Старац Јефрем

Ioannis Moraitis¹ (the future Geronda² Ephraim) was born in Volos³, Greece, to Demetrios and Victoria Moraitis on June 24, 1928, the day the Orthodox Church celebrates the birth of Saint John the Baptist. His mother was a great ascetic, often spending her nights praying with tears and doing countless prostrations⁴, thus setting an example for little Ioannis. One day as she was sitting beside him praying, she had a vision of a star leaving their house and going towards the Holy Mountain⁵. She heard a voice saying, “Of your three children, only this one will live.” At first, she took this literally, thinking her other two children would die. However, she soon understood that this was a prophecy that Ioannis would become a monk on the Holy Mountain. From that point on, she devoted particular attention to his spiritual upbringing, doing everything she could to offer a spotless sacrifice to the Lord.

As Ioannis grew, his desire for monasticism also grew. He started urging his spiritual father to allow him to go to the Holy Mountain, but, his spiritual father, Father Ephraim of Volos, was hoping to start a monastery and wanted to keep Ioannis with him. After some years had passed, Ioannis realized that Father Ephraim was never going to start a monastery, and he decided to go to the Holy Mountain. His mother and Father Ephraim sent him to Saint Joseph the Hesychast, who had also been Father Ephraim’s geronda.

Thus, in the year 1947, Ioannis found himself on the boat for Athos. As he was gazing at the monasteries from the boat, those massive fortresses seemed to him like prisons. His heart became constrained with grief, as if he were facing a life of internment. He asked a monk sitting next to him on the boat where the hut of Geronda Joseph the Hesychast was. The monk saw that Ioannis was all skin and bones, since he was sickly, and told him that he was unfit to join such an austere brotherhood. But when Ioannis insisted, the monk pointed out a small white hut, high up on the mountain like an eagle’s nest. As soon as Ioannis saw how open and free it was, his heart was relieved. It seemed to him like paradise.

When he reached the port of Saint Anne’s Skete⁶, he was met by Father Arsenios, Saint Joseph’s co-ascetic. When Father Arsenios saw him, he asked, “Aren’t you Yiannaki⁷ from Volos?” “Yes, Father, but how do you know me?” he replied. “Oh, the Honorable Forerunner appeared to Geronda Joseph last night and said to him, ‘I am bringing you a little lamb. Put it in your sheepfold.’” This was Ioannis’s first encounter with the simple but saintly Father Arsenios, who then led Ioannis up the steep paths to their hut at Little Saint Anne’s Skete.

And so Ioannis began a life of obedience and asceticism next to Saint Joseph. Their life was very austere. They ate only once a day after sundown, did countless prostrations, practiced noetic prayer for hours on end, and kept complete silence, talking only when necessary. And on top of that, Saint Joseph continually reproached and insulted Ioannis.

After nine months, seeing that Ioannis was a model disciple, humble and obedient in everything, Saint Joseph was convinced that he was ready for the monastic tonsure. On July 13, 1948, amid the compunction of their small cave-church, Ioannis was tonsured a great schema⁸ monk, receiving the name Ephraim. The saint continued to act harshly towards Father Ephraim, but he did so to uproot the passion of pride from his young disciple’s soul and in fact had boundless love for him. And although the saint was strict, demanding, and often harsh towards his disciples during their daily activities, during their evening confession and revelation of thoughts he was gentle and loving, explaining the reasons for the mistakes they made during the day and teaching them the art of spiritual warfare.

At that time their brotherhood did not have its own priest for their liturgical needs. Saint Ephraim⁹ of Katounakia¹⁰ would come several times a week to perform the liturgy for them. However, Saint Ephraim’s geronda in Katounakia would not always let him go, thus in 1952, Saint Joseph decided to have Father Ephraim ordained a deacon and Father Haralambos a priest. Father Ephraim also cooked for the brotherhood (an obedience he would keep even after his geronda’s death, cooking for his own disciples). They did not have a kitchen, a stove, an oven, or anything of the sort. He had to cook outside over an open fire, sometimes in very harsh weather. Sometimes the wind was so violent that it scattered all his utensils.

