Мы от всего сердца желаем, чтобы эта книга помогла многим и многим православным христианам в их духовной жизни, в стяжании духовного вйдения, и просим читателей не забывать и нас в своих молитвах.

Священный женский исихастнрион Преображения Господня, Милеси, i5 августа 2002

От составителя

Несколько слов о той книге, которую вы сейчас держите в руках. Постараюсь говорить просто и открыто и начну с моей первой встречи с отцом Порфирием.

Со Старцем я познакомился после Пасхи 1980 года. Когда я впервые его увидел, он отдыхал на своей скромной кровати в простой, построенной из цементных блоков келье в Милеси в Аттике. Было заметно, что он только что оправился от тяжелой болезни, поэтому говорил с трудом. Я опустился на колени возле отца Порфирия и попросил его благословить меня и дать несколько своих благословенных, идущих прямо от сердца наставлений. Конечно, я не могу рассказать вам мою исповедь. Скажу только, что Старец многое мне открыл. Я был поражен его даром прозорливости. Он говорил со мной какое‑то время, насколько ему позволяли силы и насколько я мог воспринять в меру моего духовного несовершенства. Позже я встречался с ним еще два раза, но нам уже не удавалось побеседовать, у Старца всегда было много посетителей. Однако его святое смирение и великая любовь преподали мне прекрасный урок. Знаете, что значит видеть человека Божия, просвещенного, умиротворенного, отягощенного многими болезнями и тем не менее днем и ночью принимающего людей без жалоб и ропота? Его сердце всегда было открыто для всех.

Полагаю, что стоит кратко описать основные этапы жизни отца Порфирия. Так мы сможем лучше понять эту книгу и духовно насладиться обществом Старца.

Father Porphyrios was born in 4906 into a very poor but pious family in the village of Agios Ioannis in Karystia on the island of Euboea. His entire education consisted of two years of primary school. According to him, he learned to read and write by reading the Gospel and church service books. In order to financially support the family, his father left for the construction of the Panama Canal. Little Evangelos, that was the name of the Elder, worked in the garden and grazed several sheep belonging to their family in the nearby fields. There he read the Life of St. John Kolov[3]·. The holy image of this monk sank deeply into his soul, and he decided to imitate it.

Still very young, at the age of 43-44, he went to Holy Mount Athos. There he stayed at the skete of Kausokalivia[4] and became a novice in a cell where two very kind, but strict elders lived. He lived with them for 5-6 years. There Father Porphyrius learned what the monastic life is, what "perfect," "joyful," as he said, obedience is, what pure love for God is. There, he, a sincere and pure youth, received the gift of clairvoyance. Unexpectedly, Father Porphyrius fell very seriously ill, and God showed that He wanted to send him into the world, so that he could, according to the grace given to him, inspire, enlighten, console and instruct people there. The young monk returned to his homeland, to the island of Euboea, and stayed at the monastery of St. Charalampus in Avlonari. There his serious illness passed. At the age of twenty, he met Archbishop Porphyrios of Sinai, who, amazed at the young monk's lofty gifts, ordained him a hieromonk, giving him his name – Porphyrios. Imagine, he described the monastery on Sinai to the archbishop in detail, although he himself had never been there!

When the Monastery of Agios Charalampios was handed over to the nuns, Father Porphyrios moved to the Monastery of Agios Nikolaos in Vathia, on Aegina. In 4940, the Elder arrived in Athens, where he was appointed rector of the Church of St. Gerasimos at the polyclinic located near Omonia Square[5]. There he served God and people for 33 years, living in humble obscurity and performing great feats for the glory of God. He helped thousands of people to find the peace of God. Father Porphyrius even helped doctors, making, thanks to his gift of clairvoyance, accurate diagnoses. By the grace of God, he healed many sick people. All this was done by an illiterate, by worldly standards, but perfectly knowing the holy letter of God, the Elder. "Who are wise are the fishers of manifestation"[6], is sung in the troparion to the Holy Trinity.

After finishing his service in the Church of St. Gerasimos and retiring, Father Porphyrios lived for several years at the Church of St. Nicholas in Calissia, in Penteli.

Finally, he moved to Melisi in Malakasa, located about 39 kilometers from Athens towards Lamia, and then another five kilometers on the road to Oropos. There he lived as humbly as before, enduring many of his illnesses, which God in His love granted him, according to the words of the Apostle, like a thorn in the flesh... so that he would not be puffed up[8]. Melisi became a place of real mass pilgrimage. The elder strove for obscurity, but God glorified him. "The world," he wrote later, "considers me a good man, and everyone says that I am a saint. But I feel like the most sinful person in the world... and I ask everyone who knew me to pray for me."

The Elder humbly reposed in his cell in the skete of Kavsokalyvia on the Holy Mountain on December 2, 1991. He received a message from God that his end was near, and he wished to humbly end his life away from the world, in the peace and quiet of God.

No one, except for the inhabitants of Kafsokalyvia, knew about his death. His burial took place very simply, modestly, in a monastic way, on the land that the Most Holy Theotokos chose as Her domain.