After all, we want to go to Paradise, but at the same time we want to enjoy all material goods. Their love for Christ was so great that it burned up everything temporary and sinful. We want to be saved without sacrificing anything and with a minimum of effort, but they sacrificed everything for Christ. The ascetics whose lives are given in this book are guides to the Kingdom of Heaven. They show us the path to holiness, which they themselves have walked to the end. They testify that it is possible to become a Saint in the world. In every epoch there are chosen ones of Christ, and there are them, thank God, even today. Through their prayers, this world still exists.

The spiritual state of these ascetics invisibly influenced their family and kinship circle, and their entire environment. Having boldness to the Lord and being overshadowed by His Grace, during their lifetime they helped many to bring repentance and acquire faith in God. They continue to help their descendants today after their blessed repose. After all, for the virtues of the righteous David, God once had mercy on the entire Jewish people: "The Lord did not want to destroy Judas, for the sake of David His servant" (2 Kings 8:19).

The spiritual state of the ascetics of piety has an impact even on nature. In the words of the Psalmist: "[The Lord] turns the wilderness into a lake, and the parched earth into fountains of waters" (Psalm 106:35). That is, through the prayers of the righteous, God makes barren land fertile, and can turn fertile land into "salt marsh, because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it" (Psalm 106:34).

A person without faith is like a blind man walking in darkness. A human society without values and ideals is lifeless and gradually decaying. Today, many, having no faith, "have come to ruin, have perished, perished from terrors" (Psalm 72:19). Our society, unfortunately, clearly shows signs of degradation and self-destruction. What is the cause of all troubles? "Have not these calamities come upon me, that my God is not among me?" (Deuteronomy 31:17). Today, a variety of ways out of the impasse are proposed. However, a new society can only be born if there are new (renewed in Christ) people. Our strong faith in the spirit of repentance is what gives life, preserves and can save a person and our people. This truth is confirmed by the example of their lives by the ascetics in the world, to whom this book is dedicated.

They lived in difficult times, faced wars, occupation, hunger, persecution, but they were able to overcome everything and "live in God". They had the blessing of God in their lives, so they did not know the concepts and conditions that are inextricably linked with the modern world: depression, mental illness, drugs, divorces, abortions, obesity and diets, lack of meaning and purpose in life, disappointment, despondency and suicide.

Living, pure and grace-filled icons of the Prototype, they bring us the grace and blessing of God and therefore are worthy of imitation.

Today, we especially need such examples. Now, when a new type of person is being formed and propagated everywhere and obsessively – self-loving and egocentric, distorted by passions and self-justification – the story of the bright and grace-filled souls of people who have deified the flesh will help to return to the original and primordial beauty, the true image of man. Amen.

Part I. Lives of ascetics in the world

I. Father Basil, the Wonderworker[5]

Father Basil lived all his life in Cappadocia. According to the testimony of his fellow villagers, Father was born in the village of Konjuk, located 65 kilometers to the south-southwest of the city of Caesarea. In honor of his native village, Father Vasily began to be called Kondzhiklis, in order to distinguish him from other priests who also bore the name Vasily.

Fr. Vasily's wife was Sultana from the village of Sarmusaklei (Hamidiyeh). It is known that they had many children: four sons and five daughters.

Before taking the priestly rank, Basil asceticized for some time together with the wilderness dwellers who lived near his native village. From them he learned strict fasting and fervent prayer.

From a young age, Basil showed his inclination for pastoral service. He was ordained in 1830[6] and appointed rector of the church in the town of Tsat, the northernmost Greek village in Cappadocia, located near the Ali River. Not only Greeks, but also Armenians and Turks lived in Tsata. After the Turkish genocide of Armenians in 1915, Orthodox Christians were forced to leave their homes and move to the village of Tashlyk, located thirty kilometers from Tsat.