Geronda Ephraim with his brotherhood, New Skete, Mt. Athos 1960's

Because of the harsh climate at Little Saint Anne’s, the brotherhood’s health started to deteriorate. Thus in 1953 Saint Joseph decided that they should move. The Holy Monastery of Saint Paul offered them some hesychastic¹¹ huts by the tower of New Skete¹². Finding that these huts were just what they were looking for, they decided to move there. At New Skete, they relaxed their ascetical program somewhat in regards to physical labor and diet, but they continued their noetic struggles and long vigils as before. At that time, Father Ephraim was also ordained a priest. At their new hermitage at New Skete they had two chapels: one dedicated to the Holy Forerunner, where Father Haralambos liturgized¹³, and one dedicated to the Annunciation of the Theotokos, where Father Ephraim liturgized.

On August 15, 1959, the day the Orthodox Church celebrates the Dormition of the Theotokos, Saint Joseph reposed in the Lord, leaving his disciples orphaned. Saint Joseph had instructed his disciples to separate after his death and create brotherhoods of their own. Thus, Father Ephraim became the geronda of the hut of the Annunciation of the Theotokos.

It was not long before the virtuous life of Geronda Ephraim started to attract monastic aspirants. Because his brotherhood was growing rapidly, in 1968 they moved to the skete of Provata, to the cell of Saint Artemios. At that time, most of the monasteries on the Holy Mountain were idiorrhythmic¹⁴, with only a few old monks living in each one. Thus, in 1973, the monks of the Holy Monastery of Philotheou asked the geronda to bring his brotherhood there to help repopulate and re-establish it as a cenobitic¹⁵ monastery. Initially, the geronda did not want leave their hesychastic life at Saint Artemios and get involved in the distractions of a monastery. But, after being enlightened by God, he agreed. Thus, on October 1, 1973, Geronda Ephraim was enthroned as abbot of the Holy Monastery of Philotheou, a position he held until 1991.

The brotherhood continued to grow rapidly, reaching eighty monks by 1981. At that time, the monastery of Konstamonitou¹⁶ asked Geronda Ephraim to send a group of monks to help them also. He consented and sent a group of twenty monks. The same happened in 1983 and 1986, with two other monasteries, Xeropotamou¹⁷, and Karakalou¹⁸. Thus he revitalized four Athonite monasteries.

In 1979, he went to Canada for medical reasons, and while there, he was invited to confess, counsel, and teach the Orthodox Christians in their churches and homes. Through these meetings he acquired many spiritual children, who urged him to return annually to confess them and guide them in their spiritual lives. He understood that it was God’s will for him to return to Canada and also to visit parishes in the United States. By the appeal of the Orthodox faithful and with the blessing of the bishops of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Geronda Ephraim began the work of establishing monastic communities in North America, which he continued to do after his final move to Arizona in 1995. Orthodox faithful throughout the United States and Canada have embraced, supported, and collaborated in this endeavor. These communities provide spiritual guidance, and they help to preserve the holy traditions of the Church through an exemplary Christian life and devotion to God. Also, by handpicking worthy successors (abbots and abbesses), Geronda Ephraim has ensured the continuity of his apostolic work in serving the Church and her needs.

Until 1989, there was only one monastery in the North American Greek Orthodox Archdioceses. Since then, by God’s grace Geronda Ephraim has founded seventeen monasteries in North America, ten for nuns and seven for monks. The Ecumenical Patriarch visited and blessed four of these monasteries, while prayers from all quarters of the Church continue to help support this unparalleled expansion of Orthodox Monasticism in the western hemisphere.

On the night of December 7, 2019, the Forefeast of Saint Anna’s Conception of the Mother of God, Geronda Ephraim reposed in the Lord. May his memory be eternal.

« St. Joseph Gerontissa Makrina »

• 1989

  1. Nativity of the Theotokos Greek Orthodox Monastery

  Abbess Theophano
  121 St. Elias Lane
  Saxonburg, PA 16056 USA
  website
• 1993

  2. St. Kosmas Aitolos Greek Orthodox Monastery

  Abbess Alexia
  14155 Caledon King Town
  Line Rd. South
  Bolton, Ont. L7E 5R7
  CANADA
  website
• 1993

  3. Panagia Parigoritissa Greek Orthodox Monastery

  Abbess Thekla
  827 Chemin de la Carriere
  Brownsburg (Chatham),
  Quebec, J8G 1K7
  CANADA
  website
• 1993

