Sometimes we gave up. We were ready to abandon this extremely difficult and responsible work. We were seized by the fear that we would distort the image of the Elder and bring spiritual harm and temptation instead of benefit. We felt like a little child who, trying to talk about something great beyond his measure, could not find the words and could not express what he desired.

During Father Paisios' lifetime, we did not consider it necessary to write down his words, photograph him, or collect biographical information about him in order to compile a biography of him someday. We were filled with his very presence, it was enough for us to see and hear him. Perhaps someone will consider this an omission. However, our conscience is at ease that we have not done anything that could upset him.

The only exception was the few notes we made in order not to forget Father Paisios' answers to personal questions related to our daily monastic life. Answering us, the Elder gave examples from his ascetic experience, told us about the supernatural events and demonic temptations he had experienced. However, we mainly relied on what was preserved in our memory. We have heard much of what we remember from him repeatedly. And now, for the common benefit of our brothers and sisters, we are putting on paper his words that he has inscribed in our hearts.

Having learned about the compilation of the "Life", many laymen and clergy – on their own initiative or at our request – provided us with many valuable documents: letters of Elder Paisios, photographs, notes and eyewitness accounts. All this material, which brought many previously unknown pages to the "Life" of the Elder, was used with caution and responsibility. After repeated sifting and selection, only what was truly trustworthy was left. Not everything in the information provided corresponded to reality and the spirit of the Elder. Some people exaggerated something out of unreasonable reverence, while others, perhaps misunderstanding the Elder, conveyed his words distortedly. There were also those, very few, who spoke negatively about the Elder – perhaps doing so out of ignorance, and not out of malice. May God not impute this to them as a sin.

"The beginning of Thy words is truth," and therefore we also chose truth as the main principle in our work on the Life. We tried to present the Elder as we knew him, as he was, avoiding the exaggerations generated by love and enthusiasm.

A significant part of the "Life", in fact, is the autobiography of Elder Paisios, since the main source of information was himself. Most of the narratives come directly from his true lips, but in reality we have written very little. Being meager and weak, our work does not give an exhaustive picture of the spiritual wealth of the Elder. Not only do we not exalt, but, unwittingly, we belittle his image in many ways. The reasons for this are as follows.

His inner life – like the life of any saint – passed "in secret", invisible to others. In order to help us in our monastic life, the Elder revealed little, but for the most part what happened to him remained unknown. When he was alive, the human side that hid his spiritual greatness prevailed in our communication with him. But the main reason is that our heart blindness and imperfection prevented us from seeing the Elder more spiritually, which would help to recreate his image with greater authenticity. If our spiritual condition were better, this would certainly be reflected in the present work. As is known, the most correct description of the life of a Saint can be a person who has ascended to the same measure and the same state. Elder Paisios himself said that the lives of the Saints, written by the Saints, are delightful.

So, since "the student is deep and the Imams did not draw it," that is, our spiritual strength is not enough to show the spiritual greatness of the Elder, we limited ourselves to a simple and accurate presentation of information about him, trying to be only reliable witnesses and nothing more.

But despite this, even through the clumsy pages we have written, the image of Elder Paisios appears – a man who moves with slight simplicity in the space between earth and Heaven, mocks the devil – at the same time compassionate about his fall – and communicates with a multitude of Saints. The Elder appears before the reader as a complete beggar, but at the same time with his prayer he brings down the richest blessings from Heaven to earth. He looks physically weak and feeble, but at the same time he is so powerful and filled with the fire of Divine Grace that even the laws of nature recede before him. He lives in the wilderness, but at the same time he is very close to the needs of people; a strict ascetic in relation to himself, he is philanthropic to the point of self-sacrifice in relation to the poor, suffering and unjustly offended.

It would be impossible to place all the information about the Elder in one volume. Therefore, from the many cases described, the most characteristic and instructive ones have been selected. The book does not include the teaching of the Elder (in the volume of several volumes), many letters and more than two hundred testimonies about the miracles performed by him. But we did not set ourselves the goal of presenting the reader with just a "list of miracles". It is quite natural that in a person who has ascended to the pinnacle of virtues and has acquired Divine Grace, grace-filled gifts are effectively revealed and he works miracles. However, the question is how to reach this peak, how to follow and how to struggle against passions and temptations. Therefore, even more than the miracles of the Elder, we were and are touched by his great self-denial, his loving feats for the sake of love for Christ, his monastic acrivia and subtle sense of spiritual life, his rare prudence, sacrificial love for each person and the wisdom of the Holy Fathers, capable of bringing peace to every heart.

The book "The Life of Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain" consists of two parts. In the first part, the reader is offered the "Extensive Life" of the Elder. We tried to show as simply as possible, but also in the most holistic form, the ascetic path of the Elder from birth to death, following the chronology and external flow of his life. The basis of each of the fourteen thematic blocks of the first part is the geographical place where the Elder lived in certain years. The chapters contain biographical information about the Elder, descriptions of his feats, testimonies about miracles, diverse gifts and help to people.

The second part of the book, entitled "The Virtues, Gifts, and Offering of the Elder to the World," is a necessary addition and explanation to the first part. Acquaintance with its content will allow the reader to get to know the Elder more deeply and understand him more fully. Each of the two parts of the book is independent of the other—they could have been published as two separate volumes—but they are still connected by a deep inner unity. The second part is also a biography, but it does not follow a chronological outline, but contains biographical information divided into various topics.1The central concept of the second part is Divine Grace. In order to acquire it, the Elder first took up the struggle against passions and sin, and later appeared as "a good builder of the various Grace of God"2

In the thematic block "Virtues", various incidents from the life of the Elder are described in such a way that the reader can derive practical benefit for himself. They are divided into chapters, the main content of which is virtue, put in the title of each chapter. The Elder's teaching on this or that virtue is not included in the chapters – with the exception of a few concise and most characteristic passages. However, where it was necessary to emphasize something in order to better show the spirit of the Elder, more excerpts from his teachings are given.

The manifestations of the Elder's gifts – diverse and supernatural – are vividly testified to by other people and the actions of Father Paisius himself. From the multitude of evidences, a few were selected - the most revealing. These testimonies, also divided into thematic chapters, are given without comment, except where clarification was necessary.