As for Father Porphyrios' prayers, many said that when he prayed for them, they felt silence and joy, repose and joy, bliss and peace. They felt his prayer as something that banished all sorrow and worries and created a sense of security and confidence in the future, awakening a desire to pray and praise God. For example, Mrs. Ν., who had recently been widowed, said that on the evening when she informed the Elder about the death of her husband, although she was in her house, she suddenly felt that all the heaviness had left her soul, that she was calming down and a quiet joy was flowing from her soul. She crossed herself and exclaimed: "My God, is this how I should feel?" Later she learned that at the very hour when she calmed down, Father Porphyrius was praying for her.

Another woman told one trustworthy person, who told us this story, that when she asked the Elder to help her in solving a personal problem, he suggested that she pray together every day at ten o'clock in the evening. When she said that she could not do it at that time, since she was busy with the house, he suggested that we pray together at four o'clock in the morning (she was at home, and he was in the monastery). To her objection that she would not be able to wake up on her own, and it was inconvenient to set an alarm clock, because it would cause anxiety to the whole family, the Elder said that he himself would come and wake her up. And indeed, as he said, every morning at four o'clock she felt a light touch, a push on her shoulder, and she understood that it was Father Porphyrius who woke her up. This announcement from the Elder brought joy, it caused neither fear nor anxiety.

One of our friends told us that when Father Porphyrius prayed for him in the evening, peace and tranquility came to him. Sometimes his body became so light that it seemed as if it were about to rise above the bed.

There were other cases. The Elder himself told our friend about one of them. One person owed money to another. Father Porphyrios, at the request of the lender, prayed for him, that God would bring him to reason and that he would repay the debt. The prayers of the Elder caused constant anxiety in a person who did not want to return the money. Finally, he asked Father Porphyrius to stop praying for him.

From this it can be seen that sometimes the one for whom the Elder prayed experienced constant anxiety, like a persistent reminder. Of course, this happened only when a person did not fulfill what he was supposed to do. But let's get back to our story.

Less than three weeks after the incident with the door open, the above-mentioned hieromonk again called Father Porphyrius and, no less than that, began to fervently ask him to stop praying for him. His prayer at night deprived him of sleep, and during the day he could not work normally. Others might have thought that he was lazy and irresponsible about his obedience. The elder promised to fulfill his request and indeed stopped praying for him. From that time on, the priest, as he himself later told Father Porphyrios, never again experienced the power of his prayer, which reached even America.

It is necessary to make a small digression in order to clarify the issue under consideration in order to avoid misinterpretations.

A great mystery is hidden here. This is the secret of work, which brings rest, and peace, which leads to destruction. The words of Abba Pimen the Great from the "Patericon" are remarkable: "I go where there is work, and there I find rest." And St. Isaac the Syrian writes: "God and His angels rejoice in need, but the devil and his servants rejoice." And in another place: "No one ascended to heaven without difficulty." An athlete who wants to win a competition likes the work of training, because he wants a reward for winning. The Elder knew this from experience, and out of love he wanted to lead his friend, the hieromonk, to heavenly repose, the path to which lies through these temporary labors. He persistently reminded him of the time of prayer, as if saying: "Awaken, wretched one, from sleep, and let's pray together, as promised, and you will enter into the mysteries of God and find a completely different rest." Of course, that hieromonk, reasoning in a human way, considered that in order to be able to work during the day, he had to rest at night. But Father Porphyrios' secret was that when grace comes, then fatigue goes away. After all, greater work undertaken for the sake of Divine love, for the sake of love for the Lord Christ, brings greater grace as well. And then, having spent the night in prayerful vigil, the next day the ascetic, in spite of his bodily fatigue, can work even better for the benefit of his neighbors, the whole Church. After all, all his labors will be assisted by Divine grace. After resting and sleeping, he will work alone, relying only on his weak human efforts. So, since that hieromonk "did not grasp" the thought of the Elder and chose, based on human logic, a different direction, he became like an athlete who prefers sleep to training, in order to supposedly come to the competition rested. Everyone understands that this is an unwise decision. God does not force anyone in this case, so Father Porphyrios, since his proposal to pray together was rejected and he was asked "not to disturb," retreated. Thus, this priest was left alone. We do not know what happened to him then. We believe that later he understood the meaning of these night reminders of the Elder and benefited from it.

Father Porphyrius told me this story about 25 years ago, because at that time I also experienced... exactly the same anxiety from the prayers of my beloved Elder for me. In August, our family and another family decided to spend a holiday together at a resort in Edipsos [140]. Before setting off, I went to Father Porphyrius for a blessing. By the way, I asked him if he had anything to say about how my vacation would go. He replied that the vacation would go well because he would pray for me all the time. In the evening of the same day we were already in Edipsos, stopped at a good hotel, went to the center and completely forgot about prayer and everything else. In the evening we went to bed late. As soon as I fell asleep, I felt that my bed began to rock violently. I thought that an earthquake had begun, woke up in fear and shouted loudly: "Earthquake! Earthquake!" And he continued to lie down, holding on tightly to the bed so as not to fall. Then I noticed that no one in the neighboring rooms or on the neighboring floors woke up. This alarmed me even more. I spent several hours without sleep, and when I fell asleep again, it was all over again. In addition, I had a new sensation, as if an electric current was being passed through my body. And this was repeated repeatedly. In the morning, I asked my friend, who was a doctor, and his wife if they had felt an earthquake during the night, but they just laughed. All this was repeated every night, and my vacation turned into a real torture. Once in a dream I saw myself in the church of St. Nicholas (I think it was in Kallisia), and from the icon of the saint myriads of rainbow sheaves of divine rays of unbearably bright light poured out on me, evoking in me an indescribable divine exultation. After this dream, I could not help but call the Elder and told him everything. "Don't worry," he said, "I'm bothering you with my prayers. At what time did you see St. Nicholas in a dream?" "Well, at that time I was just praying to the saint for you. Rest, but do not forget about prayer." Then I jokingly said to him: "Geronda, I beg you, if you really want me to have a good rest, then stop praying for me. Otherwise, my vacation turns into continuous suffering..." The Elder only smiled at these words of mine... Somehow blissfully and with great kindness. So he wanted to direct me to the spiritual life. But... How could I understand this!

I remembered the last two hours I spent with Father Porphyrios before he finally left for the Holy Mountain. At that time, we were both very cheerful and deeply satisfied. It would be good if the Elder prayed now from where he is, with the same power! I would gratefully endure such anxiety...

The elder takes my head in his hands and prays

Every time I came to Father Porphyrios, I always did the same thing: I put my head on his lap and, without saying anything, silently prayed for him, for my loved ones, for all of us. I remained in this position for several minutes. And the Elder, in turn, put the stole on my head, took it, squeezing it slightly, in his hands, and prayed with me. Often I could distinctly feel his breath and the beating of his heart. If sometimes I came with a headache or other ailments, then after confession everything went away. On these occasions, when I left, I thought that I had received a great blessing. When I was driving home in my car, it seemed to me that I was like a battery, well charged with the blessing of the Elder.

Once I asked Father Porphyrios:

"Geronda, why are you clasping my head in your hands?"