St. Joseph the Hesychast

St. Joseph the Hesychast (1897 -1959)

(Commemorated August 16)

St. Joseph the Hesychast was one of the greatest monks of the Holy Mountain (Mt. Athos) in the 20th century.


[Early life]

Francis Kottis (St. Joseph’s name before his monastic tonsure) was born in Lefkes in the island of Paros on February 12, 1897 and was the fourth of seven children to the simple but pious couple, George and Maria Kottis.

He was destined even from “his mother’s tummy” to follow in the footsteps of Christ and become His aid in the deliverance of men. When his mother gave birth to him, she had a vision where an angel was trying to take the baby away from her. When she protested, the angel showed her a note in which it was written that he must take the baby away.

His father died and because of their extreme poverty, Francis left home at the age of 17 to work in Piraeus as a merchant to support his large family. When he was 23 years old he was engaged to a pious girl and lived in exemplary chastity, never touching  his fiancé for fear of coming to the point of kissing her.
His fiancé though, died from tuberculosis.


One day he beheld a wondrous vision of two angels in the form of palace guards, leading him to serve the heavenly king.

After this vision, he recognized the futility of the world and lost all interest in worldly things; his heart started aching for monasticism; he spent his time reading the lives of saints, especially those of the great ascetic Fathers, which ignited in his heart the desire to become a monk.


He responded to this desire by fasting and praying in the nearby countryside, which was uninhabited, and would visit many places of worship to strengthen his faith and receive the blessing in order to leave the world. 


During one such visit to Kefallonia where he stayed one week in the Monastery of St. Gerasimos, he witnessed with his very own eyes a miracle whereby the Saint healed a man. There he heard from the nuns that St. Gerasimos had reposed on the feast-day of the Dormition of the Mother of God and Francis was praying to that Saint to intercede for the same thing that it may happen for him. Indeed this took place almost 40 years later.

The future Elder yearned to pray unceasingly, but had great troubles - he could not find a spiritual father, and the indifference of many monks towards unceasing prayer.

"I was inconsolable because I was longing so ardently to find what I had set out for in search of God; and not only was I not finding it, but people would not even being helpful."

In 1921, after two years of living ascetically in the world, he finally made his way to the Holy Mountain, his heart longing for a God-bearing spiritual guide to teach him the art of noetic prayer, and he began to search for one. After searching for sometime without success, he decided to join the brotherhood of St. Daniel of Katounakia. Renowned for his discernment and exalted spiritual life, Elder Daniel chose a moderate ascetical program for his brotherhood. Francis, however, was inclined to a more austere spiritual life and total dedication to unceasing prayer of the heart, which requires great silence and humility, and thus he stood out from the rest of the brotherhood.

[Visions]

One day, after suffering many temptations, he was granted a vision of the Uncreated Light, and he received the gift of ceaseless prayer. From that point on until his death, the prayer was said in his heart unceasingly, granting him exalted spiritual states and divine visions.

“At once I was completely changed and forgot myself. I was filled with light in my heart and outside and everywhere, not being aware that I even had a body. The prayer began to say itself within me..."

Another time he had the following vision: "I saw a basement door and entered there. It was a temple [the Greek word for a Church] of our Most Holy Theotokos.

Some beautiful youths were sitting there dressed with splendid garments and had a red cross on their chests and on their foreheads.
  

One of them, who wore a brighter garment and looked like a general, arose from his throne and said to me, “Come. We are waiting for you.” Then he urged me to sit down.

“Forgive me,” I said, “I am unworthy to sit there, but it is enough for me to stand here at your feet.”

He smiled, left me, and went in front of the iconostasis to the icon of the Panagia and said,

“Lady and Mistress of all, Queen of the angels, Immaculate Virgin Theotokos! Show thy grace to this thy servant who suffers so much for thy love, so that he be not engulfed by sorrow.”

And suddenly, so much brilliance came out from her divine icon and the Panagia looked so beautiful, in full length, that from the extreme beauty – a million times brighter than the sun – I fell down at her feet unable to gaze at her and cried out in tears,

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