Abba Isaac. He spoke little, was humble, loved silence, and had a deep consciousness of his sinfulness. He never allowed anyone to praise him. And if anyone made bold. to say a flattering word to him, it was likely that Misael would never speak to him again."
2. FATHER JOHN
In one of the churches of the village there served a priest named Father John. He was a family man. On weekdays he went to the fields, on Sundays and feast days he served in church. He was very simple, humble, unkempt in appearance. If you met him in the road, you would not pay much attention to him:; but if you came to know him personally, you would see that this was a spiritual man with rare gifts. He was especially distinguished by the gift of prayer. It seems that in the parts of Anatolia, prayer was a flower that thrived exceedingly.
Concerning this Father John, the Elder Ieronymos narrated to us marvelous things, which one could only encounter in the ancient ascetics who had a burning faith. The characteristic event, which typified his presence in Kelveri, was the following:
When he served the Liturgy, he almost always wept, and sighed, and often could not hold back his sobs-such was his faith, and to such an intense degree did he live the mystery of the divine Eucharist. But when he reached the time of the consecration of the precious Gifts, his fervor would reach its peak. The chanters would finish the 'We praise Thee ... ," which they chanted as slowly as possible, and from within the sanctuary there would still be heard the prayers and sighs of the priest. They would begin "We praise Thee ..." again. They would have to repeat it often, five or six times, until Father John would finish and say the exclamation "Especially..."When this delay for the exclamation,
"Especially..."had been repeated for a few Sundays, the chanters became perplexed, not knowing what to do. They could not chant anything else --the Polyeleos, for example-since the sacredness of the moment did not permit it. All the same, they did not have the boldness to complain to the priest, for they reverenced him greatly. One day, there- fore, they told their problem to the church wardens.
"The priest takes a long time to finish the prayer at the time of the consecration of the precious Gifts, and we have no idea what to do. We chant the 'We praise Thee .. : over and over, but in so doing, it seems to us, confusion is created. Couldn't you please tell him to hurry a little?"
The wardens conveyed the chanters' request to the priest. He answered them, "How can I finish any sooner? It doesn't depend on me. As soon as I begin to read the prayer, the holy table is surrounded by divine fire, which reaches two or three yards high, and I am not able to approach. I fall upon the ground and pray, until God in His good pleasure withdraws the divine fire: or many times it divides in two, and then I enter and continue the prayer, 'and make this bread .. .' and so forth."
When the chanters heard this, they marveled at the holiness of their priest, and did not dare to bother him on this account again. So they continued to chant "We praise Thee ..." as slowly as they could, and repeated it as many times as needed for him to finish the prayer, endeavoring to feel some contrition at what was being enacted in the sanctuary.
Father John, even though he was simple, made his presence felt with his holiness. Crowds of the faithful began to gather at his church. Often Christians from other neighboring hamlets came to attend his Liturgy. There were instances when over a thousand Christians gathered at his church. All came to compunction and wept profusely. When the Liturgy finished, it was not rare to see the floor of the church wet with their tears.
In order to come closer and enter more deeply into the spiritual climate that prevailed in Kelveri, let us permit the Elder leronymos himself to speak to us of the people of his epoch:
"The people in my homeland had very much zeal for divine things. They were pure and very pious. They had fear and great love of God. During vigils the pavement would fill with tears. We children had reverence, love, and obedience to parents, and respect for strangers. In school, the teachers taught us reverence and love of God and fatherland first, and then letters. Our religious holidays had grandeur. And all of us eagerly waited for them to arrive. I loved all this, and from my childhood I had great zeal, especially for the things of God. When we came to Greece, after the exchange of populations, we were deeply scandalized. We had the impression that there weren't even any Christians living in this country. People swore, sang worldly songs, dressed immodestly, did not keep the fasts, and didn't go to church. Aman,we said, where did we come to? Had it been possible, we would have immediately taken ship and returned to Anatolia. There our villages were like monasteries. All fasted, prayed, and ran to the churches. The young men in the fields and the young maidens at home doing their work quietly chanted various psalms, instead of singing indecent songs as they do here. You never even saw women with uncovered head and short sleeves. But here everything is different. And the more time goes by, the worse it gets."