  4. St. John Chrysostomos Greek Orthodox Monastery

  Abbess Melanie
  4600 93rd Street
  Pleasant Prairie, WI 53158 USA
  website
• 1993

  5. Holy Protection of the Theotokos Greek Orthodox Monastery

  Abbess Olympiada
  1 St. Joseph's Way
  White Haven, PA 18661 USA
  website
• 1993

  6. Life-giving Spring of the Theotokos Greek Orthodox Monastery

  Abbess Markella
  38532 Dunlap Rd.
  Dunlap, CA 93621 USA
• 1995

  7. St. John the Honorable Forerunner Greek Orthodox Monastery

  Abbess Efpraxia
  5 Timmer Lane
  Goldendale, WA 98620 USA
  website
• 1995

  8. St. Anthony’s Greek Orthodox Monastery

  Kathegoumenos Archimandrite Paisios
  4784 N. St. Joseph's Way
  Florence, AZ 85132
  website
• 1996

  9. Holy Archangels Greek Orthodox Monastery

  Kathegoumenos Archimandrite Dositheos
  2191 Twin Sisters Dr.
  Kendalia, TX 78027 USA
  website
• 1998

  10. Panagia Vlahernon Greek Orthodox Monastery

  Kathegoumenos Archimandrite Polycarp
  12600 West Hwy. 318
  Williston, FL 32696
  website
• 1998

  11. Annunciation of the Theotokos Greek Orthodox Monastery

  Abbess Agapia
  13486 N.W. Hwy. 225
  Reddick, FL 32686 USA
  website
• 1998

  12. Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Monastery

  Hieromonk Joseph
  125 Sturdevant Rd.
  Smith Creek, MI 48061 USA
• 1998

  13. Panagia Pammakaristos Greek Orthodox Monastery

  Hieromonk Nektarios
  1631 Creasey Rd.
  Lawsonville, NC 27032 USA
• 1998

  14. Panagia Prousiotissa Greek Orthodox Monastery

  Abbess Agne
  404 Warner Road
  Troy, NC 27371 USA
  website
• 1998

  15. Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Monastery

  Abbot Akakios
  17906 Rt. 173
  Harvard, IL 60033 USA
  website
• 1998

  16. St. Nektarios Greek Orthodox Monastery

  Kathegoumenos Archimandrite Joseph
  100 Lake Anawanda Rd.
  Roscoe, NY 12776 USA
  website
• 2004 

  17. St. Paraskevi Greek Orthodox Monastery

  Abbess Paraskevi
  6855 Little York Lane
  Washington, TX 77880 USA
  website

Footnotes

1. Ioannis (ee-oh-Ah-nees) is the Greek form of John.

2. A geronda is an Orthodox Christian spiritual leader.

3. Volos is a coastal port city in Thessaly, situated about 205 miles north of Athens and 137 miles south of Thessaloniki.

4. A prostration is when one makes the sign of the cross over himself and then kneels, touching his head to the ground.

5. The Holy Mountain, also known as Mount Athos, is an important center of Eastern Orthodox Monasticism located on a peninsula in northeastern Greece. It is governed as an autonomous polity within the Greek Republic. Mount Athos is home to 20 monasteries under the direct jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.

6. The Skete of St Anne is a dependent idiorrhythmic (hermitage-style) skete, attached to the Great Lavra. It lies on the shore of the Aegean about 875 yards from New Skete.

7. Yiannaki is a diminutive of Ioannis. It is analogous to Johnny.

8. The highest rank of monk in the Orthodox Church.

9. Glorified by the Ecumenical Patriarchate on October 20, 2019.

10. Katounakia is a group of cells located in the desert region on the southeastern side of the peninsula.

11. Hesychastic is derived from the Greek word hesychia, which means inner stillness.

12. New Skete is one of two sketes attached to St. Paul’s Monastery. It is located between St. Paul’s Monastery and St. Anne’s Skete.

13. I.e., performed the Divine Liturgy.

14. In an idiorrhythmic monastery, a monk is responsible for providing his own needs and is at liberty to possess his own property and determine his own way of life.

15. A cenobitic monastery is one in where the monks live a common life under the direction of an abbot (superior monk).

16. Konstamonitou is on the southeastern side of the Athos peninsula.

17. Xyropotamou is on the southwestern side of the peninsula.

18. Karakalou is on the southeastern side of the peninsula.