Sainted Kallistos II

Commemorated on November 22

Sainted Kallistos II, known under the name Kallistos Xanthopoulos, pursued asceticism at the Xanthopulos monastery on Holy Mount Athos (apparently, in the monastery of the Pantokrator). In 1397 he was elevated to the patriarchal throne and was hierarch during the days of Manuel Paleologos (1391-1425). Resigning the guidance of the Constantinople Church, he withdrew into solitude. Together with his fellow ascetic Ignatios of Xanthopulos he compiled the Hundred Chapters located in the second part of the Slavonic edition of the "Dobrotoliubie" ("Philokalia"). As asserted by their contemporary, Sainted Simeon of Soluneia-Thessalonika, Saints Kallistos and Ignatios of Xanthopulos witnessed the Divine Radiance, as had the apostles on Mount Tabor. Their faces seemed "shining like the sun".