The Monk Akakios the New
Commemorated on April 12
The Monk Akakios
the New took monastic vows at the Holy Trinity monastery of Saint Dionysios
of Olympos (Comm. 24 January) at Zagorakhos. Having gone off to Holy Mount
Athos, the monk on the advice of his father-confessor, Father Galaktion,
settled in the skete monastery of Saint Maximos the Hut-Burner
("Kausokalibites", Comm. 13 January), who repeatedly appeared to the
ascetic. The exploits of the Monk Akakios were extremely severe: in place of
bread he ate dry grass, broken up by pounding with a piece of marble. To the
question of how much a monk ought to sleep, he answered, that for a true monk
half an hour even was sufficient. And he himself in spite of age and illness
gave example of this.
About the humility of
the monk there is the following instance. One time, when the Monk Akakios had
come on Sunday to the skete church, the arch-hegumen Neogrites handed him his
own cane and said: "Father, take the staff, and we wilt lead the gathered
brethren". Having kissed the hand of the arch-hegumen, the Monk Akakios accepted
the staff without any contradiction. But, in order to humble his mind, he from
that time not only never took the lead staff in his hand, but also refrained
from the particular staff usual for old age.
For his exalted
exploits the Monk Akakios was granted the gifts of unceasing mental prayer and
Divine revelations. He expired to the Lord on 12 April 1730, being almost an
hundred years old.
© 1996-2001 by translator Fr. S. Janos.